This year's iconic festival takes place from the 12th to the 15th of July, and this year's event is extra special, as the festival is celebrating it's Silver Jubilee!
The first festival, held in June 1993, redefined what a car event could be, and, in the years since, it has firmly established itself as the world's greatest celebration of motorsport and car culture. To commemorate this milestone birthday, the Duke of Richmond, the event's founder, will be picking his 25 favourite moments from the first 25 years.
It's not just the festival's anniversary that will be celebrated, as two iconic marques will be commemorating their own significant Jubilee in West Sussex this weekend. The central focus of this year's event will be the Porsche 356, which is celebrating it's 70th anniversary. The 356 was the original rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car of the Stuttgart marque, staring a lineage that survives to this day with the 911. The Central Feature, designed by Gerry Judah, will be erected in front of Goodwood house, making the German marque the first manufacturer in history to be commemorated with the Central Feature for the third time.
Land Rover's Platinum anniversary will also be celebrated at Goodwood, with a parade of 70 vehicles heading up the famous hillclimb. Featuring in this parade will be an original Range Rover, and one of the last Defenders to roll of the production line.
"It's a great occasion for us to be able to bring two iconic British institutions together in anniversary years. We're honoured to be able to host the Land Rover 70th parade up the hill for our Silver Jubilee." – Duke of Richmond.
The festival is renowned for attracting the rarest and most exciting road and race cars and motorcycles ever created, with this year being no different. Here are some of the standouts that will be making an appearance this weekend.
Special Edition Ford Mustang GT and Ford Mustang Bullitt
A special edition Ford Mustang GT paying tribute to the US fighter pilots who served in the RAF during World War II will be making it's world debut. This one-of-a-kind Mustang GT takes inspiration from the RAF Eagle Squadrons that flew over the fields of Goodwood nearly 80 years ago, so it's fitting that it makes its first appearance here. This car will be piloted up the hill by world champion Formula Drift driver Vaughn Gittin Jr on Thursday 12 July, and will be on static display throughout the rest of the festival.
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| Ford Eagle Squadron GT Mustang |
Accompanying this unique car is the all new Ford Mustang Bullitt, along with the iconic 1960s original Mustang GT Fastback, made famous by Steve McQueen in the film, Bullitt. Ford revived the Bullitt name with an all-new model launched at this year's Detroit Motor Show, to mark the film's 50th anniversary. Both cars will be taking on the hillclimb over the course of the four-day festival.
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| Mustang Bullitt '68 and '19 |
Goldeneye Aston Martin DB5
One of the most famous Bond cars is going to be going up for auction at Bonhams Festival of Speed sale at Goodwood on Friday 13 July. The Goldeneye Aston Martin DB5 is expected to sell for between £1.2 and £1.6 million. When bought by the current owner back in 2001, the car became the most valuable piece of Bond memorabilia ever sold. It has previously been on display at both The National Motor Museum and the Bond in Motion exhibition at Covent Garden.
"The DB5 is the Ultimate Bond car. Every fan remembers Pierce Brosnan tearing through the hills in this car, and it must be up there as one of the most thrilling Bond car chases in history." – Sholto Gilbetson, head of Bonham cars.
Roborace
Roborace will be attempting the first-ever fully driverless hillclimb when the firm's autonomous race car, Robocar, takes on the 1.16-mile track, guided only by automated systems. The vehicle will be tasked with navigating hay bales, flint walls and forests on the Goodwood estate, using a variety of sensors that give it 360-degree machine vision. In addition to this historic run, visitors will also be able to enjoy the hillclimb from the Robocar's point of view, in a custom, fully immersive VR experience in the Roborace booth, located inside Future Lab.
Tesla
The new Tesla Model 3 will make its European and UK debut, when it appears on the Telsa stand alongside the larger Model S Saloon, the Model X SUV and Tesla's home charging Powerwall. The Model 3 is proving to be popular in the States, with around 5000 cars rolling off the line a week – a milestone that was hit at the end June, just meeting Tesla's own quota target for the end of the 2nd quarter for 2018. According to tests carried out by the American Environmental Protection Agency, the Model 3 can cover 310 miles on a single charge. It's estimated that this car will cost around £30,000 when it hits the UK market in a year or so, and that's after the £4500 government grant for zero-emissions vehicles is applied.
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