Last Sunday, the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit held the latest episode of their popular Breakfast Club series. These meets, as mentioned in a previous post, are held on the first Sunday of every month. And best of all, entry is ticketed, but free.
Once again, thanks to the prolonged dry spell that the UK is experiencing, the weather was perfect. Blue cloudless skies allowing the bright sunshine to show of the varied paint finishes and, in some cases, the imperfections.
Here are just some of the photos I captured. First up a selection of vehicles, presented by the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre.
Southdown Motor Services ran bus and coach services throughout East and West Sussex. The company was formed in 1915.
I guess there may be a slight delay while the “great British workman” has a tea break.
If my memory serves me right, the Austin A40 was the first British hatchback.
One of the most iconic of British marques is the Aston Martin. To be honest, there were so many Astons on display, I became a little blasé so I chose to post just this example, because of the fabulous colour.
The same was to become true for the number Jaguar E-types. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see them and I am really pleased to see so many classic cars being lovingly looked after.
But ever onwards, so much more to see and not all high end or high performance. For example…
As I said above, not all of the vehicles on display are of the performance variety. Many, like the Ford Anglia “danglebox” below, were the cars that youngsters of my era started out in. And just like the young of today, we were not averse to “pimping” our rides. Fat tyres, lowered suspension, flared wheel arches etc. etc.
The Austin Healy 3000, was my favourite “sports car” of all time. As a teenager, living in Battle, back in the mid-sixties, I used to see an aubergine 3000 with fat tyres, roll bars and bonnet straps. I really thought it was the business. And it has stuck with me right thru to my mid-sixties.
Sometimes, when the mood, light, atmosphere is just right a car will grab you. This, for me was the car of the day although the folks that were judging todays entries thought otherwise. What do they know ?
This car has presence, poise, curves, is simply put, just beautiful.
Who remembers Barracuda by Heart , well here is the car. And, yes, I know it is also a fish with very sharp teeth. Looking under the “hood” I’m pretty sure this car has the automotive equivalent of teeth.
We had arrived at around 07:30 and the number of display cars kept on growing. From a photo stand point we aren’t even half way round. It’s interesting as we stroll along, how often we are saying stuff like “my Dad had one of those” or “that was my first car” or “we had one of those in blue” etc. etc. etc. A real nostalgia trip.
I should point out that Goodwood is an active airfield, so an unexpected bonus was a number of planes flying in and out. Including these …
But, hey, this post is about automobiles, so back to the main event …
As you can see from the photos, the variety of vehicles on display was vast. The selection that I am posting here is just a fraction of the shots I took and is really only a taster of the caliber of this event.
And that is it folks. I hope I haven’t bored you with number of images. I am just amazed and the quality of the vehicles on display. The condition and finish is just a surface visual indication of the love that their owners lavish on them. We musn’t forget the mechanics underneath that classic bodywork.
I thank the owners for bringing their pride and joy along for my pleasure and I also thank the folks that organise these breakfast meets.
The next breakfast meet is Japanese Sunday, on October 7th. I hope to be there, let’s hope the weather is kind again.
