Goodwood Festival of Speed, the silver anniversary!

We at Wheels-and-Things have given you brief impressions of the highlights of each of the first three days of the Festival of Speed. Now it is time for the complete overview, read along and immerse yourself in a mix of old and new.

For me it was the third time I had visited the Festival of Speed, for Joris the fifth and for Loïc the first. And even if it was the 25th time it is always different, innovative and surprising.

In 1993, at the first edition, Lord March’s intention was to recreate the atmosphere he soaked up in his youth when he went racing with his grandfather on the track. So no nadar fences but straw bales, a paddock that would be open for everyone and not only for the happy few and a Hillclimb that provided excitement, competition and action…Lord March already sensed the growing interest in classic cars and wanted to give his guests an unforgettable day. Did you know that for the first edition only 15,000 visitors were expected? It turned out to be 25,000 so they had to improvise for the tickets. Today, they welcome well over 300,000 visitors spread over the weekend. The main lines of the current concept were already set in 1993, there was even a supercar run with no less than the then brand new McLaren F1.

And now back to the present, the 2018 edition sold out faster than ever and the programme was jam-packed. We arrived at the grounds in the morning on Thursday and because it is a bit quieter then, we decided to visit the paddocks and the brand stands first. We immediately came across some gems. We saw the Belgian Bastos BMW M3 of Team Bigazzi, the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, the new BMW M8 GTE, some Chaparrals, a Volvo 850 Estate, a Ford Escort MK1 and MK2 but also Mega Bertha. By the way, we already did a report on her little sister Baby Bertha, which you can find HERE. The list is almost endless, because with over 600 registered vehicles we would not have enough time to look at them all.

At the brand stands, we noticed that they had found some money at BMW and had set up another floor. At Lotus, the stand was also considerably larger than last year’s edition, but this was probably due to their anniversary. Ford has been using the same stand for several years, as has Porsche. Mercedes had a new stand but gave me a more complete impression at last year’s edition. Honda had a new and eye-catching stand but one of the most beautiful for me is still McLaren who showed off their new 600LT (longtail) with the McLaren F1 LT in the foreground.

At Rolls-Royce it was nice to be able to view the stand from above, which gave a very nice overview. The stables were again occupied by BMW who put their new 8 series in the spotlights. The original BMW850 CSI was on display in its ART version, at the time painted by David Hockney.

Where last year Ferrari stole the show, now it was Porsche’s turn to celebrate their 70th anniversary. We came across numerous cars that we never saw before, such as the Porsche 804 and the Porsche 550 Spyder with a gigantic spoiler just above the pilot. Of course this was not all, we could also enjoy some Porsche 962 with Derek Bell at the wheel and also the very first Porsche 356 with chassis number 001 was present. The Porsche 917K was present in Gulf outfit, which do you like best? The Gulf colours or Martini striping? The highlight was of course the Porsche moment, which took place every day shortly after noon and was closed with music and fireworks. The cars were mostly driven by famous pilots who usually had a link to Porsche or one of its sister brands.

We saw Derek Bell, Magnus Walker, Tom Kristensen, Brendon Hartley, Jochen Mass, Walter Röhrl and many others.

But it was not only Porsche that blew out 70 candles; Lotus was founded in 1948 and therefore also celebrated its 70th birthday. In our opinion, it was a little less striking than Porsche, but that does not alter the fact that Lotus appeared at the Hillclimb with a number of beautiful and unique pieces. By the way, Lotus, just like Porsche, has a very long racing history with the difference that Porsche only made a brief excursion to F1 and that Lotus managed to gather a lot of success there. Lotus was founded in 1948 by Colin Chapman and Colin Dare. One of Chapman’s philosophies was that weight was enemy number one in the car industry. So he made compact and very light cars, which were very fast and manoeuvrable. With Team Lotus, Lotus won their first F1 constructors title in 1963 with Jim Clark at the wheel, many more would follow. We found a nice movie about the history of Lotus that you can find HERE and is worth watching.

For me, at least, the Lotus-Pratt & Whitney 56’STP Special’ is one of the most special and every time I see it I can hardly ignore it. The Lotus 56 is one of the few cars that is powered by a gas turbine. This small ST6 aircraft engine drives the 4 wheels. In the past, the Lotus 56 has participated in the Indy 500 twice and was even entered in F1 in 1971. Unfortunately none of these races were ever won by the Lotus 56, this was mainly due to failure. During the Indy 500 in 1968 the 56 was in the lead until it broke down 7 laps before the finish. Only 4 of these cars were built and at least one of them has crashed and disappeared, so it is a privilege to see this special car in action several times.

Terry Grant, does he mean anything to you? Well, he is a regular during the FOS when, for example, there is a red flag because of a crash or another delay. He fills the gaps with various stunts and he is really masterful at it. He really controls his cars perfectly and is also a great entertainer. But Terry Grant seems to have another thing up his sleeve, as this year he broke the world record for driving on two wheels. To do this, he had to complete the hillclimb in less than 2 minutes 55 seconds. And yes, he did it this year. You can see his full route HERE.

This year, there was also an appearance by a Rocketman, perhaps a fantasy of many to be able to fly without having to sit in an aircraft. The JB11 Jetpack is about the first Jetpack that will pass the strict certifications. With the JB11, it will be possible to reach speeds up to 200 mph and altitudes up to 10000 feet. This is thanks to 6 turbojet engines that run on regular paraffin or even diesel. The small tank will allow for 12 minutes of flight. The whole suit weighs 50 kg and is attached to the pilot’s back, allowing him to take off and land vertically. Pilot and Co-founder David Mayman has flown it several times a day and it attracted a lot of attention. The machine was first presented at the CES in January this year and now made its European premiere at the FOS. We witnessed it and saw that it made good progress. A few drawbacks, the thing made quite a lot of noise, smelled awful and you might not be allowed inside a LEZ with it…

Last year I saw it for the first time, but due to lack of time I didn’t go. This year, however, the Future Lab was on the agenda. As this is not really Joris’ thing, myself and Loïc went there. In all honesty it was a bit of a disappointment, inside you saw a bit of a reflection of what we saw live outside before. There you could see the JB11 rocket suit or take a virtual ride on the Roboracer (which we did not do, but would have been impressive). There was also a model of a Mars station with some robots and in many places you could use VR glasses to take a seat in e.g. an F1 car and make a virtual tour with it. The visit was rather short and we were glad to hear real engines roar again. Not that I am against these evolutions, but somehow I have the feeling that this is not the reason to come to the ‘Festival of Speed’.

Since I mentioned the Roboracer above, I would like to elaborate on it. Every year, we see an increase in electrically powered vehicles. This year, there were a few premieres, as the Roboracer would be the first car ever to drive the Hillclimb completely autonomously. This is thanks to numerous cameras, sensors and probably a beast of a computer. It has completed its journeys every day and has not crashed. Siemens had converted an old Ford Mustang into a self-driving car. Converting this 1965 Mustang proved to be quite a challenge, especially since old mechanics had to be controlled with advanced electronics. The project turned out to be successful because we also saw this Mustang doing some hillclimbs.

In the category ‘Electric’, the VW I.D. R Pikes Peak was of course also an important presence. This 100% electric VW driven by Romain Dumas has just broken the record in the race of the same name. The previous record was held by Sebatian Loeb with a Peugeot 208 T16 who covered the route in 8.13,878 minutes. The VW I.D. R Pikes Peak smashed the record with a time of 7.57,148 minutes, which is no less than 16 seconds faster! By the way, below you can see a short film about the preparations for the Pikes Peak hillclimb.

It was not announced in so many words, but during the Festival of Speed there would definitely be a shot at the current hillclimb record, set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld with a McLaren MP4/13 formula 1 car. Nick Heidfeld set a time of 41.6 seconds. Romain Dumas clocked 43.86 seconds, the fastest time ever set by an electric car. It will only be a matter of time before Heidfeld’s record breaks too, I fear.

Catch my Drift was to be the slogan this year, and after a few days we fully understood why. And when it comes to drifting, of course ‘Mad’ Mike Whiddett’s is part of it. He treated his audience to spectacle and masses of smoke. There were six drifters in total, five of whom treated us to a totally unexpected lap dance in the assembly area. I was able to capture this with the iPhone earlier on.

The other names were James Deane, Dean Karnage, Steve Biagioni, Vaughn Gittin Jr and Chris Forsberg’s who came to make nice weather with a 1000bhp Nissan 370Z.

Did I mention that we celebrated a few birthdays? Lola also celebrated its 60th birthday. Lola was founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley and built only racing cars. And this in a very successful way because the wins were not left out, for example John Surtees in 1966 with a Lola T70 won the very first Can-Am championship. Lola was not an engine builder and often cars were built around an engine. Like the Honda RA301 which was also called the Hondola, Jenson Button was the lucky one who drove this car this weekend. You can’t name a single category for which Lola hasn’t built cars, from sports cars to formula 1 and just about everything in between. If you want to know more, be sure to visit the Lola website, which you can find HERE. The most important Lola’s we have seen are listed here. The earlier mentioned T70, the Lola-Ford T90, the Lola-Cosworth T370, the Lola-Chevrolet T400 but also the Lola T92/10 Group C sports car, etc…

This year we also made a trip to the rally stage, which is located at the end of the Hillclimb and is a pretty steep walk. The last part you walk through the woods and you can hear the rally cars passing by. Also here was a large field of participants and in terms of spectacle, this can also count! Thanks to the bone-dry surface, the dust did fly around your ears. However, if you want to see cars literally take off, this is the place to be. As an extra, all the cars also gather here after their hillclimb before driving back down again.

Motorbikes are also covered extensively every year. And here too, several categories are represented. We saw the Classic Racing Motorcycles, the Modern Racing Motor Cycles, the American Flat Track and there was an tribute to thirty years of Superbikes. So motorbike enthusiasts are also in for a treat here.

Every year there is also a ‘First Glance’ moment. During this moment you see a number of cars during their first appearance on English soil. This year, the most striking cars were the Aston Martin Cygnet V8, the Bentley Bentayga Pikes Peak, the BMW 8 series coupe, the Ford Mustang Bullitt, the Lamborghini Urus, the Polestar 1, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and the Toyota A90.

The Michelin Supercar Run is also always worthwhile, if only because of its very exclusive character. You see so many extremely exclusive cars together here that, in the long run, you think it is almost the norm. However, if you take a look at the prices, you soon find yourself back on both feet again. We list a few for you. We saw an Apollo Intensa Emozione (2.3 million), an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera (0.3 million), a Brabham BT62 (1.35 million), a Ferrari 812 Superfast (0.3 million), a Ferrari FXX K Evo (4 million), an Italdesign Zeruono (1,7 million), a Koenigsegg Agera RSN and a Koenigsegg Regera (both over 2 million) a Lamborghini Centenario roadster (1.75 million), a Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta (15 million) and the most expensive production car ever! (see photo gallery below) a McLaren Senna (0.85 million), a Nio EP9 (1.4 million), a Pagani Huayra Roadster (3 million) and a W motors Fenyr Supersport (1.2 million). Actually, this list goes on and on, but it gives you a good idea of what’s out there.

As in previous years, the Red Arrows came to show their tricks, flying over almost every day with the necessary spectacle. When you see these guys at work, you can’t help but admire them.

We would like to conclude this report with the surrounding entertainment, as this also takes up quite a bit of space. We are talking about tents with car memorabilia, books, clothes, car parts, etc… But also on the stands you can find the necessary entertainment, ranging from races on racing bikes to photo opportunities where it looks like you are tearing through the bends on a motorcycle. At Mini, you could even get your hair done. There really is something for everyone and it is therefore no problem to fill a whole weekend here.

For the second year in a row Mont-Blanc is the timekeeper at the Festival of Speed. In the stables of BMW they again had a beautiful stand. In honour of the FOS they released a new Timewalker, taste and colour are personal but it certainly is my taste ;-).

After a very exhausting and warm edition, we could return home satisfied. We will certainly try to be there next time, and if we can give you a good tip, we can only suggest that you go too. In any case, you can already set up a ticket alert via THIS link.