2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Held annually at the 12,000 acre Goodwood Estate in Chichester, England, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is a long running tradition that celebrates everything related to being a petrolhead. Featuring everything from motorsport displays to concept cars and design studies alongside vintage cars, the Festival of Speed has recently become a place for live demonstrations of the latest tech from the UK. Here's our roundup of the best of 2018.
Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
The new DB11 DBS gets lighter and more aggressive with the Superleggera, featuring an updated front-end with a gaping grille that feeds gobs of air to the 715 BHP 5.2 litre V12. Considering only the glass and the doors get carried over the from the base DB11, the Superleggera is supposedly a big step forward.
Bentley Continental GT3
The new Continental has geared up for GT3 spec endurance racing by donning aero and racing slicks. Alongside the hugely impressive looking GT3, the Continental's road going counterpart was displayed at Goodwood in all its rounded glory.
Eagle Squadron Mustang
Continuing Ford's tradition of releasing a fighter plane themed Mustang every year, the Eagle Squadron Mustang was debuted at Goodwood, commemorating the American pilots who flew for the RAF in World War 2.
Toyota Supra
The Supra is in the final stages of development, and Toyota used the Festival of Speed as a test track. The new Supra, which shares its platform with the next BMW Z4, appeared before the crowd at Goodwood in full GR Racing camo, with no official images of what the final product might look like.
Aston Martin V8 Cygnet
Originally badge engineered from the Toyota IQ as a way to lower the average carbon emissions across its model range, Aston has so far ignored the Cygnet city car with the hopes that it'd go away on its own. Now, they've made a U-turn and crammed in a Vantage V8 under its bodywork, with hideous wheel arches. Go figure.
Lotus Exige Cup 430 Type 79 and Type 49
Celebrating 70 years of Lotus, two models of the Exige commemorate two significant wins in Lotus history – the Type 49 for Graham Hill's win 50 years ago and the Type 79 for Mario Andretti's win 40 years ago. With special livery and colour schemes as well as loads of weight savings and power increases, the two special models are the most hardcore a Lotus has been in a while.
Ford Mustang Bullit
Serving as a preview for the 2019 Mustang Bullit, the iconic green paint harks back to the Mustang's greatest on-film appearance. Ford plans on selling the Bullit in the UK, and using pop-culture references is a good way to start converting Europeans onto the American muscle car craze.
Lego Porsche
Standing taller than an actual Porsche 930, the Lego brick version has a vague resemblance to the iconic rear engine sports car. We're not too sure why this needs to be a thing, but it's still cool.
Brabham BT62
A legendary British name in motorsport makes a return with the BT62, a 972kg racer powered by a 5.4 litre V8 putting out 700 BHP and 492 lb-ft torque. Enjoying immense success in endurance and grand prix motorsport in the 60s and 70s, Brabham continues the legacy of legendary racer Jack Brabham and engineer Ronald Tauranac, the original founders.
Siemens-Cranfield University autonomous 1965 Ford Mustang
Completely resembling a liveried 1965 Mustang on the outside, blistering with sensors and servos and GPS trackers underneath. The autonomous project, built by a Cranfield University team with sponsorship from Siemens, did the Goodwood hill-climb without any driver input – with a couple of minor errors on the way. Still a long way to go.
Roborace
One of two autonomous tech at this year's Goodwood event, the Roborace did the hillclimb without any driver, or even space for one. This is the first time a fully autonomous car has completed the course at speed – the all-electric 500 BHP drivetrain helped. A sign if things to come in the future of motorsport?
Goodwood statue
Celebrating 70 years of Porsche, this year's architectural marvel was a giant windmill of sorts with some of Porsche's most iconic models riding shotgun on the blades. Not quite as crazy as the sculptures at past instalments of the show, but still a fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest brands.