Since 1998, the Goodwood Revival has been a highlight of the automotive history calendar, as much for the off-track dioramas created as for the on-track action which represents the pinnacle of motorsport for cars and motorbikes of earlier generations.
The 2024 event was no exception and featured several cars and motorbikes which have featured in books supported by the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust.
2022 saw the publication of Formula 1's Unsung Heroes - The story of the British Racing Partnership and how it launched motorsport into the modern era by Ian Wagstaff which was particularly remembered by the entry of a 1964 BRP-BRM in the race for the Glover Trophy. This car is the sole surviving BRP Formula 1 car and is now in the hands of Kurt DelBene, an American who has now owned this car for around 12 years now, along with a replica BRP car made in New Zealand some years ago. This car is pictured at the top of this article.
A second book that was evoked by events both on and off the track in the D Day 80th Anniversary, the John Surtees Celebration and the race for the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, is British Motorcycles 1945-1965 by Rinsey Mills, published in 2022. The D Day celebrations featured motorbikes that continued in production after the war from manufacturers such as Ariel, BSA, Matchless, Norton and Royal Enfield. These valuable dispatch rider machines contrasted with the later racers in the John Surtees Celebration which followed his progression from 1950 Triumph through Vincents and on to 1953 and 1955 Nortons before his defection to BMW and MV Augusta. The race for the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy is for machines manufactured prior to 1954 and is generally dominated by Nortons, but examples of Vincent, Triumph, Matchless, Velocette and Royal Enfield also took part.
The final book connecting the Goodwood Revival and the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust is Moke - The Early Years by the Mini Moke Club. 2024 is the 60th anniversary of the launch of the production Mini Moke and in celebration there were a number of vehicles dotted around the Goodwood circuit as our photographs show. Whilst none of the vehicles present were the prototypes featured in the book which took the story up to the point of production, at least one was a Royal Navy owned example, which is appropriate given the number of prototypes described in the book which were exhaustively tested by all three branches of the UK Armed Forces.
