John Fitzpatrick Driving an unsuspecting Chevrolet on its doorhandles at Goodwood
He’s enjoyed being at the wheel of many multimillion pound classics at Goodwood, but it was a less exotic Chevy that gave John the most fun
It would be impossible to talk about my experiences with classic cars without mentioning Goodwood. From the first Festival of Speed through to the Revival in 2010, I was fortunate to race many cars that I had never previously driven. They ranged from pure race cars such as the Ford GT40 and Porsche 904 to production cars including Corvettes, E-types, Ford Galaxies and even an unlikely Austin A55.
I had never given much thought to the value of cars I raced. However, my last competitive race was the Goodwood Revival in 2010 when I shared Marc Devis’s Ferrari 250GT SWB. He was very keen to finish as high as possible, as was I, but the thought of the value of the car kept my right foot in control, something that would never have happened a few years before.
Of the many cars I drove, the Ferraris were undoubtedly the most enjoyable. Good, predictable handling, nice smooth gearboxes and plenty of power – a joy to drive. The most unusual car I was asked to race was a Chevrolet 150 two-door saloon. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Goodwood, but was pleasantly surprised to find an immaculately prepared 1955 Chevy that to me looked more like a New York taxi than a racing car.
The car belonged to Leon Cole, who had been driving it in a few club races. Leon’s father, an ex-british Aerospace engineer, had built the car. After a careful look around the beast it was obvious that great workmanship had been applied, but not much thought given to the restraints of the Group 2 saloon car regulations.
Prior to practice, many of the regular St Mary’s Trophy race entrants were rather dismissive of it. Leon took the car out first to check out the systems and then handed over to me. It was sensational – great handling, terrific brakes and masses of power, up there with the BMW CSL as one of the best touring cars I had ever driven. I only had time for three laps, but when I came into the pits Leon and his father had wide smiles on their faces. I had put the car on pole by quite a margin.
It didn’t take long for the owners of some of the more traditional cars to start moaning about the eligibility of our car. Goodwood wanted it in the race but didn’t want to upset the owners of the traditional Jaguar Mk2 3.8s and Lotus Cortinas. Fair enough, so we decided that Leon would start from pole position and I would take over for the last 20 minutes or so.
Leon was not used to standing starts and when the flag dropped he applied too much throttle. The car stood still for a few seconds, smoke pouring off the rear tyres and when it cleared most of the field was long gone. By the time I took over we were almost a lap behind. The next 20 minutes were probably the most enjoyable of my career – flat-out on the limit, opposite lock everywhere, laying down black lines. I knew it wouldn’t be diplomatically acceptable to win, but I finished a very close fourth behind the three leaders. Everyone was happy.