Goodwood Festival of Speed

 
 
  The Goodwood Festival of Speed - or simply Festival of Speed - is held every year in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England during the summer. It is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles.

Win a Ride in the Peugeot Onyx Concept at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed

When Peugeot revealed its wild 2012 Onyx concept, we knew that there was little hope of it ever seeing production and a short email exchange with the automaker confirmed our suspicion. So, we wrote off any chance of a private owner reeling in this awesome copper-highlighted concept car. Well, now there is a chance for one person to get his or her hands on it.

No, you can’t take it home, but you can get a ride in it. At the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Peugeot will raffle off a chance to take a ride in the 680-horsepower, diesel-hybrid-powered supercar at its first public demonstration at the 20th anniversary running of the FoS.

The ride will take place on July 13th and the raffle will take place on July 1st. What’s more, you also get two free tickets into the Goodwood Fos. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to UK residents and you have to provide your own transportation to the event.

If you’re interested, you can enter the contest here.

Click past the jump to read more about the Onyx Concept


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Video: Preview of the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed and a Drive in a Lamborghini Espada


The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of just a handful of places where you can see some of the greatest classic cars and new performance cars being driven the way they were meant to be.

One of the highlights of this year’s show will be Porsche’s celebration of the 911 turning 50 years old. In commemoration its half-centennial, Porsche will bring 911s from various years throughout its lifespan, including some legendary racing models. Seeing the cars side-by-side should give those attending the show an idea of just how the famed 911 has evolved over the years.

Fortunately, the wait is almost over, as we are winding down to this year’s Goodwood kick off, which comes in July. For us press guys, the Festival comes a little early by way of a preview event that has just completed.

This above video features Harry Metcalfe filming his time at the preview event and it opens with Harry driving in a Lamborghini Espada, which just so happened to be his ride to the event. He also hitched rides in some of the hottest cars that will grace the 2013 Goodwood FoS, including: a McLaren 12C Can Am, a race-prepped Lotus Exige and an Opel Manta 400. The amount of beauty and history in this video is simply astonishing.



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Renault Set to Present Two "Performance Oriented" Concepts at Goodwood

French automaker Renault has got a whole shindig planned for the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming July.

In attendance will be a host of its current models, including the Clio Renaultsport 200, the Captur crossover, and the ZOE, as well as some of its historical race cars and famous racers like Alain Prost, Susie Wolff, and Jean Ragnotti.

While that list is no doubt impressive, what really piqued our interests was the announcement of two "performance-oriented" vehicles that will make their debuts at Goodwood.

Renault has given no details on what these concepts will look like, but it did say that one of the models will be powered by pure electric, whereas the other will feature a gas engine.

That’s the most in the way of details the French automaker has given us. Lack of information notwithstanding, we expect a pair of notable concepts from Renault this coming July at Goodwood.

Read Renault’s press release after the jump



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2013 Ford FF1

The Ford FF1 isn’t exactly the kind of car you’d expect from the Blue Oval, but the three-cylinder, EcoBoost-powered single-seat racer sure is quite a ride, isn’t it?

Set to make its public debut at the 20th Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming July, the FF1 is the evolution of the Formula Ford Racer that was unveiled a few years ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show. That model was built to meet the FIA’s safety standards, complete with a tubular steel frame for the body, front and rear carbon crash structures, side-intrusion panels, wheel tethers, a removable seat and an FIA-approved head-restraint system.

More importantly, the FF1 proved to be quite the formidable Nürburgring slayer, completing a lap in just 7:22, the 11th fastest recorded time on the ’Ring’s time sheet, besting the likes of the Ferrari Enzo, Pagani Zonda, and yes, even the Lamborghini Aventador.

All that was possible, thanks to the car’s 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine that delivers 205 horsepower and mates to a six-speed manual transmission. This compact powerplant is capable of sprinting the FF1 to 60 mph in less than four seconds with a top speed of 158 mph. Equally important is its ability to cover 100 miles per gallon without any modifications.

So what’s the Ford FF1 going to do at the 2013 Festival of Speed? It’s going to be on display and, on top of that, it’s going to tackle the famous Goodwood hill climb.

Nothing will impress people faster than a lightweight little rocket beating supercars twice its size and three times more powerful. That’s the Ford FF1, folks.

Image Note: The above image is of the Formula Ford Racer, not the FF1. We will reveal the FF1 once Ford releases the images



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Evantra Produces a Full Size "AirFix" Model DBR1

Evanta Motor Company has made itself a nice niche in the automotive realm by manufacturing extremely accurate reproductions of some of the rarest Aston Martins in the world. The latest model it is selling is likely one of the most unique models to date.

Not only is this a model of the famed DRB1 that Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori piloted, but it is a full-size model. On the surface that sounds normal, but when we say “model,” we mean that as in the type you bought in the toy store as a kid... Yup, this model is a disassembled “AirFix” type model.

If you don’t recall, these are the types of models where the pieces are molded into square frames and you have to twist the pieces from the frames to separate them. This model includes all of the basics you would see in the standard “AirFix” model, including: race-ready seats, fiberglass body panels draped in Aston Martin Californian Sage Green, grille, wheels and tires, steering wheel, dashboard, gear shifter, and even a replica of the 1959 Le Mans trophy.

No, you can’t whip out the superglue and throw this bad boy together. This 20- by 10-foot beast is intended to sit in a rather spacious collection and be viewed by awe-struck onlookers. Everything in this kit is 100 percent identical to the model that won the 1959 Le Mans and to make it even more desirable, Evanta is including an Aston Martin baseball cap signed by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori, both of whom past away earlier this year.

You can catch a glimpse of this massive dedicatory piece at the Goodwood Revival Car Show, which kicks off on September 14th and lasts through the 16th. If you have some extra scratch laying around, you can also snag up this one-off piece, as Bonhams will be auctioning it off at the Revival Car Show. Unfortunately, no estimated pricing was given, but we are certain it’ll fetch in the $100,000 range.

Click past the jump to read Evantra’s official press release.



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Video: Porsche 911/991 Aero Kit at Goodwood


At the recently concluded Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Porsche Exclusive department unveiled an updated version of the new generation 911 which included a two-part rear spoiler with either the duck-bill style lip and the wing on top, a new front splitter, and new anthracite wheels. Under the hood, the output was increased from the standard 400 HP up to 430 HP. This improved version will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4 seconds and up to a top speed of 190 mph.

Lucky for us, Youtube user Shmee150 was out in full force at Goodwood and managed to shoot a cool video of the new Porsche Exclusive 911 Carrera S firing up the hill climb. Don’t forget to turn up your volume if you want to enjoy this amazing engine sound!



Video: Hennessey Venom GT shooting flames at 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed


A notable absentee from the recently concluded 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed was Hennessey. The American supercar manufacturer and tuner debuted the incredible Venom GT at the show in 2011, and prior to the conclusion of this year’s event, company founder, John Hennessey was nice enough to post an awesome video capturing one of the Venom’s many sprints up the famous hill climb.

With a GoPro Hero camera mounted to the rear-end of the vehicle, Hennessey managed to capture the car’s incredible exhaust note in all its beauty. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the incredible sounds of the twin-turbochargers spooling up when the throttle is applied.

However, the swan-song of this video comes in the final seconds where the Venom GT shoots some impressive flames after the hillclimb helping to exemplify just how mean this supercar is.

Considering the Venom GT can deliver 1200bhp in top tune, it’s little surprise that the car spits flames as easy as this one. This incredible peak horsepower output is achieved thanks to a Corvette ZR1 sourced V8 engine fitted with two turbochargers. As a result, the Venom GT is said to sprint to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds and Hennessey quotes a top speed of 275 mph.



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Video: Aston Martin Vanquish at Goodwood Festival of Speed


The new Aston Martin Vanquish made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and luckily for us, Youtube user Shmee150 was attending the show and shared his cool video of the new supercar with us.

Although it was not officially on display in the supercar paddock, the new Vanquish was whisked in and out for quick runs up the hill-climb where poeple could see it in action and also enjoy the amazing sound of the engine.

For those who do not remember, the new Vanquish comes as a replacement for the old DBS. It is powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 engine that delivers an impressive 565 HP and a peak torque of 457 lbs-ft. With this impressive amount of power under the hood, the car will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and up to a top speed of 186 mph.



All-electric Le Mans Prototype sets new record at Goodwood

Nissan wasn’t the only one to establish a world record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, even though theirs was probably the strangest: they drove the entire 1-mile Goodwood hill in reverse. A British racing team called Drayson Racing - don’t worry if you’ve never heard about them, we hadn’t either - managed to create an all-electric Le Mans Prototype that became the fastest electric car at Goodwood using the two years of experience the company has had at the Le Mans series.

Called the B12/69EV, this electric prototype was built on a Lola racing chassis and is powered by a pair of electric motors that develop an impressive 850 HP. With this amount of power, the car ran the 1.16-mile hill climb in an impressive 53.53 seconds. smashing the previous times established by both the Nissan Leaf NISMO RC - 60.18-second - and the Tesla Roadster - 58.77 seconds.

Hit the jump for a video of the record.


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The Nissan Leaf Sets an Odd Record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed


Okay, it is odd enough to say that the Nissan Leaf is running at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but it’s even odder to say that it actually set a lap record there. This strange record set at Goodwood was the fastest time up the famed hill while driving in reverse. That’s right; they drove the entire 1-mile Goodwood hill in reverse.

There are some people in this world that have a hard enough time backing out of their driveways, let alone driving a mile in reverse. Then again, many years ago, I had a friend drive his 1980’s Civic CRX in reverse the entire 3-mile trek home, after his transmission got stuck in reverse gear.

In order to set this record, the team that worked with Terry Grant, the lucky driver stuck taking on this task, actually removed the reverse speed limiter, so he could essentially drive the Leaf in reverse just as fast as he could. Well, he definitely didn’t hit top speed, as his best time came in at 1:53, which equals out to an average speed of about 30 mph.

That’s still an insane feat, though, as driving a car in reverse at 30 mph is definitely not a simple thing, but to traverse the Goodwood’s twisting track is a completely different animal. Hats off to Terry Grant and his team for coming up with such an insane idea and actually executing it.

You can see one of the videos of this stunt above and the other two can be found after the jump.


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