The Goodwood Festival of Speed returned to southern England this past weekend for another gathering of the world’s greatest cars from every era of motorsport.
Despite scalding weather that bordered on torturously hot, the scene and setting on the property of the 11th Duke of Richmond still drew dense crowds eager to take in an unbelievable show featuring everything from the earliest horseless carriages to 1960s racing legends, Group B rally cars, Group C sports cars (below), modern EVs, and even motorcycles from every era.
Without a doubt, Goodwood FOS has transformed into one of – if not the – best motoring events in the world, highlighted by a hillclimb held right on site that keeps the paddock abuzz all weekend long. A timed shootout dictates that so much rolling automotive art needs to actually run well enough to race, all surrounded by centuries-old castle grounds dotted by displays and hospitality stands chock full of familiar and novel makes and models, many of which will never even reach the United States.
This year the combination of retro and modern aesthetics and performance coalesced more than ever into a unifying theme. Arguably the biggest name in the “restomod” industry, Singer, took the firm’s reimagined 911 sports cars a step further by mounting three on a sky-high statue reminiscent of the Gateway Arch in St Louis. But a series of modern recreations also revealed a burgeoning trend for enthusiasts who crave a renewed sense of analog delights whether racing up a hill, canyon carving on the weekend, or venturing out to the racetrack for some more hardcore fare.
McLaren M6GT
Fittingly, McLaren rolled out two new projects to display at Goodwood. Firstly, the 788HS debuted as the pinnacle of performance for the 750S platform, and as limited to only 200 units (all already sold) will somehow wind up more exclusive than the W1 hypercar. But the British racing giant also brought along a fun new project dubbed the M6GT. This historically relevant recreation of a prototype car harks back to Bruce McLaren’s first dream of a production model.
In this case, McLaren began work on a period-correct race car just seven months prior, using historic drawings and a set of “barn find” original body panels sourced from Specialised Mouldings. A small-block Chevy V8 with 48-millimeter Weber carburetors links to a ZF five-speed dog box, though the build required fully new fuel tanks and a custom wiring harness.
All told, the running and driving car reportedly required 4,000 labor hours to bring to life, though McLaren decided against entering it in the hillclimb. Instead, the M6GT will stay in the company’s private collection – though theoretically, could be one day made road-legal or may even inspire a line of continuation cars if customer response proves positive enough.
Bizzarrini 5300 Aperta Lusso
Though McLaren still dominates Formula 1 racing, defunct manufacturer Bizzarrini returns to life this year with the 5300 Aperta Lusso that arrived at Goodwood ready to run. The design carries on the Italian firm’s original low-slung sports car, albeit with body panels out of carbon fiber, carburetors replaced with fuel injection, and a host of additional modern creature comforts.
The concept from Bizzarrini appears to involve using the most advanced current technology to transform a vintage car into something absolutely prepared for daily driving – this exact example will wind up in Italy but recently finished an extensive shakedown run in Italy before coming out to Goodwood where driving for hours on end in the hot sun presented zero issues.
Bizzarrini eventually plans to build just 10 Aperta Lussos before focusing on a federally compliant car for sale in the United States, while a naturally aspirated V12 developed entirely in-house also fits into the mix.
Nichols N1A
As typical at a British automotive event, the influence of McLaren over many decades pervaded Goodwood. Case in point, the Nichols N1A fashioned by Steve Nichols, who designed the original McLaren MP4/4.
Today, the N1A takes lightweight performance to another level in the form of a tiny sports car weighing just 895 kilograms (1,973 pounds) but powered by a massive 427ci V8 built with custom throttle bodies and capable of pumping out an absurd 720 horsepower.
A gated six-speed manual gearshifter to the right of the right-hand driver’s seat features a replica of the shifter knob that Ayrton Senna apparently twisted off his MP4/4 after winning Monaco in 1988. Hydraulic power steering may not be necessary in something so tiny, but Nichols will option it regardless. And this analog featherweight can also come with air conditioning, features a front-axle lift system, with carbon brakes and wheels.
Nichols calls the N1A a “supercar” but in reality, a super driver will need to slide into the tiny cockpit to truly unleash every ounce of performance from something so radical.
Ruf B8 “Erprober”
Not every car at Goodwood perfectly straddled the divide between vintage and modern, though the line always blurs while discussing Ruf Automobile. This year, Ruf arrived with a fun prototype engine that traces back to Porsche’s own 908 race car, albeit slipped into a new chassis, as well.
Driver Tanner Foust spent the weekend trying to tame the twin-turbocharged 4.8-liter Boxer eight racing up the hill, with a rasping soundtrack and almost overwhelming turbo whine hinting at the claimed 1,000 horsepower and 737 lb-ft of torque on tap.
The new powerplant required lengthening the chassis of a Ruf CTR3 test unit by 100 millimeters (3.93 inches). But even if the B8 “Erprober” (for “tester”) generally resembles a Boxster or Cayman, the entirely ground-up chassis from Ruf proves just how far a dedication to all-out performance goes with the right budget.
Porsche never built a flat-eight for a production road car, and the 908’s engine was naturally aspirated only during the late-1960s before wrapping up competition in 1971. So, if Ruf decides to actually slip the B8 into a new model, these three days showing at Goodwood may wind up as a somewhat historically significant moment in and of themselves.
HWA EVO.R
While historic race cars made for most of the interesting cars at Goodwood, the HWA Evo.R combined the retro-styled theme with true racing success in the modern era. What originally started as a ground-up tube frame homage to the Mercedes 190E Cosworth eventually led to a true track star that arrived to Goodwood fresh off combat at this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours race.
For those in the know, the fact that the “A” in HWA stands for Aufrecht means a lot, as in Hans Werner Aufrecht whose surname provided the first letter in AMG. While developing the road-going Evo as a road car, HWA realized that the manual transmission wouldn’t work for N24 competition. Then, safety considerations like a roll cage and fire suppression system, as well as race tires and aerodynamics, led down a slippery slope toward building a closed-deck V6 engine and a sequential shift mechanism to replace the H-pattern and manually actuated clutch.
Despite the similarities, HWA built the R not as a road car being used to race, and built the road car not as a race car for the road. Both occupy unique positions internally, but the similarities nonetheless made this project unique at Goodwood, too.
Kimera K39 Pikes Peak
The Italian restomod firm Kimera, which specializes in wild Lancia 037-based creations, also brought a vision for serious competition to Goodwood in the form of the 039 Pikes Peak. As the name suggests, Kimera plans to race up a hillclimb that absolutely dwarfs anything in the entire United Kingdom.
Alongside a couple of other cars, the 039 appeared far larger and more focused, even if a closer look revealed just how much of a concept car it remains – with a faux steering wheel and no powerplant on the pedestal. Still, the idea of a hybrid all-wheel-drive restomod conquering Pikes Peak with a Koenigsegg engine proved quite intriguing for fans.
And, in fairness, it’s a bit hard to fathom the idea of a Kimera beating Romain Dumas in the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E, which once again set the fastest time for a third consecutive year this time around at the Goodwood hillclimb timed shoot-out. But the fire of competition only breeds better and better cars, so hopefully rising to the challenge inspires Kimera to continue work on the company’s awesome offerings.
Ending With An Epic Ride Up The Hill
Kimera’s Lancia-inspired rally car also served as a reminder of a trio of legit Lancia rally cars on site, and checking out the vintage scene required almost the full three days at Goodwood. But almost the best possible capstone for a perfect visit to the event came courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive and Dario Franchitti, who offered Petrolicious a ride in the passenger seat of the new Le Mans GTR prototype for a jaunt up the hill.
“This is the Ferrari F40, if the T.50 is the 288 GTO,” Franchitti explained while strapping into the Le Mans GTR’s central seat. “It’s Gordon's sort of love letter to Longtails. It's got bits of T.50, it's the SV [Special Vehicles] tub, so it's a hybrid of T.50 and T.50s. It's just a wonderful thing to drive. The old race cars are really the bedrock of Goodwood and everything's sort of tied round that, but we also love the supercars and demonstrations and being able to show off what we do.”
As Franchitti revved up the screaming V12 engine and launched off the line in the shade beneath a row of tree canopies, seemingly accelerating straight at a perpendicular hay bale a few hundred yards ahead, the concept of showing off all of a sudden became very real. That old rollercoaster stomach sensation gripped hard, until Franchitti whipped right into the sunshine with a quick hit of countersteering playing up for the cheering crowds.
A series of high-speed left-right-left transitions past grandstands and the main Goodwood House followed, before the bales tightened up quickly. Precision became more important here, especially once back under tree cover where a tall and very sturdy rock wall impinged on the course from the lefthand side. Try not to target fixate, then hammer full throttle as the road flattens out toward the finish line, and finally round about again amid quite possibly the greatest parking lot car show in the world up top, before a parade down at lower speeds once more.
Though GMA declined to enter the Le Mans GTR prototype in the timed shoot-out, hillclimb events like this are traditional fare across England typically held on sprawling estates – even if Goodwood itself has become something of an institution by now.
“The company, Gordon, myself separately, we all have a very close connection with Goodwood,” Franchitti said back in the paddock. “It’s such a dynamic motorshow. It's one thing to look at a car, but then here you see it, you hear it, you watch it, you listen to it. All the senses are there and so it's really important for all the manufacturers to be here.”
Drawing everything from vintage Bentley Blowers to modern EVs from China, Korea, and the UK to racing legends Mario Andretti, Damon Hill, both Dario and Marino Franchitti, Jenson Button, Valentino Rossi, current F1 stars Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Goodwood has simply become the automotive world’s primary focus in mid-July.
And amazingly, concurrent with this year’s Festival of Speed, Singer and Goodwood announced plans to bring the event to the United States with a similar program set for the revamped track at Willow Springs upon completion of planned improvements by fall 2028.
Photography: Michael Teo Van Runkle, RUF Automobile, Nichols Cars, Bizzarrini
