Baby Bertha tackles the new Vauxhall VXR8 GTS on track at Goodwood

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Can the legendary Baby Bertha tackle the new Vauxhall VXR8 GTS on track at Goodwood? Here are two V8 Vauxhall saloons from road and race - but will the Baby Bertha, one of the most successful race cars ever, be able to match the newer VXR8 GTS?
The Vauxhall VXR8 is due to make an appearance at the 2014 Festival of Speed 'First Glance' category on the hillclimb.
Baby Bertha is no stranger to Festival of Speed herself, of course, but this is her first ever foray onto the Goodwood circuit.
Be sure to tune in on Thursday the 26th of June to watch the 2014 Festival of Speed live on the Goodwood Road & Racing channel.
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[@stumpusMaximus]

Seen Gerry Marshall regularly in the 70s at Ingliston racetrack just outside Edinburgh. BB was always cocking a leg at every corner. Outclassed eveything

[@Dave-wt8xg]

No one could ever drive like Gerry RIP

[@DelSanchezIII]

Makes me feel like I'm 11 years old again, seeing BB on the prowl again. Used to see her a lot at Snetterton and even sat in her with Big Gerry once. Happy days……..

[@zacpetersen893]

The Vauhall is actually a Holden Commodore VF

[@BlurHD]

Yes it is. Vauxhall is Britain's Holden. When you think about it, it kind of sucks that most of Holden's cars are being imported, they were Australian built and all and it felt pretty cool having these cars and now they are in Vauxhall, Pontiac, and Chevrolet's line-up.

[@ReaLzEdits]

***** Mehh, its only because you cant produce cars in australia and have it only sell in australia.

[@BlurHD]

thats why holden is shutting down in 2016

[@ReaLzEdits]

***** Yeah but holden wanted to branch out, but when the pontiac G8 (VE commodore) outsold everything in GM-USA's product lineup...... well they obviously sent it back our way.

[@willm687]

🎖

[@morris2450]

Baby's race class known as OSCA in NZ (Open Saloon Car Association). Back in the day V8 Capris, Cortinas, Datsun 1200s all with big feet and later with wings

[@GoodwoodRR]

Can the legendary Baby Bertha tackle the new Vauxhall VXR8 GTS on track at Goodwood - watch this video, like, comment and subscribe if you enjoy it!

[@joselynmiranda5200]

Rskhucbhb

[@phils866]

Honestly, some of the negative comments on here are frustrating. It was meant to be a bit of fun, not an epic, balls-out race. And any time Baby Bertha gets an outing is fine by me.....that noise! :-D Bertha's owner even said he would loved to have been able to really have a go, but circumstances prohibited them from doing so.

[@sporkfindus4777]

Everything about Baby Bertha is wonderful, including the stunning livery

[@Limou551]

there are some things that never change, what is good is good.

[@richardsracingmad]

Alan Sherwood builds an awesome engine. I had a 1700 X-flow that revved to about 9500, maybe more, but we had a little box of tricks with it to set the max at 9200....

[@richardlove4287]

Used to have a big poster of baby on my wall….great times.

[@criscross572]

I agree with most of what's been written but what a beautiful pair of vauxhalls ish.

[@deetesmin]

Gotta love baby

[@jackson6027]

Love it, looking for a Firenza/Magnum

[@timtwyford815]

Shame Big Bertha isn't still around!

[@EugVR6]

Bertha would of ate that vxr for breakfast. ...they put Bertha against a vrx btcc car a few years ago and she was still faster than a modern touring car by just over 2 sec a lap...she was way way ahead of her time....480hp V8...900kg = fast

[@Geebax2]

Yeah, a purpose built race car. Mind you, instead of puttingt it up against a stock road car, try substituting a dedicated Holden v8 Supercar in Bathurst trim, and Bertha would not stand a chance.

[@philtucker1224]

I hope Bertha is still going strong! I’m old enough to remember Gerry’s races very well and certainly one of my hero’s back then. Best regards to you my friend.

[@JSquaredPotatos]

The in car shots show the outside weather to be dull whereas the outside ones are sunny.

[@timjones1863]

I think it was brilliant of you to notice that. Thanks.

[@JSquaredPotatos]

The more you know

[@timjones1863]

***** screw the car. Check the weather. You should be a meteorologist.

[@weemt07biker74]

That was awesome.

[@supercars2549]

I'm going this Thursday

[@zlockno]

Not sure how you can really compare the two. One is a stripped down race car and the other is a stock road car.

[@dcd5050]

one is new the other is almost 50 years old

[@SYKOMORF]

Its not stripped down. Its built from the ground up. Super saloons were awesome. The dfv skoda was a beautiful bit of engineering.

[@colinfuller2271]

"MAN THAT WAS SCARY!!!!!!!" those teeth and a pony tail!!!!!. baby bertha classic though.

[@kazw7471]

All you ever see are Clio's,Fiesta's and other 4cyl rubbish in England thats why all they can do is bag the big stuff.There is nothing wrong with HSV I can attest to that as I own one and would not swap it for anything else.Tough and reliable and all you baggers would not have a clue as you would never have experienced a HSV or even a V8.Stick to what you can handle and stay away from the big boy's toys.

[@bobhobden]

Kaz W If you talk about cars with 4 cylinder engines being rubbish, even girly in another post, you are rather out of date, dare I say old fashioned. Check out a Mercedes A45 amg, 2 litres turbo. 360bhp and 450Nm. or if you want something cheaper the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy. Those large cars you love would not see which way those two went on proper roads.

[@kazw7471]

Love V8's ,Torque specifically,no 4cyl for me.

[@bobhobden]

Kaz W If you want torque then it has to be a turbo diesel engine. :-)

[@kazw7471]

Bob H No thanx,love my stroker motors,big cams and forced induction.Petrol power for me.

[@theant9821]

if 4 cylinder engines can't cut the mustard, why was the first turbo grand prix victory a 4 cylinder engine (djohn 1979) or bmw used a 4 cylinder turbo engine which took Nelson piquet to the title. and they only used production engine blocks which had already covered several thousand miles. when was the last time a car with more than 4 cylinders won the wrc? 1984 audi quattro with 5 cylinders. winning isn't just about size, it's how you use it.

[@inlineschool]

There was a massive amount of information missing from this. Like a little history of Baby Bertha e.t.c.

[@veemacks7255]

Yeah, I'd never heard of it. They just assume everyone's heard of everything.

[@russcattell955i]

You can find some info if you look up Bill Blydenstein, who built it, Gerry Marshall, who drove it. It started life as a Vauxhall Firenza with a Holden / Repco V8 fitted. Bill was a ace tuner, he was happy to spend time on the phone advising me how to modify my (then) Chevette HSR. Of course his company was "the" place to buy the parts I needed.

[@roadkill-uk]

most people are missing the point its about a fast car now an then nothing about showing you against anything bit there own branded car now an how that was 1976

[@rccoops8728]

I don’t think you’re quite spelling Holden Commodore properly

[@sp1tshyne]

A Holden with a Vauxhall badge vs A Holden powered Vauxhall

[@Chabobox1]

Actually it's an LS motor.

[@jhmasterson3087]

@@Chabobox1 Vaxhalls are rebadged GM Opels . just a branding exercise, like Bush, Alba, Grundig, Pifco Philips, Cadburys etc etc

[@lucashalfpenny9581]

My grampa Paul haywood raced baby berther

[@rodneymcgiveron]

and the point of that was..............

[@BubbaSmurft]

Well that's just a awful. This could have been an epic video with the two cars actually driven in anger; instead, we get some lame video capture. For shame Goodwood, for shame.

[@bellevueace6]

Fair point, but I happen to know that this could only be filmed during a lunch break and as such the circuit wasn't marshalled. The cars weren't therefore permitted to circulate at full chat.

[@PeteBurns-xv2fz]

Even to this day i still DTEAM of owning a rally prepped firenza or magnum...what a beautiful looking car.. as a boy in liverpool a few men who lived nearby had cars i drooled over, one was a jet black 3.0 jps capri 😮..BUT...his neighbour had a full rally prepared, road legal rothmans magnum/firenza 🥵🥵🥵...wide arched, extra wide wheels...huge exhaust...christ...it was a boys dream !!.. and it still is !!... gerry marshall had something to do with it im sure !🤣.... what a car !!...

[@GuyMcLaren]

Boring, what a waste of an opportunity, "a Sunday morning drive on Goodwood race track" would be a better headline.

[@roadhog29389]

Out of interest, Does Britain still have a Sports Sedan category?

[@TheLiquidKnight]

Do you mean the BTCC?

[@roadhog29389]

Not sure if mocking BTCC or serious? No, I meant an actual Sports Sedan series, Not a mockup of a Touring Car. The closest my quick search turned up is the Intermarque series, But it looks like Oval hot rods on road courses. Was thinking more along the lines of the Australian Sports Sedan Series

[@TheLiquidKnight]

roadhog29389 I see. Like the Thunder Series bike class for post classic sports tourers. That would be cool as I know where there are two Alfa 155 BTCC spec' cars sat in a shed. ;-)

[@stevethorne9605]

I think the thunder saloon class is pretty close to sports sedans. There appears to be all sorts of cars in that class.

[@TheLiquidKnight]

Like the BTCC used to be. ;-)

[@SteveRand]

There was not much "tackling" going on here. =-[

[@LostTraction]

Nice!

[@anth5189]

Hardly a fair comparison? One is a purpose built racing car and the other is a commercial sedan. Regardless of the power and torque.

[@idriwzrd]

Why is the GTS so quiet?

[@sugarnads]

idriwzrd its a ROAD CAR. Subject to design rules about noise production.

[@SuperSuperAllons93]

Most people will buy a £55,000 daily driver on finance you fuckwit.

[@brittenv1000]

Shame you cant hear the supercharger

[@Gr8mate13]

Now we are comparing a road car to a race car why

[@andymb601]

A _new_ road car to an _old_ racecar

[@raychambers3646]

Everyone knows what's under a ponytail ,say know more, bertha would have pissed it.

[@gothicpagan.666]

It's a bit pointless alround. BB's driver is never going to get the best out if it, and the road car is well, just a road car

[@holdenls1ssz594]

Put a proper racing driver in the GTS who doesn't want the other Vauxhall to win...All pony tail did was cream his pants over it instead of trying to race it.

[@jjmac3561]

Lame pony tail too!

[@leecoates4082]

love to take an australian version over to uk and do head to heads not some english prat driving it like a timid school girl

[@nhfalcon]

Just another bogan Aussie Holden.

[@SYKOMORF]

We beat 'baby bertha' with "THE CHIMP" so they banned us !!!!! (Pics on the web).

[@daltonbedore8396]

a modern four door will never ever be as cool as a classic, all manual, big power race car. what a stupid comparison. marketing money creates some dull shit

[@Okbooboo]

Moronic (lack of) commentary by Andy Craig.

[@donr2176]

Not a fair race.. Th VXR 8 [Holden Commodore in it's home country of Australia] should have been raced against another street legal car... not a purpose built racecar..

[@tripsadelica]

What sort of dickhead comparison is this? The "Bertha" is a stripped-down racing car. The Holden Commodore (sorry, I'm using its real name) is a fully-loaded road car! Perhaps if these blokes had stripped out the Commodore of all its heavy bits and consumer goodies to make a bare-bones racer like Bertha this contest would be waaaay different. This comparison just defies logic. It's just dumb!

[@Yimello]

It is over 40 years old though...

[@yakacm]

Yimello, exactly.

[@tripsadelica]

Yep!

[@yakacm]

pete smith chill ya beans, you'll wet yourself.

[@andymb601]

@pete smyth well I'm a racing driver who can verify that this is a fair test, for the most part. It may be a restored V8 but it should still have the same power it had over 40 years ago. Back then 300hp in a V8 was mad, and now you could get most performance V8's with that or more

[@tnoel374]

You guys are going 55 mph in this video, very boring.

[@ianmcleod9088]

He should learn to drive in the GTS before racing , that was a joke .

[@D800Lover]

A better comparison would have been an Aussie V8 Supercar.

[@donr2176]

My exact point. A poor "Race" Mind you the Brits don't see many cars like that Holden.. The road taxes would be crippling!!

[@melvyncox3361]

Great cars and footage,but poor presentation,unfortunately....

[@thisguysnameismatt4460]

🤮= vaux. 😍=BB

[@Pull_It_Apart_Paul_Ham_CB]

Its just an australian el cheapo holden, plastic car lol with oversized engine

[@BadDriversOfTheIllawarra]

You obviously know Jackshit about this car

[@clodbusta]

And not even an Australian engine yet everyone carries on about how Australian holdens are...

[@Pull_It_Apart_Paul_Ham_CB]

clodbusta the ls1 and ls2 were built here in australia the ls3 6.2 and spercharged engnes are not built n australia. These cars ar plastic pieces of barrrrff. I base this on the 5 holden hsv's ive owned, 4 from brand new, and I have just restored a 2005 hsv senator pile of shit..... bring on the import of the usa modelsof gm and ford. Oh and I laugh at all te kiddy comments, just proves that anyone with a dumb opinion can pass an ill informed comment with neither knowledge or experience in the matter. Lol bwah

[@BadDriversOfTheIllawarra]

holdenls1ssz Well fuckin said mate.

[@kazw7471]

Lived in West Byfleet and Woking for 5yrs and can tell you that English roads are full of girly cars with four cylinders.Jealousy makes them make remarks like this.To you uneducated English car enthusiasts have a read of this. www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/holden-hsv-gts-r-300-vs-bmw-m5-comparison-tests