GOOD CARS AND GOOD TIMES AT GOODWOOD; Mingling among the fast and historic at Lord March's estate.(News)(The 10th Goodwood Festival of Speed)

Byline: MIKE DUFF

He built it and they came-by the tens of thousands. For a hereditary peer of the realm, Lord March is certainly not lacking in business savvy. The 10th Goodwood Festival of Speed, held as always on the grounds of his West Sussex estate, was by popular acclaim the best so far. It was certainly the biggest, the all-star lineup of cars and drivers working with the distinctly un-British blazing 90-degree heat to draw crowds of more than 150,000 over the three days.

The visitors found themselves at an event that defies categorization. Goodwood is a combination of concours d'elegance, historic race meeting, motor show catwalks and Formula One test session. Action is based around the mile-long course, inevitably referred to as "the hill,'' which winds its way past walls and trees and-for 362 days of the year-is Lord March's driveway. The oldest vehicle to make a run this year was an 1832 steam-powered carriage. The newest was a disguise-clad McLaren SLR prototype. In between there was everything from 1960s Chaparral racers, wheel-standing dragsters, 1100-hp Can-Am monsters and recent show concepts-including the phenomenal Dodge Tomahawk.

"Goodwood is unique,'' said Sir Jackie Stewart, deftly signing autographs, walking and talking at the same time. "Just look at this... It's the accessibility. People don't get that in Grand Prix racing any more, they're made to stand behind barbed-wire fences. This is fantastic. We've got a great collection of great drivers from every corner of the world. There are team managers, team owners, engineers-everyone's here.''

This year's main sponsor was Ford, celebrating its centenary with an impressive show of top brass: Edsel B. himself making a flying visit, product supremo Richard Parry-Jones, plus various racing superstars on hand throughout. The company's presence was heavily themed around the GT40 racers that 1-2-3'd Le Mans in '66-plus (in a bit of oh-so-subtle brand association) the new GT for a bit of spot-the-difference. Being principal sponsor, Ford also got to put on the main display in front of Goodwood House, this year a 1:1-scale replica of the winning moment at the '66 Le Mans race, a 120-foot-high sculpture featur- ing real water spray effects. And the actual race-winning cars were all on hand to drive up the hill.

Other makers went for a more low-key approach. Porsche showed the all-new Carrera GT, driven by German rally star Walter Rohrl in a re-creation of the original concept's dramatic motor show debut. And British sports car veteran Derek Bell got to try his hand at two radically different machines-the Bentley GT coupe and then-via a rapid change of overalls-the all-conquering 1000-hp 1973 Porsche 917-30 "Turbo Panzer,'' which monstered all Can-Am challengers in that year's championship.

"I seem to be the only driver Porsche trusts to get it up the track in one piece,'' said Bell, with a broad grin.