2 minute read
CELEBRATING CLASSIC CARS
Paul Smith 1977-1988 shares his passion for classic cars and celebrates the post-lockdown return of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been passionate about cars – especially exotic ones from the 1980s and 1990s. During my time at KES, these were the cars of the day! In 1993 the Goodwood estate in Sussex, a location steeped in British motor racing history, set up an annual event called ‘The Goodwood Festival of Speed’. I was lucky enough to attend one of the first events and that marked the beginning of my love affair with classic cars and historic racing. These days, as a Goodwood Road and Racing Club member, I attend all the events and have been fortunate to dine in the magnificent Goodwood House and to meet characters from the motor racing world.
This July saw the first Festival of Speed since the pandemic began and it was wonderful to be back. I drove there in my old Aston Martin Lagonda and having been caught on camera, I now find myself on Instagram – such is the power of social media. In my day, you had to take camera film to Boots to be developed and collect it two days later!
Whilst classic cars are wonderful to drive, maintaining them is not for the faint-hearted. I expect to have a mechanical problem on each of my cars at least twice a year and the repair bill is never a cheap day out. That said, to drive a hand-built British or Italian sports car from the 1980s with the V12 engine howling is quite something and infinitely more enjoyable than the 2021 versions of these cars. My first car was an old Aston Martin Volante and it was forever overheating. The final straw was breaking down in Piccadilly on a busy Saturday afternoon and causing a huge traffic jam. I swapped this for a Maserati and that was extremely entertaining, but I ended up in a ditch (oops) so I moved onto a Bentley which was superb. I then acquired a beautiful old Ferrari 412i from the 1980s along with an old Aston Martin Vantage and Vanquish, followed by a 1988 Range Rover. All these cars have such huge personalities and make you feel so alive when driving them because you need to concentrate!
Since I began driving classic cars I’ve met some fascinating people and been invited to some spectacular events. But still the simplest pleasure is bumping into fellow enthusiasts at petrol stations and chatting about cars with the same enthusiasm I had as a 1980s schoolboy!
For any advice or to chat about classic cars, please contact me at: paul.smith@touchassociates.com
