The 1959 Thunderbird of Goodwood

Ryan covered a great history lesson yesterday of Dan Gurney’s European ‘David and Goliath’ racing in the special-prepped ’63 Galaxie. He also finished his story by adding a few of the classic YouTube clips from the Goodwood Revival ‘St Mary’s Trophy’ battles between diminutive British-built Hillmans, Austins, Alfas, and big American iron like Galaxies and one very distinctive 1959 ‘Squarebird’. Imagine circuit racing something that handles like an iron boat, with sloppy steering, underpowered brakes and a tail-happy rear end at full race speed, all while holding off lighter, razor-sharp steering sports cars. The St Mary’s race is not unlike a few B17s trying to outmaneuver a massive pack of Folke-Wulf 190s over the skies of this track some 80 years earlier.  It takes a legendary racer behind the wheel to pull off such a feat, and 9 time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, better known as ‘The Great Dane’, is always up to the challenge. Those of you with sharp memories will recall that I shared this same awesome video four years ago, (and Ryan shared a few years before that!) but it is well worth watching again…