How a book inspired the Festival of Speed

‘The Automobile Book’ by Ralph Stein is what started it all for me when I was nine years old. My Grandmother was determined that I should have a shared interest with my Grandfather – so she would find these books and he would send them to me at school. I fell in love with the pictures, the first ever double-page spreads of cars in a book. I remember lying in bed at school, dreaming about all the fabulous cars in the books I was sent. A Delahaye Type 145 V12, and a Bugatti 35B, possibly the car I covet above all others, these were my favourites. I would spend hours drawing these beautiful sculptural things. As a teenager, I became immersed in these books and magazines which opened my eyes to all those absolutely gorgeous cars.

I went racing at the circuit with my Grandfather. We'd watch from his little caravan parked next to the chicane. I loved the speed, and the noise – the fact that these cars were built with a single purpose, to go as fast as possible. We had a cocktail party at the House during the racing at Easter so I got to know the drivers, and pestered them for autographs. I remember Graham Hill holding court at the party before the Easter Monday races. He was lying stretched out on one of the 17^th century benches in the House and was rather abrupt when I asked him to sign my little red book.

For me, cars were not only about performance, but also about design and engineering, the form and the function, the look and the feel. Not so much the facts and figures. For me it was more about the beauty of the whole mechanical, and sculptural, thing. Later, with my hands on my own cars, I loved the speed, the sheer ability to go fast in a machine built for ultimate performance.

Now we have all these cars, and more, here at our motorsport events. To see them in the paddocks and on the track, is just amazing. If you love great machinery, the most exciting thing is bringing them all together, the people and the cars, making them available to the fans, seeing how much pleasure they give. It’s still a passion for me and it's been important to bring them all to Goodwood.

Modern photography by Dominic James and Drew Gibson, historic image courtesy of Motorsport Images.