Obituary — John Goddard

The sad death of John (popularly known as “Jumbo”) Goddard in Australia, robs the world of vintage motoring of one of its great and colourful characters. As a teenager at college in England he commenced his motoring in a Morgan three-wheeler that he raced at Brooklands. He served his engineering apprenticeship at Thornycrofts Shipyard where he developed another enthusiasm, for boats of every sort — he was internationally known and respected in the world of yacht racing. From 1933 onwards he divided his time between Australia and this country, where he has been a leading personality on the vintage scene, competing in a vast number of different cars, from his Edwardian Cottin et Desgouttes to Bugattis, Bentleys, Frazer Nashes etc. to more modern Jaguars.

Some of his best performances have been at the wheel of his turbo-charged 8-litre Bentley in a 3-litre chassis and on his ex-Fane single-seater Frazer Nash.

“Jumbo” was a first class engineer, highly qualified in the automobile and marine field. Our heartfelt condolence goes to his widow, Kathleen, herself a very knowledgeable enthusiast who shared his motoring sport to the full, accompanying him to all the events in exciting “hairy” vehicles. The lovable personality of “Jumbo” Goddard will be sadly missed on the vintage scene on both sides of the world.

A. F. Rivers Fletcher