Goodwood Festival of Speed was, as always packed with hundreds of iconic cars from over the last 100 years. Here are my 10 favourites.
I somehow missed Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2022 and 2023, but this year I headed down again to be reminded what a mammoth event it is. I spent much of my time near the start line, with my eyes peeking down at what was coming next, my ears being battered by the sound of unrestricted racing motors on the limiter, and my nose lined with burning rubber.
After barely managing to fit the whole show into a single day, there were so many cars on display I'd love to mention like the gorgeous Singer Turbo and the classics on the concours lawn, but I'm being strict and keeping it to the cars that ran up the hill and excited me the most. More and more electric marvels are taking to the Goodwood hill every year, but that’s not my bag, so given my love of noise, this might as well read my top 10 best-sounding cars from the day. In no particular order, here goes!
Stood by the start line for the ‘Supercar’ batch, I was a little disillusioned as the latest super-powerful cars flew by with just a suggestion of exhaust note thanks to their turbochargers and OPF filters.
But then, an almighty rev came from the line as something special lined up. Is it a banshee? Is it an F1 car? Nope, it’s a Pagani Huayra R, and it has one of the most wonderful, screaming V12s I have ever heard. Limited to just 30 examples for 30 individuals whose lives are going decidely well, it is a serious machine purely made for track with 850hp up at 9,000rpm, and I can only imagine hearing a few of these things hammering around Monza.
Following the Huayra R is a tough act, but the Jesko Attack still sounded pretty biblical to me. Its V8 has more of a howl than the typical Koenigsegg growl, and it just sounds of pure power — 1,600hp might explain that. More extreme aerodynamics than the ‘regular’ Jesko are capable of producing up to 1,400kg of downforce, claiming to make this the ultimate track weapon.
Koenigsegg test driver Markus Lundh even took part in the shootout and had a very hairy moment on the grass under braking into Molecomb, but still managed a time of 50.2 seconds, just 1.5 behind a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup which had a very clean run.
If you were at Secret Meet, I’m pretty sure the GMA T.50 passing by the pit wall at 12,000rpm will have left a lasting impression. The T50s ‘Niki Lauda’ turns that same incredible scream up to 11, and I needn’t say any more than that!
Compared to the standard T.50, the S has huge aero capable of up to 1,200kg of downforce, considerably more than the 900kg the car weighs, and the V12 is turned up to 772hp, through a six-speed paddle-shift gearbox instead of the standard car’s manual.
Now this was a very cool debut at Goodwood this year. Drifter ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett is famous for his outlandish creations, but this is another level. With development input from Lanzante, this is a mashup of a 650S GT3 base with some bespoke P1 LM/P1 GTR bodywork, and just a 1,000hp Mazda three-rotor engine and a six-speed sequential box.
Now a 650S GT3 certainly isn’t made to drift, so there’s custom suspension, a new steering rack and hydraulic handbrake. It sounds insane with that high-pitch rotary whale, and it makes lots, and lots of smoke!
For me, this was one of the coolest cars at the show. It never raced at Le Mans due to issues with regulations, but it had great success in GT racing in its day. Just 10 GT1s were produced, and whilst I’m not sure about the history of this particular car, the Schumacher-era Ferrari-esque Vodafone livery suits it nicely.
Most importantly for those standing trackside at Goodwood, the V12 sounds absolutely mental, and watching this era of GT racing live must have been an absolute treat.
One of my favourite cars from Secret Meet, I think this is one of the coolest racing cars of all time. The car had a slow start in 1987 but eventually won the World Sportscar Championship in 1989 and took a 1-2 finish at Le Mans the same year.
Whilst every car I’ve mentioned so far has been a bit of a screamer, the C9 is a thunderous beast with a V8 sound akin to an old Can-Am racer, and with a top speed of 248mph down the Mulsanne Straight, it’s one of the fastest cars (in a straight line) to grace the Le Mans circuit to this day.
Not much needs to be said here because we all know what a legend this car is. The super-cool Gulf/Davidoff liveried car on the Lanzante stand with matching P1 and Senna GTRs was simply stunning, but to see the yellow and blue liveried ‘27R’ in action on the hill, its driver not being shy either, was very special.
It’s one of just 10 ever produced, previously sold by our friend Tom Hartley Jnr. It raced at Le Mans in 1997 and was driven throughout the 1997 season by Chris Goodwin, including a win at Silverstone. Like every other car on this list, it sounds absolutely next-level thanks here to an NA BMW V12.
My ears have just about recovered from this one! As part of a celebration of 20 years of Red Bull, several cars ran up the hill driven by famous drivers past and present including Max Verstappen. At the weekend, Daniel Ricciardo got behind the wheel of RB7, Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 championship-winning car, and put on quite the show with burnouts and donuts galore on his way up the hill, with the NA V8 bouncing off the limiter at a deafening 18,000rpm!
If my ears weren’t kaput after RB7, this made sure of it. This is Williams’ 2004 car for the latter part of the season (post-Walrus nose), and even though it enjoyed very little race success, I love this car. Perhaps it’s the rose-tinted glasses from watching Montoya drive it when I was a child, perhaps it’s because I love its design, perhaps it’s the BMW V10 which makes it one of the best-sounding F1 cars ever in my book.
Our friends at Williams Heritage reunited Juan Pablo Montoya with the car at Goodwood and he certainly made that V10 heard!
