Lord March’s annual motoring garden party starts tomorrow 29th July until Sunday 2nd July. Every year I know what to expect and every year I’m amazed by something new. If you haven’t been, go, just go – its a petrolheads must do. This years theme is ‘Peaks of Performance – Motorsport’s Game-Changers’.
This year celebrates cars and bikes that were so good the rules had to be tweaked or changed to give everyone a chance – yes I’m looking at you Group B rally cars.
1000bhp turbocharged Grand Prix cars of the 1980s, unlimited Group 7 sportscars of Can-Am, the 750kg-formula European Championship leviathans of the mid-1930s and the powerful beasts of rallying’s Group B era are just some of the classics that will be on display as well as flying up the hill. Bike-racing fans will be able to marvel at many of the iconic 500cc Grand Prix bikes with their light-switch throttles and two-stroke powerbands, as well as 200bhp-plus MotoGP missiles and Isle of Man TT and World Superbike winners.
Manufacturers and specialists will be showing their latest wares and several companies are due to debut new models at the show. Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) has joined forces with Autodesk to create the ‘Art Car’ Mono which will be debuted at the Festival of Speed 2017.
Jaguar Land Rover is bringing its latest models including the most extreme performance Jaguar ever, the XE SV Project 8. Visitors will be able to see the latest limited-edition sports car on the Jaguar stand and appearing in the Michelin Supercar Paddock. A prototype of a new Jaguar XJ derivative will be in a special camouflage and completing final tests on the Goodwood hill climb over the course of the weekend. The car will be fully revealed later this summer. The new XF Sportbrake will be completing its Wimbledon Trophy Tour at Goodwood, arriving with Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Trophy in the boot. Also making its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017 is the newest member of the Range Rover family, the Velar. Designed to fit between the Range Rover Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
Alfa Romeo will be making its first UK debut of its new SUV, the Stelvio. Historic cars from Alfa Romeo will also be on display including the Alfa Romeo GTAm, Alfa Romeo 33/3 Le Mans and the Alfa Romeo 155 DTM.
Another major highlight of this years event is the 70th anniversary of Ferrari. At least 70 of Maranello’s finest will be in attendance. Ferrari road and race cars will be found at the Festival, including competition sports cars, single seaters, road cars and the very latest supercars. A number of Ferrari’s from their successful motorsport history will be in action up the famous Goodwood hill. Among these will be around 25 iconic single-seater Ferraris, covering each of the key post-war Grand Prix eras, powered by four, six, eight and 12-cylinder engines, with normal aspiration, superchargers and turbos.
Sports cars in action will chart Ferrari’s landmark successes in all the great endurance races, from the late 1940s right through to the present day. A mouth-watering line-up of current production cars will grace the Michelin Supercar Paddock, as well as running on the hill. On a calmer note, one of the classes in the popular Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance will be dedicated to Ferrari’s legendary 250 models – named after the 3-litre V12 which propelled the Scuderia to countless victories on-track, as well as powering some of its most iconic road cars.
If you can’t make it Goodwood will be live streaming on Youtube 29th June 2017 at 10am – https://youtu.be/NEhEbPoDtHo
More information at Goodwood’s official website – https://www.goodwood.com/flagship-events/festival-of-speed/