Goodwood – Festival of Speed 2019

A brief summary of the highlights of this year’s show

The view we had from the Kinrara enclosure

It is that time of year again and the annual festival of speed went with a bang! This year the theme was the celebration of 70 years since Aston Martin first raced at this historic circuit.

Aston Martin themed central display

The iconic display in front of the main house was of course Aston Martin themed with their 1959 Le Mans winning DBR1 racing towards the sky, even today, their most celebrated victory.

Four Marks Car Club were there for the opening ceremony on the Thursday with the Aston Martin fireworks above the main house (seen above) and the featured display of historic cars from the iconic English brand roaring up the hill climb which included the Vulcan.


New Launches

De Tomaso

Of particular interest from this years event was the relaunch of the brand De Tomaso, who had their new hyper car on display both static and on the hill climb.

The De Tomaso P72

McLaren

McLaren revealed their first GT car at the festival, bringing two of the launch cars to the event. Both cars were in the controversial Gold colour scheme as seen below. Was this a nod to the client demographic they are aiming at? One was static on the McLaren stand and one could be seen flying up the hill climb.

McLaren GT

Anniversaries

Bentley celebrated their 100th anniversary at FoS ’19 this year displaying 30 iconic cars from their centenary.

100 years of Bentley

Pagani celebrated their 20th Anniversary this year.

In celebration of this monumental milestone, the Pagani’s UK arm organised the largest collection of Pagani Zonda and Huayra models ever seen in Great Britain, with almost 30 cars and their owners coming from as far afield as New Zealand, the USA and Hong Kong.

The Pagani that everyone is talking about right now is this, the Huayra Roadster.

20 years of Pagani

Jackie Stewart celebrated his 80th birthday at Goodwood this year and needless to say, there was an array of his finest race cars on display in the static area and on track. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of his first Grand Prix win at Silverstone

Sir Jackie Stewart aka the Flying Scot – 3 times world F1 champion

The Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’élégance

Heading over to the Cartier lawn this year, we looked forward to finding only the finest concours d’elegance vehicles. This year we were not disappointed as we found an extensive, ecliptic display of Fiat Arbarths as well as Aston Martin Lagondas, Bentleys and many other beautifully displayed vehicles.

Picture credit: Goodwood Website

Hill Climb Record

The hill climb record had been held for the past 20 years by McLaren with their 1998 MP4/13 Formula 1 car driven by Nick Heidfeld. However, this year the title was claimed by Volkswagen with their all electric I.D. R, driven by Romain Dumas.

Whilst this is amazing to see the record finally beaten, many will say this sparks the beginning of the end for competitive combustion engine vehicles both in motorsport and supercars for the road.

Like it or not, all electric supercars are on their way. Whilst the noise is not awe inspiring, the performance is likely to make up for it!

Volkswagen ID R – Picture credit: Goodwood Website

Helicopter Flight

A small bunch of members thought it would be a treat to see the scale of the festival from the air and therefore decided to book a helicopter to fly over the event. Two of the members had never been in helicopters before, so there was some anxiety before take off. However, that soon disappeared and everyone had their cameras out taking as much video and photos as they could.

Mini Gallery

As the sun goes down on the Festival of Speed 2019, I’m signing off and heading to the garden for a nice cold beer. Until the next time!

Greg G – FMCC

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