Goodwood Revival, which takes place this coming weekend (September 12-14) at the country house of the same name, celebrates all that was fabulous about the motor racing world in the mid 20th century.
Now in its 27th year, the 2025 iteration will pay tribute to the 60th anniversary of Scottish racing legend Jim Clark’s most successful year. In 1965, the charismatic Lotus driver and farmer from the Scottish Borders not only won — among numerous other races — his second Formula 1 (F1) World Drivers’ Championship, he also claimed the laurel wreath at the Indianapolis 500 — a feat unmatched by any driver before or since.
Throughout the 1960s, Country Life regularly reported, with some excitement, on British legends including Clark, as well as Sterling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and John Surtees (above). It was what many now believe to be the golden age of motor racing with many of these stars competing not only in F1, but also in Formula 2 and 3 and, in the case of Surtees, Grand Prix Motorcycling — but that is a story for a different day.
Clark’s dominance during the 1965 season was down to his control of Lotus’s notoriously fragile car — of six fatalities in practice sessions and Grands Prix between 1960 and 1965, half were drivers behind the wheel of a Lotus. Clark’s composure was always credited as his secret power with rival and close friend Jackie Stewart hailing him as ‘...the best driver of my era. Smooth and clean, he never over drove’.
The Motoring Notes column in the June 17, 1965, edition of Country Life echoed Stewart’s comments while reporting on the Scotsman’s legendary victory across the pond:
‘The unique performance of Jim Clark in winning the punishing 500-mile race at Indianapolis in the USA recently, in a Lotus-Ford at an average speed of over 150 m.p.h., will have a worthwhile effect on British prestige throughout the world. This is the first time for 49 years that a non-American driver has won and the first for 25 years that a foreign car has finished first.
It is a slight comfort, too, that an essentially modest young driver should have been one to demonstrate to the other brash and boastful world of professional drivers in the States that ballyhoo is not an essential part of actually winning a motor-race.
Clark’s victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone the same year was all the more remarkable when you read how, with 10 laps to go, he nearly didn’t make it over the finishing line:
‘In addition to the (engine) misfiring, which dropped Clark’s lap speeds towards the end of the race, he was troubled by unexpectedly high oil consumption… This problem was so serious that for the last few laps Clark was actually switching his engine off on the approach to both Stowe and Woodcote corners. His deliberate sacrifice of the safety factor of available power when attacking these corners from maxima of about 140 m.p.h. was a remarkable demonstration of courage and cold-blooded calculation.’
An advert for Esso, starring Jim Clark, was placed in 1962 issue of Country Life.
That fabled year, Jim Clark won six out of the 10 F1 races, and he started from pole position and recorded the fastest lap six times. Although his passion for motor racing spurred him on to keep competing, he never managed to repeat the phenomenal combination of victories.
In April 1968, Clark was competing in a minor race at the Hockenheimring, a circuit in the Rhine Valley, Germany, when his car careered off the track and collided with a tree. The crash was fatal; Clark was just 32 years old.
A few years before his untimely death, Clark appeared on Roy Plomley’s Desert island Discs. He chose, among others, Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze and Peggy Lee’s The Party’s Over.
Click here to read more F1 content from the Country Life archive
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David Beckham and Tom Parker Bowles whip up one of the guest editor's favourite childhood mealsFrom Sunday roasts to Spanish delicacies, good food is one of the pillars of Sir David Beckham’s life, as Tom Parker Bowles discovers when the pair cook up a comfort-food storm at Claridge’s.
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'One of the truly great gardens of the world' is at risk of having its vistas and tranquility blighted foreverThe views from Rousham, the birthplace of the English landscape-garden movement are at risk of development plans for the nearby former RAF Upper Heyford Air Force base get the go-ahead.
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David Beckham and Tom Parker Bowles whip up one of the guest editor's favourite childhood meals
From Sunday roasts to Spanish delicacies, good food is one of the pillars of Sir David Beckham’s life, as Tom Parker Bowles discovers when the pair cook up a comfort-food storm at Claridge’s.
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What’s better than a date with Ali MacGraw? Tending to your waxed jacket, according to Steve McQueenThis is the story of the world’s most useful jacket — and a staple in Britain's countryside homes.
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Our never-ending interest in magic and the occult, from Elizabethan England to Donald Trump's presidencyAs Haddon Hall’s rooms, complete with historic witches' marks, are transformed into exhibits that explore witchcraft and evil spirits, Lotte Brundle explores our continued fascination with the supernatural.
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England and the 1966 World Cup — which was stolen and later recovered by a dog called PicklesIn celebration of the footballing talents of Country Life's guest editor Sir David Beckham, we look back at the summer of 1966, when the England national team was on top of the world.
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Dire Straits' bassist John Illsley reveals why he swapped the recording studio for the art studio — and his consuming passionsJohn Illsley rose to fame as the bassist of the Dire Straits, but nowadays you're more likely to find him in an art studio.
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At the Bonneville Salt Flats, the only currency is speedCharlie Thomas reports from Speed Week, and talks to those with a bad case of 'Salt Fever'.
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The curious case of Cecil Beaton and Madame XWhen he noticed an uncanny resemblance between John Singer Sargent’s painting of Virginie Gautreau and a Cecil Beaton portrait of Leslie Caron, Patrick Monahan called on the Hollywood Golden Age actress to investigate.
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This watch was worn by the first woman to swim the English Channel, changing the horological world forever. Now it's going under the hammerThe early Rolex Oyster was worn by pioneering cross-Channel swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in 1927.
