Fiat S76 - Bodywork 2

Popped in briefly today to se how the Fiat was getting on. Rather alarmed to see a pile of crumpled bodywork on the scrap pile but thankfully there was some on the car too. It looks superb - catches the light in all the right ways - matching the period photos.It's amazing to see the car in three dimensions after having looked at photos for so long. It took more than three goes to get it right and the wooden frame had to be altered too but it was worth it...

Goodwood Festival of Speed

Spent 3 days there this year. Friday I spent filming the Bloodhound team in action on their stand and also an F1 in schools tournament. The rest of the time I got to take some photos and do some sketching. As usual it took a while to get back into the flow of it - and the huge numbers of visitors combined with the busy goings on in the paddocks meant it was a much more challenging place to draw than sitting under some leafy tree at Prescott. Still, I was quite pleased with a few of the later ones.

First was this 1911 Fiat S74. This car has some similarities to the S76 I've been drawing but at 14 litres it has half the engine size....

I really don't know much about this 1935 car but it's striking aerodynamic shape caught my eye. I keep thinking I've drawn it stretched but it was pretty long. the aerodynamics suffer a bit when you see most of the top half of the driver sticking out the top...

It's always a treat to see Jim Hall's Chaparrals - there's really nothing else like them. The wing on this 1996 car could be tilted by the driver to give higher downforce on corners and less on the straights...

One of my favourite cars of all time. Unfortunately it wasn't running particularly well (you could find it by following the trail of oil). It was built by Ernest Eldridge in 1923, who used it to set a speed record of 146mph...

With so many people at Goodwood I had to try hard to find out of the way places to sketch. Quite pleased with how this one came out...

This magnificent 1930 car was once owned by Malcolm Campbell - he won his first race in it at Brooklands...

Another favourite of mine - it won the first ever Indy 500...

I was very taken with the pre-war Indy cars. This is the engine from a 1923 Mercedes...

Should have been red but I was quite pleased with the sketch and didn't want to ruin it...

Another of Jim Hall's brilliant ways of creating downforce - a pair of huge fans driven by a snowmobile engine to suck the car onto the road...

There was a wonderfl collection of boat-tailed cars on the lawn. I liked the proportions of this one...

There was a bit of a delay so I quickly sketched this terrific car waiting to go out. It's also a Land Speed Record holder - Rene Thomas took it to 143mph in 1923...

I've been wanting to sketch this for quite a while and finally got the chance at Goodwood. I was made very welcome By Ralph - who looks after this massive record setter. it was great to sit and study the interesting details for an hour or so. Particularly unusual was the way in which the bodywork had been 'sewn' together using short strips of screwed in metal - apparently to allow for the car to flex...

When you only have to turn in one direction you get some very unusual engineering innovations - this has to be the weirdest, with the driver sitting ina sort of side car alongside the engine...

These are becoming a bit of a tradition now. The cars are, Mercedes 710 SSK, Bugatti T35, Delage 2LCV, Bugatti T45, Fiat S74, Fiat Mephistopheles, Marmon Wasp, Miller Special, Miller Preston Tucker Special, Kurtis Kraft Novi Governor Special, Duesenberg Cummins Diesel and Peugeot L45...