Kings of the Hill: The best of the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013

Twenty years on from the first Festival of Speed, and tens of thousands answered the call of Lord March and descended on the Goodwood Estate to collectively indulge in the festivities. With an abundance of legends in action – both man and machine – we select our highlights…

Porsche 911 – 50 years at full throttle

The 911’s anniversary was marked not only by the physics-defying sculpture, but also by its own separate class mounting an assault on the famous hill. Models new and old were included, the Paris-Dakar Safari and 997-generation GT3 Cup cars a particular highlight.

 

Causing a stir - the Martini racers

To car enthusiasts, Martini is as well-known for its unmistakeable livery as it is for being 007’s tipple of choice. No fewer than 14 of the tri-coloured beasts were in attendance, including the ‘Moby Dick’ 935, Don Law’s XJ220, and a clutch of Lancias.

Land Speed Legends – Rocket remembrance

Despite its large footprint, the Daytona Beach-style area was dominated by a striking duo – namely Sir Malcolm Campbell’s 1935 ‘Bluebird’ (301mph), and Gary Gabelich's 630mph 'Blue Flame' of 1970.

 

Supercars – the fastest of today and tomorrow

For many, the Supercar Paddock is one of the Festival’s highlights – putting them within stroking distance of cars usually reserved for magazine covers. Among the expected Lamborghinis, McLarens and Ferraris (one of them Eric Clapton’s unique SP12), it was Jaguar’s ‘Project 7’ which tickled our collective fancy the most, thanks to D-type design flourishes applied to its E-type proportions.

Oddities of the Cartier Style et Luxe

Another of the Festival's numerous attractions is the Cartier mini-concours, this year featuring some very strange automotive creations dotted in between the customary Bugattis and Benzes. Most notable was the Fiat Turbina, not for its wildly winged bodywork, but for the 22,000rpm at which it breaks bread. A  mention must also go to the OSI Silver Fox, an automotive catamaran of sorts.

 

Photos: Jan Baedeker

via Classic Driver

Crazy Customs CB400

It’s good to see more good stuff coming out of Central Europe, so we’re very happy to share this Honda CB400 build straight outta Sofia in Bulgaria by Crazy Customs. “Greetings to everyone on the Bike Shed. We are a boutique workshop, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. We mainly do exterior developments for motorbikes, our specialty being custom seats, but recently we finished our Café racer/Street tracker project.”

Milen and the guys spent four months putting this bike together. It began life as a standard 1979 CB400N which they found covered in dust in a random garage deep in the Bulgarian countryside. The brakes were totally locked-up, but otherwise the bike was in basically good condition, although the owner had plans to transplant the engine into an ATV. Luckily she was saved.

Milen wanted a clean and classic look, so they stripped the bike of all the ugly bits including the seat, turns signals, tail lights, heavy seat and fenders, etc. They then turned their attention to hiding the wiring and electrics, removing the airbox and of course added a new Crazy Custom seat which sat on a newly looped frame.

The engine was returned to factory condition with new timing belt, valve stems, seals, piston rings, gaskets, etc, and the carbs were renovated and fed thru tapered chrome filters, which were then set up to take advantage of the free-breathing set-up. The brakes were also completely reconditioned with new seals.

The black, white and red colour scheme are the shop’s brand colours. The lines were carefully constructed to follow the tank and continue along to the seat where they change to a red seam over the black leather of the seat, into white leather panels. At the rear end of the seat is a metal plate engraved with the name of the bike, ‘Crazy 1′.

The ugly original plastic dashboard box has been binned. The twin clocks are now placed in a custom made cylindrical console with LEDs warning lights built in. The new headlight has an integrated LED ring around it complemented by a chrome ring matched to the turn signals and headlamp bracket. The rear lamp is also LED.

All said and done it’s a neat and classy little build well worthy of sharing here on the Bike Shed. Thanks to Milen and the guys at Crazy Customs for sending her through to us and we look forward to seeing whatever you do next.

from the bike shed

1982 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER FJ45 TROOPY

Take charge of your summer travels, go, and stay anywhere in the 1982 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 Troopy ($TBA). This rare Land Cruiser is based on the troop carrier edition, and features a Westfalia type pop-top camper, so it can sleep up to four people. A 4.2-liter six-cylinder engine powers four wheels through a four-speed transmission with a low-crawler first gear, making it an uncommon camper that can actually go off-road. Additional features include skinny mud tires, a worm-gear winch, an awning, an Alpine stereo, dual water tanks, a propane tank, and two fuel tanks.

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