The lone wolf going for broke in the Win Percy Trophy

This isn’t your average Goodwood heritage piece. While it may lack the swooping curves of a multi-million-pound GT racer, this Corolla represents the gritty, high-revving bridge to the Super Touring era. It’s a car that refuses to be ignored, especially when the flag drops.

At first glance, the car is a perfect tribute to the machine Win Percy steered to a clean sweep of class victories in the 1982 British Saloon Car Championship, but peel back the livery and you find a much tougher history.

“It’s a replica of the car that won the 1982 British Saloon Car Championship with Win Percy driving,” explained owner Matt Green, “but the car itself is based on, or was originally, an ex-works rally car that was built for Per Eklund. If you look closely at the floor pan you can still see the original rally reinforcements.” This is a car built for the brutal reality of forest stages, repurposed to dominate the circuit.

If the car’s history wasn’t enough, the Corolla’s driver pairing for the Win Percy Trophy is a true Goodwood supergroup. Taking the wheel alongside Green is Max Chilton, the current Goodwood Hill record holder, but he’s swapping the 2,000kg of downforce developed by the McMurtry Spéirling to hustling the rear-wheel-drive Corolla against a fierce pack of Volkswagen Golfs and Ford Escorts.

Chilton finished ninth in Saturday’s thrilling opener, and it’s Green’s turn to take the reins for the final showdown at 16:55 on Sunday. For Green, this is a return to where it all began, having earned his race licence at the Motor Circuit. “I think everyone that’s had the opportunity to race at Goodwood always wants to come back,” Green shared. “It’s quite nice to visit our home circuit, having grown up in Sussex.”

What the Corolla lacks in outright muscle, it makes up for in raw engine noise. In an era before electronic aids, the 1.6-litre engine provides a raw, visceral soundtrack that is pure 1980s nostalgia. “The sound is just intoxicating, particularly with an open exhaust,” said Green, “but even without that, you hear the revs build and it is something else.”

The Win Percy Trophy has already delivered some of the closest door-to-door action of the weekend. While the front-wheel-drive competition might have a slight edge if the April drizzle is to arrive on Sunday, the team is confident in the Corolla’s balance. “I think the top ten is going to be quite actually quite close,” they rightly predicted. “It will come down to reliability, and it will come down to the conditions.”

Win Percy was virtually unbeatable in the Toyota Corolla back in 1982, his namesake trophy is providing the perfect stage for this ex-rally hero to hold its own once again. 

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Photography by Joe Harding.