The Goodwood Festival of Speed is, in my opinion, the mecca of the automotive world, an awesome gathering point for all those who love and breathe cars (and pretty much anything with an engine, really). Best of all, there’s no such thing as prejudices when you arrive under the magnificent shadow of Goodwood House, either. Whether you like new-age EVs or the classics of yesteryear, or whether you admire loud drift cars or the provenance of multi-million-pound hypercars, every petrolhead is welcomed here, no matter who you are.
With that being said, the 2024 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed – which last year celebrated its 30th birthday – was equally a fabulous affair. There’s so much to talk about, and I’m not even sure I could include everything in this one, short article, but here are just some of the cool new sights and cars (among many more) that I came across while walking around this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed…
Fresh New Cars Aplenty
Usually, automakers use the Goodwood Festival of Speed as a pseudo-car show, where they tease or announce new cars. The 2024 edition of the Festival of Speed is no different, with a bevvy of new vehicles coming soon to a showroom near you. The most eye-catching – and you really can’t not see it, given that it’s dominated the skyline over the Duke of Richmond’s nice country home – is the all-new MG Cyberster. That, and a ton of other MGs alongside it.
Yes, MG is back with a vengeance, returning to its sports car roots, but now electrified. I’m not sure just how many MG enthusiasts are happy with the fact that a new MG sports car is an EV, but I think that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a new car for a new breed of customers, and I can at least appreciate that MG’s tried to make it unique, yet remain rather attainable, too! MG has a bunch of other electric performance cars too, including a fetching EX4 Concept.
However, if you – like me – are a more old-fashioned petrolhead, then good news, Ford showed off their new Mustang GTD. It’s pretty expensive, for sure, particularly compared to a ‘regular’ Mustang, but the GTD has everything under the hood to take on extreme track racers like the 911 GT2 RS. That includes trick race-bred pushrod suspension, extreme aerodynamics, and a gigantic, supercharged 5.2-litre V8 engine, cranking out an eye-watering 800hp!
Best of all, the Mustang GTD doesn’t just look the part, it sounds like one, too. It’s a massively thunderous soundtrack, almost like war drums beating across the horizon, and Ford’s Mustang GTD easily out-volumes every other car I’ve heard so far at Goodwood. Speaking of Ford, they dusted off the old Supervan idea once more, and this new one is basically an electrified Transit turned into a race van. It’s fast too, with 1,400hp, and easily conquering the hill climb.
Red Bull Racing Mania
So, here’s something I noticed at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed – so much Red Bull! No, not necessarily the energy drinks, but their branding. They made quite a splash this year, which included not just bringing along a huge collection of F1 cars, past and present, but the many other race cars branding the iconic Toro Rosso. There were a couple of really cool BMW M Red Bull drift cars, which made quite a cool spectacle burning rubber down Goodwood.
They’re certainly among the more extreme drift cars that I’ve seen so far, with way more mods than I could spot from a distance. Speaking of drifting, there’s even a McLaren P1 drift car, also wearing the Red Bull livery. What’s unique about this particular P1 is that it’s powered by none other than a spinning Dorito – a rotary! This rotary swap puts out 1,000hp, and as heretical as it might sound, I quite like it. Plus, it’s got turbofan wheels, so how can you not love it?
And yes, there are more Red Bull cars, including a not-a-BMW Supra drift car, and just when I thought I was done seeing Red Bulls, Ford unveiled their latest attempt at tackling the Dakar rally. The Raptor T1+ featured rally-spec tyres, Fox suspension, huge wheels, a unique chassis made just for Rally Raid events, and best of all, a Coyote-based 5.0-litre V8 engine. Godspeed to the folks piloting this monstrous thing, because it does look like it’d be a handful to drive.
Drifting Through Goodwood
If you like the art of drifting, then oh boy, did you miss a lot if you hadn’t gone to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Aside from the ones I already mentioned so far, there are way more drift cars than I could count. So, in no particular order… There’s a C6 Corvette, which seems rather fitting as a drift car, but what is rather unexpected is a Nissan GTR, no doubt converted into rear-wheel drive to make it slide menacingly like that.
Then, there’s my personal favourite, an S15 Silvia – always wanted one of those – with its very large rear wing just barely obscuring another love of mine, the E92 M3. In drift-spec, this M3 even wears the iconic Falken teal-and-blue livery, which we seldom see outside of Japan and JDM circles. Oh, and just when you’re done with Red Bull, it also adorns a Lexus RC F drift car. So, for those of you who think Lexus is for old people, just wait until it starts going sideways!
There are an abundance more drift cars that I’d like to talk about, but moving onto cars that actually drift in a straight line and grip, it’s worth checking those out, as well. The legendary Goodwood Hillclimb sees a plethora of neat cars, all wanting to out-pace each other, but for me, I’m content just enjoying the sights (and the sounds). Amongst all the tricked-out racers and track day toys, the prettiest, to my eyes, is the ultra-exclusive Ferrari Daytona SP3.
However, as much as the young’uns might like it, I dare say I preferred the F40 LM, with that loud, racy turbo whistling through the greenery around Goodwood. For the nostalgic among you, there’s also a resto-mod Lancia 037, sporting some handsome rally lights and a Martini livery, and almost as if it’s my birthday, there’s an E36 Super Touring car. For fans of German race cars, elsewhere, there’s the CSL Batmobile, before leaving me in awe of the Sauber C9.
A Sea Of Bright Orange
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, in the drab colours of the British countryside, brings a nice palette of bright colours. Although, of all the many brightworks and paints that I’ve seen this year at the FOS, I’ve noticed a lot of orange. Walking past the McLaren Senna and the Miura, there was Lamborghini’s latest flagship supercar, the Revuelto. I’m not going to pretend like I know how to pronounce that properly, but with a hybrid and a massive V12, I’m a fan!
And on the subject of orange fever, Genesis had a huge display of their all-new Magma sub-brand. Focused more on performance – and madness, clearly! – than luxury, Genesis Magma cars made a good showing at this year’s Festival of Speed. Sure, there are a lot of concept cars here that’ll never make it the light of day, including one that you can only get by playing Gran Turismo, but stay tuned, because at least some of these will make it to a dealer near you.
Okay, expanding the colour spectrum just a tiny bit to encompass something near enough to orange, there’s a particularly cool red car that caught my eye… The return of the Prelude. Yes, Honda is bringing back the Prelude, and it’s confirmed for the UK market! It’s nice to see that Honda has stuck with the 2-door coupe form factor, but unlike its long-dead predecessor, this new Prelude comes with hybrid power. Not sure how that’ll go down, but we’ll see.
Speaking of coming back from the dead, Ford has brought back the Capri, too. Looking rather neat in yellow, what I’m not 100% down with is the idea that the Capri name is slapped onto a mid-size crossover, and an electric one at that. I’ll judge this when I’ve had some time behind the wheel, but I’d imagine quite a few Ford fans aren’t going to be happy with it. Still, at least it’s not as tragic of a sight as Travis Pastrana’s Subaru Gymkhana wagon crashing into a haybale.
Racing Through The Ages
What is Goodwood if not a celebration of motorsport, as it is heaven for car enthusiasts. As expected, there are a lot of race cars – not just the ones I’ve highlighted so far – from the past and into the present. There is a sea of Porsche racers, though not being a Porschephile, I’m not really sure what each of these models is. One of them is definitely a 956, alongside a 911 RSR, and there are at least another umpteen different 911s making up the Goodwood roster.
There’s a beautifully blue Charger Daytona, alongside a delightfully purple Group C Jaguar. I also can’t escape thinking about how much provenance and history all these race cars have. Whether it’s a Ferrari 250 GTO or a Maserati MC12 GT1, all of which share the same bit of tarmac as a classic Mercedes Silver Arrow race car (not really sure which one, specifically), in addition to a Formula E Jaguar. It’s impossible not to have your jaw drop when you see them.
So, is that enough for you? Have I managed to convince you to book a trip down to next year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed? If not, then clearly I’m missing something, because if you are a pure-blooded petrolhead and car enthusiast – and especially if you live in the UK – how can you not come and check out all these cars yourself? If not for the cars, even the sort of people you mingle with, all like-minded car lovers, make for a lovely weekend out in the countryside, with the rumble of a V12 and screeching of burning rubber occasionally piercing the silence.
Credits for all these photos go to a friend of Motor Verso, Jay Sidhu.
