Many would assume that I would choose a Ferrari as my greatest racecar. However, although I know little about the Alfa Romeo P3, it is a car that has always fascinated me. I suppose one could loosely say they were the forerunners of the Ferraris. If I really wanted another car—although I’m not in the market at the moment—I wouldn’t mind swapping one of my Ferraris for an Alfa, particularly a Nuvolari car; although I’m not too sure that I would get one on that basis!
I found a Type 51 Bugatti about 30 years ago in Simonstown, South Africa; it was an actual Varzi car. It hadn’t been interfered with at all; it was beautiful. It came from the tiny Hendel Collection and was given to one of Hendel’s relatives to help him through university. I nearly bought it; it was just $10,000. In fact, the chap who was selling the car wouldn’t do a deal until the car was started and running properly. He said, “Come back tomorrow and we will do a deal then.” I went back and he told me that someone had beaten me to it earlier in the day. I couldn’t believe it; the car had been available for some years and, as soon as I was interested, it was snapped up by someone else.
From a driving point of view, I really like the old cars, like my Ferrari LM and the Berlinetta. They are super cars to drive. That’s why I have them. The cost of driving them increases, and keeping them in good racing order becomes more expensive year after year. Parts become scarce. One would have to be a multimillionaire to afford to purchase one these days, before it ever took to the track. We live in an age of “pay to play.” Organizers of events are asking up to £600 as entry fee, and a set of tires would be £900. Although, there are people, in the city, who have great amounts of expendable income—they are paid large bonuses—it would not be too difficult for them. The real enthusiast is, unfortunately, getting left behind. A typical paddock at a circuit these days is littered with Formula One–type race transporters. Arriving and driving in the same car, or just using a trailer for transportation of a racecar, are days that are few and far between. It can be disheartening to the keen amateur, who has little money but has a desire to race. Venues such as Shelsey and Prescott are not yet too commercial and are a little more like the old days. In the 1950s, if you drove your car to a circuit, competed, and it blew up, someone would tow you home. It’s just how it was.
Another problem is that there are too many races; one could race something every weekend. Gone are the days when we had a few good key races like Goodwood, Silverstone, or Oulton Park, which attracted a field of good drivers. Sadly, today, we compete in races with empty grandstands. I suppose there is such a thing as too much choice. Television plays its part, too: Why pay a few hundred pounds to go and watch a race when it will be broadcast live or highlights shown a week later? I remember in 1948, just after the war, we had a house in Watling Street, a short drive from Silverstone. The roads would be jammed with cars attending the racing there. Health and safety is another evil today. I chuckled at the drivers’ briefing, here at the Goodwood Revival, when Lord March stated that cigars would be given out to those finishing in the first three places. The “good old days” are gone; the present is something we just have to get used to!
As told to Mike Jiggle
