It’s fair to say that the attendees of the Goodwood Festival of Speed are a broad church, and nothing better illustrates this than a walk around any of its many, many parking lots – necessary to corral the steeds of 40,000 visitors per day.
There’s an allocated supercar parking area, but in many ways the regular parking lots are more interesting. Those who book their cars into supercar parking all have one thing in common – that they think their car is something special. Those who are happy to park among the schmucks are more interesting, and their tastes are more diverse – I walked past an NSX and a DeLorean when I didn’t have my camera. Here are six car park gems that shows the rich variety of Goodwood off to a tee.
A Belgian-registered Porsche 356B. An absolutely beautiful example of the breed, having travelled by land and sea to visit Goodwood. It’s worth a vast sum of money but not especially comfortable to travel in – making that kind of journey in this kind of car requires determination, pride, and a good deal of mechanical trust.
This is the Hillman Minx as the lede image, and it quite took me aback when I saw it. From its position towards the gate in parking lot S, it must have been one of the first cars to arrive – suggesting a very eager spirit. The car itself is delightfully shambolic, with pitted chrome and surface rust breaking out all over. It looks to be all-orginal, and bears the honest scars of fifty-four years of hard graft.
This is a Vauxhall Carlton, the UK version of the ’86-93 Opel Omega. I always loved the shape of these, especially in this speedy GSI3000 24V format. These were quick cars, and have become rare for two particular reasons. Firstly – Rust. As the lower doors and front wing on this one confirms, although there are other cars of the era that were more prone to rot, once it sets in few Carltons ever got fixed, such was their low value. Secondly, lots of GSIs became the basis of Lotus Carlton replicas – the majority of which were absolutely hopeless.
This is a Pontiac Firebird Formula. The UK registration checker confirms it’s a V8, thank goodness. Owning one of these in the UK, where it was never officially sold, marks you out as either a US serviceman who wants to retain a taste of home, or an eccentric. At least this one has been kept factory standard and hasn’t fallen victim to “I can’t help myself” customizing that sees so many American cars encrusted with additional chrome, quasi-patriotic paint jobs and obnoxious horns. It’s ‘only’ a Firebird, but its owner loves it.
I love a shabby Jaguar, and this one is particularly shabby. I didn’t have my camera handy when I walked past it at Goodwood, but I was delighted to find it in the parking lot of Sainsbury’s, where I went to pick up sustenance for my overnight car camping. The jag has a wholly inappropriate Jaguar leaper, but I’ll forgive that for the quad exhaust setup around the back. I didn’t hear this XJ8 running, but I suspect it isn’t whisper-quiet.
This, though, extols the singular nature of the Goodwood visitor more crisply than any of the cars above. Its an immaculately maintained and presented Lada Riva, subtly modified with a set of alloy wheels and some clear rear lamps, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. Who knows what other modifications lie beneath the skin.
The Lada Riva was one of the most derided cars ever to be sold in the UK. Not even its extreme cheapness was enough for reviewers to overlook its failings, and its value-hunting buyers were, it’s agreed in hindsight, misguided. As underdogs go, then, it’s almost unparalleled, and the owner of this one clearly dotes on it. Choosing to love a Lada is rather more ‘against the grain’ than fixating on a Ferrari. It denotes passion, and that lies at the very core of Goodwood.
(All images copyright Chris Haining / Hooniverse 2017)
Parting shots: The Goodwood Car Parks
8 responses to “Parting shots: The Goodwood Car Parks”
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A good friend of mine has a Humber 80 version of that Minx that is absolutely identical, right down to the missing trim and in exactly those colours.
The Humber 80 came about in NZ in the days of import controls and local assembly. The local assembler, Todd Motors had was reaching the limit of the number of Hillman Minxes that it could make but the bigger Humbers hadn’t sold so well, leaving some unused import quota available. A little bit of judicious badge engineering and, voila! A new car to use up that quota.
The Hillman Minx/Humber 80 twins ran through a few model changes and were eventually superceded by a similar pairing of Hillman Super Minx/Humber 90
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SF_Y3fkHFiY/VlEjVkzXLYI/AAAAAAABUf8/3G0vPOO_80Y/s1600/IMG_3650.JPG
Next model Minx mark v
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Hillman_Minx_Series_V_1592_cc_first_registered_March_1964.JPG
Next model 80
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~monster/vruum/Rootesdir/KatieAndHumber.jpg
Humber 90
http://www.driven.co.nz/media/97611/290516nzhsplhumber1.jpg?width=770
Hillman Super Minx
http://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/images/Air_SOD%202012_Hillman%20Super%20Minx_AWO%20459B.jpg
Last model Super Minx/ 90
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Hillman_Super_Minx_registered_April_1965_1592cc.JPG-
I love the sharing tail lights too: work on an Alpine series 4-5 or Tiger and who knows what other Rootes car.
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Also seen on Bristols before replacing them in a series of ‘how much worse can we make it?’ decisions culminating in the ‘no-one will notice the black paint to cover the join’
Vauxhall Senator bits
https://www.motor-car.co.uk/images/1/z/Bristol-409-rear.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4108/5071501752_8b37970927_b.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Bristol_Brigand_car_rear%2Bside.jpg
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2008/02/11/automobiles/533-Bristol-Blenheim.jpg-
In general the Bristol Blenheim was a bit of a hand-built-Ford-Capri-looking car. It’s unfortunate they went broke before the Fighter took off, as that was a much more original-and-better-looking car.
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The Minx looks a lot tidier than my mate’s Series 1, back before it was repainted when he used it a couple of rallys.
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My favorite story of something driven to Goodwood is last year’s 150 mile journey from Bristol by the 1911 Fiat S76, Beast of Turin.
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Just amazing really, 1000 rpm = 120 mph! Got to love aircraft engined cars from this era, saw a few run at an historic race meeting recently. This is a 1908 MAB with a Packard Liberty 27L V12. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1e137b96ab1a6cbe02a3ac687683447fc49e54a10085724c41b39ac81de4f463.jpg
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That Firebird Formula is, in my esteemed opinion*, among the best of the third-gen designs (“tallest midget” faint praise to some perhaps). GM’s designers decided all of the tack-on plastic bits and faux vents that I never liked were to be reserved for the top trim levels and let this one do with wider runner and a modest bulge in the hood.
* – Three time F-body owner, three different generations.
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