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Goodwood Festival of Speed was on this weekend, and it sure did not disappoint. Car manufacturers and other car-related businesses from all over the world traveled to the Goodwood House in England to show off their new cars and products. It was a weekend full of fun, excitement, action, and of course speed.
Goodwood Festival of Speed started back in 1993 by Lord March. He wanted to bring motor racing back to the historical Goodwood estate. The first event was a success, despite clashing with the 24 hr leMans race series. A year later, a Saturday event was added making the Goodwood Festival of Speed a two-day event.
At the Festival of Speed, cars partake in multiple events, the main one being the hill climb. The hill climb event has seen some of the world’s rarest and fastest cars race up a hill in the Goodwood Estate, aiming to set the fastest time. Furthermore, the hill climb event is a way for car companies to market new cars.
This year was the first major Goodwood event since 2019 due to Covid. Each Goodwood year has a certain central feature, and this year was all about 50 years of BMW’s M division. The marque hosted five cars, some production road cars, and some race cars. BMW also unveiled the well-anticipated M3 Competition Touring (Wagon) at the event.
Was this year a blast then? Or has Goodwood gone out of fashion since Covid? let’s find out.
An Exciting Hill Climb Event
This year, Goodwood had an exceptionally good hill climb event. Many cars partook in this event, with the winner, being British racing driver Max Chilton, in the McMurty Speirling, which is a single-seater electric concept car. That car was first presented at the show last year, as part of the “Future of Motorsport Power” demonstration segment.
Other cars that went up the hill include the all-new Alpine A110 Sport Corse, which was made to celebrate the Alpine A110 that compete in the Tour de Corse rally in 1975. Many LeMans racing cars also went up the hill, including the new Porsche 963 2023 LeMans racer. The 1999 LeMans winning BMW V12 LMR also went up the hill.
One of the more expensive cars to tackle this year’s hill climb was the ultra-rare McLaren F1 GTR, driven by legendary racer, Steve Hoper. The F1 GTR is probably one of the most iconic cars not to win the 24hr Le Mans racing series, though, at this year’s Goodwood, it sure did make a great noise.
Cars from other racing series were also present. The Audi R8 GT3 was this year’s winner of the Nurburgring 24hr race series that went up the hill in an astonishing fashion.
Many New Cars on Show
The best part of this year’s show was the number of new cars on show. Many manufacturers big and small, launched new cars this year at the show.
Land Rover launched their new very well anticipated Defender 130 this year. The 130 is a longer version of the 110 Defender, and it provides so much more practicality and comfort. This car made quite an appearance at the show since it made an iconic dynamic debut up the hill.
Mercedes showed off their new four-cylinder plug-in hybrid C63 at the show. It was the first time that many journalists and members of the public saw the car in the flesh. The official power figures were also revealed, and they are insane. The new C63 pushes out 671hp, which is a whole 168hp more than the BMW M3.
Toyota unveiled quite a few cars too, including a manual six-cylinder Supra that is sure to excite car enthusiasts around the world. However, their main piece in my opinion was the Lexus EV Sport Concept. That car looks more or less like the much-anticipated LFA replacement, and it is very fast. Toyota CEO Aiko Toyoda claims that the EV Sport Concept will hit 60 in “the low 2-second range.” A further range target of 435 miles was also mentioned.
Bentley showed off their new Continental GT S and Flying Spur S models at the show too. These two cars pack a 542hp 4 liter twin-turbo V8. However, unlike the Continental GT S, the Flying Spur S does have the hybrid 6-cylinder option available. Both these cars are sportier versions of their standard cars with louder exhausts and more aggressive styling such as black accents.
Ford showed off their new Ranger Raptor pick-up truck at the show. The Raptor Ranger features a new beefier body kit, more power, and better off-road ability. Under the hood is a new 3 liter twin-turbo V6 pushing out a decent 284hp, which is 74 more horses in comparison to the old Ranger Raptor pick-up truck.
Gordon Murray Automotive showed off the T.50 hypercar and unveiled the all-new T.33 hypercar. Both cars pack groundbreaking engines and both cars are sold out and not available to the public. The T.50 has been up the hill climb before, though in very bad weather. Therefore, Gordon Murray Automotive could not properly debut the car. However, this year the weather was good which meant Gordon Murray Automotive could show off the car properly, as it hit its 12,100 RPM in front of showgoers.
To Conclude
This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed was an absolute blast. Many cars from all different years and types descended onto the Goodwood estate to show off what they could do. There were classic race cars, small modern city cars, big SUVs, and everything else in between.
The Hill Climb event was full of excitement, as many manufacturers debuted their new creations. It was also a chance for showgoers to hear and see some of the most iconic cars ever made. They may not be able to do this ever again in their life. The event truly was a once-in-a-lifetime event with very rare cars, some of which are worth tens of millions of dollars.
Will next year will be better? Who knows, but for all I know, car manufacturers will have to push even harder if they want to beat this year in terms of quality and excitement.