Centred on its famous hill climb, the Goodwood Festival of Speed brings together the great and the good of the automotive world in the Sussex countryside. It initially seems a curious location in which to reacquaint oneself with the smell of burning rubber, but for petrolheads the world over, it’s the place to be. From super exclusive hypercars to the next tranche of Chinese manufacturers seeking to make their mark outside their homeland, there’s something for everyone. We spent a Saturday taking it all in, visiting the quarry and the hill climb to see what’s what.
The first point to note is just how well organised the event is. Okay, not the most glamorous of topics to start on, but I’m at an age where I appreciate well organised parking arrangements. I was expecting to queue for a while to get in since its located on a B-road, but not a bit of it. Follow the signs, asks the stewards and a couple of minutes after pulling off the main road we were parked and ready to head in.
As an aside, this is the second best bit of parking arrangement I’ve ever seen. You’ll naturally be curious about the best. I went to see the LA Dodgers several years ago and there were 15 lanes into the car park and more than 30,000 cars inside. The car park was so vast it has its own valley in it. Scarred by trips to Silverstone and the hours wasted waiting to leave, I naturally feared the worst for our departure. Not a bit of it: in the car, straight out onto the highway. I was in awe.
Other than my brother’s semi-slick tyres struggling with the mud on the way out, it was 10/10 on the ease of access front.
In a nutshell, everything. Kit cars, supercars, sportscars, hypercars, off-road cars, racing cars… you’ll see the lot. Manufacturers use the event to showcase their wares and flex a bit of muscle. It was the first time, for example, that I’ve seen a Tesla Cyber Truck in the flesh. And yes, it’s every bit as appalling as you’d expect. Thankfully there was a Kimera evo37 next to it to soothe my eyes.
Just wandering around the Goodwood Festival of Speed is a pleasant experience. There are so many fascinating cars resting under gazebos awaiting their turn up the hill. There are also massive stands with manufacturers pushing their latest and greatest. If you’re restless with anticipation about the UK launch of the Hongqi H9, then there was an opportunity to get up close and personal with it ahead of time.
In fact, there’s so much to see that you could quite easily get your steps in for the day without even seeing the hill climb. We popped over to the Ineos Grenadier stand and had the pleasure of an hour at a nearby quarry putting one through its paces. You can read more about that here.
Of course, you can’t really miss the hill, nor would you want to. A burger and chips enjoyed near the start line offered the interesting culinary accompaniment of the scent of petrol and tyre smoke on the nose. It’s not the spot for a quiet bite to eat, but you don’t often to get to witness a procession of drift cars with your lunch these days.
The hill climb itself is taken very seriously. Setting records up it is a badge of honour among manufacturers, a way of peacocking to potential customers.
“It’s great to be here, I’ve absolutely loved it. We’re trying to make an impression so it’s mandatory to be here, too. This is the place to be now,” says David O’Connell, chief design officer at Czinger Vehicles. The Czinger 21C set a new production car record up the Goodwood hill climb of 48.82secs. That’s 1.16 miles up a narrow, twisty, single-track hill in 48.82secs. “We’ve had a really positive reaction to the cars. So many people have come along with their cameras and a lot of questions, so it’s been great.
“We’re going to sell 80 of the first batch of cars and we’ve taken a couple of orders whilst we’ve been here.” $2m if you’re thinking about putting an order in yourself. For that, you get one uniquely made and looking proposition. You could go away for a weekend, although your passenger sits directly behind you in the cabin. Perfect for keeping prying eyes away from the speedometer.
Czinger is a Los Angeles-based hypercar manufacturer with a new take on producing cars. “Our USP is definitely a different approach,” says David. “Being a 3D metal printer means that we can approach build and design in a new way. We’re religious in our determination not to use brackets; the 3D printing means that we can produce components in a different way to others, incorporating all support structures into the base part design. It also means that we can greatly reduce weight.”
“Kevin Czinger at Divergent3D (the company which runs the 3D printing side of things, leaving Czinger as a standalone car manufacturer) has spent a lot of time looking at how we can reduce waste,” explains David. “He realised that the bulk of the emissions don’t come from the tail pipe, they come from the manufacturing process. That kind of blew my mind, because he’s right. The more efficient we can be in the engineering process means that we can produce more environmentally friendly cars.
“The engineering process is usually reductive – you complete the process by taking things away. This only results in waste. 3D printing only adds what’s needed to the process, rather than taking away what’s not. It’s really cutting edge technology and thinking, which is something we’re happy to share. We’ve got contracts in place to provide components for companies like McLaren, too.
“Once we’ve sold 80 cars, then it’s onto the next model. I’ll be starting that process on the flight home to LA after the festival! We’ve got to be like Robin Hood and split the arrow with our next shot. It’ll be tough, but it’s also super exciting.”
There’s almost too much to mention from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s a wonderful experience in its own right, just being able to mill around in the sunshine (if you’re lucky) looking at the weird and wonderful of the automotive world. From the Cybertruck and the new Ford Capri to the Bugatti Tourbillon, Czinger 21C and a McLaren Senna decked out in Ayrton Senna livery, there’s something to keep you interested, one way or another, at every turn.
Having wandered around the stands and the stalls, we adopted a strategic location along the hill climb route only for the heavens to open and the rain to set in. Still, the sight of a Ferrari F40 creeping past was impressive and even in such conditions the McMurty Spierling looked a step ahead of anything else in terms of outright pace and acceleration.
After a competitive spell on the Gran Tourismo 7 simulator in the media tent (I didn’t get my eye in over 15 laps, finishing some seven seconds off the best time of the weekend) it was time to head home.
My brother has a C5 Corvette equipped with semi-slick tyres. A couple of hours of rainfall had muddied the way out. A slight angle at the base of the hill at the bottom of the car park was enough to mean our exit was a 2mph sideways slide towards to the main road. Mercifully, we were the only ones so stupidly kitted out; the route out was otherwise as easy as the route in. An amusing/slightly nervy end to a magnificent day out.
