The world famous Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting reaches its landmark 50th birthday this August (28-30).
The anniversary event will be celebrated in style with the biggest festival of classic motoring and motorsport ever seen in the North Of England.
More than a thousand classic race and road cars will be on display or competing, plus a parade of 50 of the most notable vehicles of the last Century and a host of attractions for enthusiasts, families and motorsport fans alike.
The star of the inaugural Gold Cup in 1954 was a young charger by the name of Stirling Moss. The race, which brought together the Grand Prix cars of day, ran in its original format until the mid-70s after which rule changes banned them from competing outside the Formula One Championship.
Back in August 1954, Moss beat the odds to take a famous win that has become part of motorsport folklore and cemented the Gold Cup's future as one of Oulton Park's most star-studded annual events.
The meeting gave the people of the North West the chance to become the first in Britain to see Moss's works Maserati 250F in action. It only just happened, though, as the car only arrived in the UK from the factory in Italy the morning of the race. Having been rushed through HM Customs, it reached Oulton too late for qualifying, and Moss had to start from the back of the field.
Undaunted, the 24-year old had passed 12 cars on the first lap and, by the fourth, he had taken the lead. After that, and with no competition to speak of, Moss proved his outright speed by completing a series of demonstration laps, shattering the lap record for the newly constructed 2.7-mile circuit configuration (being used for the very first time that day).
That first Gold Cup was also memorable for Roy Salvadori's lucky escape after his 250F's throttle stuck open at Druids, sending him catapulting into the trees. An exhaustive search of the foliage uncovered a bent Maserati and a miraculously unharmed Salvadori. Trees had to be felled in order to get the car back to the team!
Moss remains the Gold Cup king, having won it five times, but others to have scooped the prestigious prize include Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Jim Clark and Jackie Ickx.
These days, the Gold Cup is not a single race, but a celebration of historic motor racing. The Historic Sports Car Club hosts several of its popular championships as well as guest races featuring an eclectic array of historic machinery ranging from the Grand Prix cars of Formula One's golden age to the throaty sportscars of the 1950s and '60s.
Since it was revived two years ago, the Gold Cup has become a mecca for classic car enthusiasts and motorsport fans alike, attracting many of the sport's past masters such as Jackie Stewart, Brabham, Derek Bell and Moss himself, in the process.
Tickets cost £20 for the weekend or £15 per day and can be bought in advance by contacting the Oulton Park hotline on 0870 950 9000. Children aged 15 and under go free.
