Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013

The Thursday on the eve of the festival has evolved into a spectacularly successful event in its own right, the Moving Motor Show. An opportunity (if arranged in advance) for the general public to drive a range of vehicles around a test circuit incorporating the famous hill climb.

Alongside the drives up the hill climb the whole of the immense Goodwood in field is already open for business and while the cars that will run up the hill climb over the subsequent three days are not participating the majority are already located in their various paddocks for attendees to gaze admiringly over. So although disappointingly I had not managed to arrange any of the test-drives available there was more than enough to fill a day. Walking into the covered area that housed the manufacturers taking part in the Moving Motor Show you are greeted with as wide a range of manufacturers and vehicles as you could find at any trade show. Whether it was Abarth with a fleet of 500s or Audi with both the R8 and RS6 to Ferrari and Porsche all offered the opportunity to try a test drive with a difference. The smiles of many a driver returning to the marquee suggested that it was a great way to promote and sell cars. By the sounds of things the most fun award must have gone to anyone who got to drive the Polestar s60 – stunning in electric blue and with a soundtrack to match its 500+bhp generated by the turbocharged in line six. My guess is that Volvo could shift a ton of these without having to do very much at all although fitting them into a suitable price point is probably a challenge.

Across the infield it's easy to see why Goodwood is now the UK's car show. Huge stands cover an staggering area and reflect representation from Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Skoda, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Infiniti and Audi to name but a few. With it being relatively quiet on Thursday it provided an excellent opportunity to drop by and see and discuss manufacturers' latest and greatest. First stop was Mercedes who (wisely I think) had dedicated their stand to AMG, that offered the opportunity to see the A45, CLA45 and C63 Edition 507 all resplendent in white with in the latters case a decent helping of carbon. I was particularly impressed with the CLA45 that very much looked and felt like a premium saloon and with a ton of power to match. For those requiring more of a boot the A45 offers the same level of quality but in a hatch and one with 355bhp! It looks like we are spoiled for choice in that area with the M135i and S3 also very attractive propositions. Alfa while not participating in the 'moving' part of the show did have the new 4C on display although securely sectioned off in their 'showroom'. A massive thank you to Oliver Lowe however who agreed to take me round the 4C in detail. And what a car it is! Some readers may remember that at first sight at the Geneva Motor Show I was not sure whether the styling altogether worked. Well having spent some time close up with the car I can safely say I've changed my mind. It's a stunning piece of engineering and the first car that I've sat in that without driving has given me goose bumps. The driving position is excellent, all the instruments and buttons (of which there aren't many) face onto the driver and the exposed carbon fibre tub accentuates the experience. The car features a modified version of Alfa's 1750 turbo engine that in a car weighing 875kg (before liquids and the driver) should be more than enough (the 0 – 62mph time is quoted at 4.2s). All the limited edition first run cars are sold and if you are not in the queue when general orders start in the next week or so then you could be in for a wait of up to 2 years. Best be picking up the phone to Alfa I think. Something less scarce but still interesting was unveiled on the Skoda stand over the weekend, the new Octavia vRs that looks like fantastic value. In petrol guise with the excellent VW DSG gearbox you can have a 6.8s estate for circa £27k. That also includes pretty much all of the options on top of what is already a very tasty standard spec. It looks great in both white and electric blue and the restyled front end looks both modern and subtlety aggressive. Audi turned their increasingly gargantuan stand over to their performance range featuring a variety of RS and S cars including the new S3, the RS7 and the SQ5. After the A45 AMG I was (surprisingly) a little disappointed by the interior of the S3 which although maintaining a number of nice Audi touches felt a little cheap in some areas (especially compared with my S4). The RS7 and its Avant sibling the RS6 looked stunning however. The former in what looked like a storm trooper grey with huge 6 spoke wheels and massive air intakes. The latter in matt grey looked incredibly stealthy which can only be good for an 189mph estate!

Several others of the mainstream manufacturers also had impressive stands with Ford's highly regarded Fiesta ST taking pride of place in their 3-story cube. Seat had an incredible looking Ibiza SC Trophy on the stand that hopefully bodes well for continuing their line of warm hatches in the current Ibiza and Leon models. VW dedicated a lot of their presence to the Golf GTi that looked equally good in the flesh as it does in the advertising. A particular favourite of mine were the tartan seats that not only pay homage to the original car but also make a welcome change from current interior options. VW had also handed over a GTi to Ian Cook (aka popbangcolour) to apply his own brand of customization. Over the course of the festival weekend the car was transformed from its base white colour into a stunning piece of artwork in its own right. Alongside this VW offered a number of technology driven activities all controlled by your own RFID bracelet. A true sign of the way in which car manufacturers and shows such as Goodwood can interact more closely with the car buying public.

It wouldn't seem reasonable to talk about Goodwood as the UK's motor show without mentioning three brands synonymous with the UK car industry over the years. Firstly Mini who continued to emphasise the 'fun' nature of the brand with a dodgem car ride for visitors to enjoy when they had finished deliberating over the myriad of options you can personalise your mini with. Although the stand displayed all the current models the highlight for me was the original mini cooper highlighting the heritage the brand enjoys. It was wonderful to see Mini recalling that heritage with Paddy Hopkirk signing autographs and recalling his famous victories while visiting the stand on the Saturday. Not far from Mini, Caterham reflected a different but equally significant British success story. As you would expect from such a driving focused company the stand was entirely focused on the car with the R620 making its debut alongside the Le Mans car recently returned from La Sarthe. Although at circa £50k the R620 sounds expensive there is no doubt in my mind that Caterham will find many willing purchasers looking for an incredible driving experience melded with hugely impressive performance. It helps that the car looks incredible too, maintaining the classic styling but doing so with all the right tweaks to emphasise its hard-core nature. Finally onto Jaguar where the F-Type featured prominently alongside several performance models from the existing range. All three of the models in the range were featured with most interest seemingly focusing around the V6 S. My take focused on simple things: the wonderful way in which the door handles sit flush to the body of the car and pop out when required (although my S plate Fiat Barchetta had the same trick); the fact that it looks much better in red than silver and that at its price point how many potential purchasers would choose something from Stuttgart instead.

Porsche, rightly so, were a key participant in the festival. The main display in front of Goodwood house heralded the 50th anniversary of the 911. The towering sculpture featured three hugely recognisable and significant 911s and provided a snapshot of the evolution of the vehicle over its lifetime. Porsche continued the theme with their own display featuring five generations of the 911 up to the current iteration. Porsche were not the only significant manufacturer celebrating an anniversary. McLaren Cars are also celebrating 50 years and did so at Goodwood both on and off the hill climb. Occupying the space next to the Supercar pavilion the static display featured both the racing side and the customer side with their P1 'hyper car' taking centre stage underneath a video screen recalling the highs and lows of the McLaren history to date. On the hill climb the anniversary was celebrated with a selection of Formula One cars and an epic (in looks and volume) Can-Am car alongside a black P1. An appropriate way of tying together past, present and future. Lamborghini are also celebrating 50 years and while there was no manufacturer presence the entrance to the Drivers Club showcased the evolution of the brand from the Miura to the Aventador. For me it was a brilliant opportunity to see the evolution of styling over the years with clear design traits flowing throughout.

As any previous visitor to the Festival will know the opportunity to get up close and personal with a huge range of classic, historic and current vehicles is probably unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The paddocks are divided into the likes of Formula One, Supercars, Sports cars, Touring Cars and Rally Cars (which compete over a purpose built rally stage at the top of Goodwood Hill). You only really realise the spectacular range of vehicles when you walk through the paddocks and within minutes experience a 1950s Mercedes firing up in a cacophony of crackles and pops while the 2013 Le Mans winning Audi E-Tron sits silently beside both waiting their opportunity to pace their way up the famous Hill Climb in search of bettering that elusive 41.6s or simply entertain the throngs of fans packing the grandstands and the grass verges separated from the cars by only a thin layer of hay bails.

Standing at the side of the entrance to the Cathedral Paddock waiting for the Sports Cars to take to the hill gave an opportunity to get up close and personal with two of my favourite cars of all time the Silk Cut Jaguar Group C racers. Justin Law's XJR8/9 ultimately ended up with the fastest time over the hill in 2013 showing just how fast and adaptable these huge sports cars truly are, not to mention the skill and bravery of the driver. Being within 2 feet of these monsters as they fired up is an experience you can achieve several times over a festival weekend but one that will last with you for a long time to come. Closely following the Jaguars came representatives from Alfa Romeo and Corvette each dramatically different in styling and sound but focused on the same goal. And where else could you see that cavalcade of machinery followed by the 208 T16 Pikes Peak car which Sebastian Loeb used to demolish the mountain in 2013. With the hill climb perfectly suited to that type of vehicle it came as no surprise that it set the joint fastest time ahead of the top 10 shoot out on Sunday afternoon.

The majority of Formula One manufacturers are strong supporters of the event bringing an array of machinery with them and complementing it with a both their race and test drivers. As a result this year's Festival saw the likes of Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes, Sebastian Buemi for Red Bull, Marc Gene for Ferrari, Sergio Perez for McLaren all entertain the crowd in a variety of recent cars. Most impressive for me was Nick Heidfeld who not only drove the McLaren he set the 41.6 second hill climb record in but also set a scorching pace in the Rebellion Lola Le Mans car. Further representatives from the world of sports car racing were Allan McNish in the Le Mans winning Audi and Alex Wurz in the Toyota. However its not only the modern racers that take centre stage at the Festival. There aren't many other places where you can see the likes of a Mercedes W196, a Tyrrell 006 from the 1970s or a Brabham BT52 driven by three-time world champion Nelson Piquet. Similarly Le Mans winners over the years are strongly represented with this year's festival featuring the Bentley Speed 8, a Ford GT40, and the BMW V12 LMR all of which have conquered La Sarthe over the years.

Evidencing how the Festival caters for every taste, the Supercar paddock features some of today's most desirable cars. Highlights for me were definitely the Porsche 918, the bespoke Ferrari SP12EC and the Aston Martin centenary concept. It's another wonderful facet of the Festival that you can get up close and personal with just about every single car there whether it's current exotica or a classic pre war juggernaut.

Taking a walk up the hill and away from the main paddocks brings the Forest Rally Stage into view: a superbly crafted woodland stage with technically challenging corners and opportunities to push to the limit of driver and car. As with the hill climb every possible age of world rallying is represented whether it's a pair of 1963/ 64 Mini Cooper S, to the Group B monsters of the early to mid 1980s and today's current technically advanced representatives from the likes of Skoda and Citroen.

What's clear to see is that after 20 years the Festival continues to go from strength to strength with each passing year bringing more people and more for them to experience. Not only do all the original elements of the Festival endure with age but the increasing interest and support of the world's major manufacturers mean summertime trips for a weekend of motoring inspired frivolity will remain on the calendar well into the future.

Once again we are grateful to Kevin Bennett for his excellent photography