Goodwood celebrates Cobra founder Shelby's centenary

This year’s Goodwood Revival marked its 25th anniversary with a spectacular turnout of Shelby-related race cars to honour the centenary of the birth of the late, great Carroll Shelby – the Texan who famously sired one of motorsport’s most iconic cars: the legendary Cobra.

Words: Graeme Hurst
Images: Graeme Hurst and Goodwood.com

The annual ‘step back in time’ historic motorsport event, which celebrates the UK, Sussex-based circuit’s heyday from 1948-1966, took place over 8-10 September. It featured a daily parade of 50 cars that shaped Shelby’s epic racing career as part of the event’s action-packed programme. Leading the pack was the humble MG TC which – unbeknownst to most petrolheads – the famous chicken farmer-turned-race driver won his first competitive event with back in 1952 before catching the attention of Aston Martin team boss John Wyer.

The Aston Martin DB3S on display at Goodwood was identical to the one he drove for Wyer at the Sebring 12 Hours in 1954. It took part with the Ferrari 750 Monza which Shelby went on to take second place at the same circuit a year on and a Maserati 300S, which he piloted to victory at Lime Rock in 1957.

• Find a classic MG to buy for yourself, here.

But the big ‘Shelby’ emphasis at the Revival was the mighty Cobra era with standouts being the first production Shelby Cobra, chassis CSX2001, and ’39 PH’  the ex-Willment team car that snatched a class victory at Le Mans in 1963 - along with a 427 ‘big block’ and a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. One of just six built, it's identical to the class winner at Le Mans in ’64. Also on hand were plenty of Shelby’s other unforgettable creation: the Ford GT40, the sports racer which famously unseated Enzo Ferrari’s grip on Le Mans with Ford's dramatic 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 Le Mans.

The Cobras on display lined up for the Revival’s blue riband race: the RAC TT Celebration on the Sunday with the cars holding out until the rain arrived, which led to a Jaguar E-type 1, 2 finish thanks to the Coventry cars’ better grip in the wet. Not to be outdone, the GT40s did battle in the thrilling Whitsun Trophy which was won by James Davison in a McLaren M1B, while the thundering, all-Ferrari 250 grid of the Lavant Cup involved serious drama when the 1962 GTO driven by ex-F1 racer Karun Chandhok burst into flames after its engine blew. Thankfully (considering the $50m+ value of the car!) the fire was quickly extinguished.

The turnout of GT40s was a fitting inclusion for this year’s Revival as it also celebrated the centenary of the Le Mans 24 Hours: Shelby is the only person to have won it as a driver and manufacturer: in 1959 he won the race for Aston Martin, before health issues saw him turn his attention to sports car construction which led to that class win in ’64.

The anniversary of the world’s most gruelling endurance race saw the 24-strong grid of the Rudge-Whitworth Cup dedicated to pre-war race icons, with standouts including the Bentley 3-litre that secured the first of (what would ultimately be) five victories for the marque back in 1924. The two-driver race featured a Le Mans-style running start with entrants flagged off by six-time winner Jacky Ickx, who played the role of Grand Marshal. Goodwood uses the same format for the Settrington Cup which boasts a grid of Austin J40 pedal cars raced by the drivers’ kids!

The celebrity line-up extended to three-time F1 champion Jackie Stewart with the event marking 50 years since his last driver’s title by re-uniting him with the Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 he campaigned that year. Also on hand from the F1 sphere were World Champions Jenson Button and Mark Webber, with both taking part in the Fordwater Trophy, which this year marked 60 years of the iconic Porsche 911 with an all-911 grid. The two-driver, action-packed race of these notoriously tricky re-engined marvels was won by Andrew Jordan and Matthew Holme. And, in a sign of the times, all the 911s were powered by sustainable fuel!

Also being celebrated was 75 years of Lotus, a brand that arguably shaped Grand Prix racing like no other in the 1960s following a meteoric rise after founder Colin Chapman’s success with the Lotus Elite and Seven models. Some 75 examples of the marque took part in a daily tribute with highlights including a replica of Chapman’s first Austin 7-based car, the Lotus MK1 which he built in his garage in 1948 and the original (and now highly patinated) Mk2 that followed. Also on display were several Lotus-Ford and Lotus-Climax single seaters, many of which delivered huge success for the marque across Formula 1 and 2 in the early years.

The line-up extended to the iconic Gold Leaf-liveried Ford DFV-powered Lotus 49B, which Graham Hill took the checquered flag with in 1968 and again a year later, along with two examples of the mighty ground-effect Lotus 79, which powered Mario Andretti and Lotus to their respective Driver’s and Constructor’s titles back in 1978.

Of course you can’t celebrate Lotus’ success in Formula 1 without mentioning two-time World Champion driver Jim Clark, who famously campaigned the V8-engined Lotus-Climax at the South African GP in East London in 1962 (when he narrowly lost the title to Graham Hill in a BRM) and again in ’63 when he took the driver’s crown for the first time. Fittingly, Goodwood’s organisers chose to mark the 60th anniversary of the final race of the championship by replicating the pits from East London, complete with South African-only sponsor advertising in Afrikaans nogal!

The celebrations of the Lotus marque extended to Goodwood’s popular Earls Court Motor Show, which showcases ‘cars of the future’ in the context of the event’s pre-1966 era Taking centre stage was the brand’s latest offerings, the Emira and the sensational Evija: Lotus’ all-electric hypercar which boasts a 0-300km/h time of 9.1 seconds. (yes you read that correctly!)

Not to be outdone was Aston Martin with the new DBX 707 and a superb example of the all-time James Bond icon, the DB5 which turns 60 this year. Rival Jaguar was also in attendance to showcase its latest heritage offering, the E-type ZP collection which is limited to just seven pairs of two 're-created’ race cars: the Oulton Blue roadster ECD 400, as raced by Graham Hill, and the Crystal Grey coupé BUY 1, as campaigned by Roy Salvadori.

Rather fittingly (given the SA connection at the event) BMW paid homage to its past by displaying the spectacular 1991 BMW 525i Art Car. The 12th in the series, its Ndebele-livery by artist Esther Mahlangu was commissioned by BMW to mark the end of Apartheid.

Next year’s Goodwood Revival takes place 6-8 September.

See: goodwood.com for more.