We got back from the Members' Ball at Goodwood House and we wanted to share some of our shots from the opening event. Although we were reduced to using a point-and-shoot, we thought you still might like to see some of the cars and sights at this year's Festival of Speed. Lord March puts on a fantastic event and the night before the whole thing starts the members get to attend a special dinner where the Bonhams auction offerings are open for viewing and the Central Display for this year's festivities gets unveiled.
As this is a big anniversary for Land Rover, they were chosen as the featured marque. The display featured five special silver Land Rovers climbing a giant steel girder jungle gym of sorts. After seeing some of the cars in the auction tent and having a wonderful supper, the fireworks and unveiling were almost too much, but there was more. Among the many featured categories this year are some vintage dragsters from the '50s and '60s that still run in a special historic series. As a treat to the members, a few of them were fired up so the Brits could experience the sight, sound, feel, taste and smell of these Hemi-powered slingshots. With so few Americans in attendance, it was nice to see these racers being given such honored treatment. It truly brought tears to our eyes.
Last year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed we spied our first Lotus 2-Eleven hypercar in the flesh. Turned out the owner was our friend, Patrick O'Neill, who had graciously agreed to be the lone Lotus representative in the supercar category. Apparently when Patrick lined up in the paddock to take his shot at the hill on day 2, a familiar face appeared at his side. While he wasn't sure exactly who it was, he knew he knew that mug from somewhere. Turned out it was another American named Patrick - Patrick Dempsey. That's right, McDreamy himself. While O'Neill chatted with Dempsey he learned that the actor was quite a Lotus fan as well as a promising racer. Dempsey asked if he could go along for the ride and O'Neill obliged. It took a little while, but O'Neill just sent us a video clip of their encounter.
What you'll see in this video clip is just a snippet of the hour or so that the two Patricks spent together on that morning in West Sussex. As O'Neill describes it, "This was a cool experience...I was very lucky to be able to drive my Lotus 2-Eleven in the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year. Patrick Dempsey. AKA Dr. McDreamy, is a Lotus fan and asked for a ride. I got to spend over an hour with him and he is a great guy and a real racer." Watch the clip closely and you'll notice the Pininfarina P4/5 custom Enzo of James Glickenhaus ahead of them and an Aston Martin behind being driven by former F1 champion Damon Hill behind. Enjoy.
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