These Goodwood Fellows certainly have good taste
Goodwood’s 78th Members’ Meeting weekend marked the end of the season’s sport at the historic British racing circuit. On track was an eclectic mix of racers from Edwardian-era behemoths to tiny kart-like 500 cc Formula 3 cars, Minis, American muscle, Grand Prix racers, and GT40s.
As the name suggests, the Members’ Meeting is not open to the public, meaning it is limited to members and “fellows” of the Goodwood Road Racing Club who pay an annual fee of £43 ($59) for access to tickets. To become a full-blown “member” you’ll need to be invited by the Duke of Richmond himself. Good luck with that.
Although the racing is, of course, all retro, the overall mood is a little less nostalgic and the dress code more country casual than the vintage chic that’s part of what makes the Goodwood Revival such a fabulous event. On the plus side the Members’ Meeting is far less crowded and it’s easier to get up close to the cars and drivers in the paddock.
As for the cars in the slightly soggy grass parking lots, the pickings weren’t quite as rich as the Revival, but what I did find shows that these Goodwood fellows do indeed have rather good taste.
This delightful DB6 Vantage Volante from 1969 is one of just 17 Vantages still to be found on British roads and one of only 29 built making it one of the rarest finds of the day. It also happened to be the first! On the off chance you could find a similar example Stateside you’d be looking at $1.75 million.
The prettiest Porsche on the field was this 1973 911 Targa. Fuchs alloys and licht gelb yellow paintwork brought a ray of sunshine to the rather gloomy Goodwood morning.
The fellowship of Iso Grifo owners is a rather small one. Just over 400 of the Bertone-styled and American muscle-powered coupes were built from 1965–1969. This illustrious Iso from 1967 has a 300-hp small block Chevrolet 327 fitted, while some later versions got a massive 454 instead. A one-owner barn find example proved to be the star of the Bonham’s auction at Goodwood just a month ago when it fetched £345,000 ($475,000).
Who doesn’t love a good old wedge of a British sports car? The Triumph TR8 was the company’s attempt to tempt Americans with its angular two-seater, by replacing its twin cam four-cylinder engine with the venerable Rover V-8. This is a 1980 example, like the majority sold, is a drophead. The slightly gawky removable hardtop was probably a sensible add-on given the unpredictable October weather.
Bravo to whichever fellow brought along this beautiful Bristol 404 from 1954. It looks pretty huge compared to the E-Type alongside but its aircraft-influenced aerodynamics make it super sleek. And when was the last time you saw a car with three headlamps? Or a scotty dog mascot for that matter? Just nine of these brilliant Bristols remain on British roads.
It’s a brave move to guide a Galaxie through the narrow lanes of East Sussex, but that’s exactly what the owner of this 1963 Ford did. Three Galaxie 500s actually competed on track in the Pierpoint Cup which meant the car was decidedly more common in the pitlane than in the parking lot.
Bringing some kei car cool to the car park was this 1967 Honda S800. This tiny sportster makes the most of its 800 cc engine with a 10,000 rpm redline. It’s a shame I didn’t get to hear it, although the sound of Ayrton Senna’s McLaren Honda MP4 driven by his nephew Bruno probably would have drowned it out.
The rally sprint stage at Goodwood saw plenty of fire-breathing Group B cars strut their stuff, but it was this Group A Mazda that caught my attention in the lot. Badged as a 323 AWD Turbo for the U.K., it was known as the GTX in the U.S.A and, in rally trim, did a decent underdog job—winning the Swedish Rally twice and Rally New Zealand once.
To see some on-track action of the 78th Members’ Meeting pay a visit to the GRRC YouTube channel.
