What makes this Rover SD1 more important than the rest?
When you’re at a Goodwood Motorsport event and you are presented with such a deluge of spectacular historic racing machinery barrelling around the circuit or up the hill, it’s easy to be bowled over by the spectacle of it all. To be so bowled over by the wow-factor that these hoards of cars howling in unison brings and some of the best historic racing on the planet that you miss the little details.
It is our job to point out those small moments or stars to you, so you can see the full detail of each event even if you didn't have time to take it all in when you were at Goodwood. Of course, when not in action, the cars are at rest in the paddocks for all to get to know up close – it’s as much about the spectator experience as the racing itself – but even then there's 400 cars in the paddocks for you to look at. So let us do our best to pick a headline out of the crowd, and uncover a storied past.
Taking a stroll through the paddocks at 75MM, perusing the spectacular grid of Group A machinery, it’s tough to find a single stand-out hero. They’re all heroic, really, coming from such an iconic era in touring car history. But take a look through the Gallery above, at the Bastos-liveried Group A Rover SD1 Vitesse and you'll find something a bit special.
Any guesses what makes this car interesting? Well, it’s the car that won of the European Touring Car Championship's Monza and Donington rounds in 1986 (for the keenest of enthusiasts, this may have given away this car’s significance), and a decent performer through the previous seasons. Good marks there, it’s a proven winner – but nothing initially jumps out as especially press-stopping about it.
At least, there was nothing press-stopping at the time, but as of the late Tom Walkinshaw’s retirement from racing in 1988 to devote more time to his TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) team, this SD1 became the last car in which this giant of British motorsport would ever win a race – which to us means it deserves another look.
Photography courtesy of Drew Gibson, Nick Dungan and Paul Melbert
tom walkinshaw
Rover
SD1
Group A
75MM
2017
