There are two very big festivals on this weekend; both are a bit muddy (Thanks British Summer!), both are in places beginning with G and both have live music (Yes, really!).
But Goodwood is the only one where you can see top cars both from Motorsport and the road. (People driving into Glastonbury car park doesn’t count!)
Thursday sees the first day of the Goodwood festival of Speed as the Moving Motorshow takes place. It’s the only day where only road cars go up the hill as many of the UK’s top manufacturers show off their cars to prospective customers in the best way possible as they let them take the wheel on Goodwood’s famous hill climb course.
This year, there are a record number of new cars at the Moving Motorshow and main festival of speed this year with fifty new model debuts over the course of the show. Here are some of the highlights (in alphabetical order!)
The Abarth version of Fiat’s new 124 spider makes it’s dynamic debut with potential customers test driving several examples up the hill today. With the disappointing weather so far, it’s likely they’ll also be testing how watertight the roof is!
Alfa Romeo have their new Guila on display for the first time and it will be seen in action on the hill climb on the main festival days as part of the first glance class.
Small volume supercar manufacturers Arash and Arrinera debut their new supercars with AF10 from Arash and Polish company Arrinera take their Hussarya up the course.
Aston Martin have a lot going on with the dynamic debut of it’s DB11, the first appearance of the production specification Vulcan and the Aston Martin Vantage GT8. On top of this, they are showing off the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 Roadster. This is a one off creation for an unnamed customer by Aston Martin’s bespoke service; Q by Aston Martin.
Audi have a number of new models on display including the Q2 SUV, the S5 coupe, the TT RS Coupe and the R8 Spider.
Bentley have three new models, the Flying Spir V8 S, the new Continental GT3 and the New Bentayga luxury SUV.
BMW have a host of recent and past models on display as part of the centenary celebrations. They have also taken over both the stable yard and the cricket pitch with car displays. The Cricket pitch features a history of BMW’s M performance models. They also have the most noticeable feature of the entire event as the famous central display pays tribute to their motorsport past with three actual historic racing machines bolted on beams high above Goodwood house.
Bugatti have a single car but when it’s a car like the new Chiron, one car is all you need to make an impact. Expected to eclipse the Veyron as one of the greatest cars ever made in terms of performance as well as it’s dramatic looks. You can see it going up the hill during the main festival days.
Caterham have their extreme new Seven 620R on show on the hill. The term race car for the road gets used a lot and indeed this is the name of the class in which it’s entered but this car really is!
Chevrolet have their new Camaro ZL1 making it’s debut and their stand features a large American style café where you can buy food and drink.
Ferrari feature heavily with a stand in the Motorshow building and a display in the supercar paddock. They are showing new models including the 458MM, the California T Handling special and the F12TDF, possibly the final normally aspirated Ferrari.
Ford is celebrating the the 40th anniversary of the Fiesta and have the new ST200 hot hatch on display amongst their range. There is also the new ST line range for those who want performance car looks but with the greater efficiency and lower insurance costs of the more mainstream models. Their stand is well worth a visit as it’s packed with activities including a drop onto a giant crash mat, an activity usually only undertaken by stunt men!
Honda’s big debut is the new NSX Supercar but attention will also be grabbed by their massive stand which is in the shape of a giant children’s “Fisher Price” style garage. It’s an impressive site and sticks out amongst the various stands on site.
Jaguar have two debuts, the production version of the F-Pace SUV and the debut of the extra quick F-Type SVO. They share a stand with Land Rover where you can be thrown around a small test track in a Jagaur F Type or shaken up as they drive you over a large obstacle course in a Land Rover!
Lexus debut their new F series models and also have the new LC 500.
Maserati have another performance luxury SUV, their new Levante.
Mazda are concentrating on their Mx-5 model with the debut of the MX-5 RF and also the Spyder and Speedster Mx-5 concepts. They have a large stand on the main field with all their models as well as a smaller stand featuring live music (We told you!) next to the Supercar paddock.
Mini have their latest Mini Seven as well as the amazing looking Superleggera cocept.
Nissan have a new version of the GTR as well as a large stand. The GTR will be in action on the hill.
Porsche have the new 718 Boxster and the new 911 Turbo here for the first time.
A maker you may not have heard of is Riversimple. They aim to build a new fuel cell powered car called the Rasa and this will be making its world debut at Goodwood. They are hoping to find develop with crowdfunding, which if successful will be a world first. They aim to go into production as soon as 2018 and Goodwood will be an important shop window for them as they look to attract investment.
Renault are showing off new versions of the Megane and the Twingo as well as the new Clio RS. The Twingo GT is an exciting new version of the tiny Twingo city car. They have tuned it’s tiny 898cc engine to produce 108bhp. Renault claim this will produce a sub ten second 0-60 time.
Rolls Royce don’t have a stand but have the Ghost and Wraith Black badge editions will be going up the hill.
Singer have a more powerful version of their modified 911 Targa going up the hill during the three main days.
Tesla have a stand showing off all their latest models including the new Model X SUV which will be going up the Hill.
Toyota are showing off the latest version of the popular GT86 coupe and the Hydrogen powered Mirai. Plus going up the hill will be a pre production version of the C-HR SUV to be delivered in 2017 with orders taken later this year.
Vauxhall this year have gone for something different to a stand with the innovative family experience and crèche. This is full of fun things to do for younger festival goers including a pedal car derby where static pedal cars power smaller versions to participate in a race! With European Football championships currently on they’ve also made a football version of crazy golf, appropriately called Crazy Football! (Well what else would you call it?) On the car front they debut the GT concept car and a 544Bhp version of the Maloo pick up.
Volkswagen are celebrating forty years of the Golf GTI with the Clubsport S model on display and going up the hill.
Finally, Vuhl from Mexico will be showing off an upgraded version of the 05RR.
With so many debuts and with the chance to actually drive cars in a real world environment, the Goodwood FOS’s Moving Motorshow has become the biggest Motorshow in the UK. It’s a great way to kick off the 2016 Festival of Speed which gets underway on Friday.
The weather forecast is looking much drier and sunnier for Friday and it’s the only day with tickets left available as Saturday and Sunday are sold out so if you haven’t yet bought tickets and you’re tempted it’s Friday or nothing. There will be coverage of the Festival’s main hill climb event on Sky and ITV will be showing highlights from the festival. We will be providing coverage of many of the events going on and our new Facebook page will have an album of photos which will gradually grow over the coming days so keep checking back for more additons! By Marc Waller
