Goodwood Festival of Speed: Alive and Kicking

Contrary to popular belief, the motor industry is alive and well… and Goodwood Festival of Speed once again proves this point. 

This annual automotive extravaganza isn’t an out-of-touch bubble of petrol-headed enthusiasts descending on Lord March’s estate – it’s proof that there’s hope for an extraordinary industry.

I’m the first to talk about the future of the business, where incredible technology will deliver a safer and more efficient transportation network, but I’ll always counter this with a need for brand individuality and a personal love of driving. Give me autonomous commuting, but hands-on engagement for those twisting back roads. I want to see alternatives to fossil fuels, but silence isn’t always golden so deliver the sound of the future, not merely the vision.

I’ve written enough about Goodwood to avoid repeating myself again, but this incredible event is a sell out every year. Attendees of all ages reminisce about past racing glories, touch the supercars of today and marvel at the concepts for the next generation of characterful transportation.

You won’t find bottom-of-the-range city cars – this is about realising potential and dreaming big and it’s how the brands with panic in their eyes can best educate future audiences to the benefits of driving and ownership.

From a stunning show, I’ve chosen my top 4 cars and the best luxury and volume brands…

4 > Renault R.S. 2027 Vision

A stunning realisation of the future of F1 racing, from the company already bringing us Formula E racers and their own F1 efforts. I hope Formula 1 reaches this level of design thinking before 2027!

3 > Jaguar XE SV Project 8

Jaguar’s smallest offering (until the I-Pace arrives) on steroids. The SVO team has injected 200mph and 600PS into this saloon to deliver 0-60 dash in 3.3 secs and a great looking car. I love the honeycomb face.

2 > Aston Martin Valkyrie

Bringing the hyper to hypercar, this automotive project with RedBull Racing looks more like a fighter jet for the road. It’s hard not to appreciate the aerodynamic superiority and unashamed nod to the future. Very nearly my number one but the green centre stripe loses a point. It works on a Ford GT, but seems unnecessary here – even if it is a nod to the racing team.

1 > Robocar

Top spot goes to a car encompassing design, innovation, technology and the future of autonomous racing. This vision of supremely talented British designer Daniel Simon is driving its development alongside the Formula E racing series and ticks all the automotive boxes.

Top Luxury Auto Manufacturer > BMW

This sporting marque brought the beautiful 8 Series Concept to Goodwood, alongside the hybrid i8 supercar in some adventurous liveries. These halo models continue to filter their design inference down to the rest of the range and push technological development without sacrificing driving pleasure.

Top Volume Auto Manufacturer > Renault

A great show for Renault! Not only hitting my top 4 with their R.S. 2027 Vision, but also bringing some EV madness in the shape of their ZOE eSport Concept and the Alpine compact supercar. I just wish the Zoe had been equipped with a stunning sound generator for the hill climb. Something to consider for Formula E where everything sounds like Scalextric cars when it has the potential to emulate Star Wars!

Here’s to Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018. We don’t need to wait to be excited though, these cars are amazing 365 days of the year!

Goodwood 2015: Top gear and Top Gear

I say this every year but Goodwood Festival of Speed is the greatest motor show on earth. I stand by that and 2015 was no exception. If anything, Lord March raised the bar even higher, with faster, noisier and shinier metalwork on display than ever before.

I could list the brands, quote the celebrities, highlight the attractions but this is an audio visual extravaganza so what better way to illustrate this than the content my social feeds. I unleashed them all this year, from Twitter, Instagram and Vine to Periscope and Meerkat.

Mazda may have taken centre stage with this year’s Gerry Judah-designed sculpture on Lord March’s front lawn but for me there was another motor show encircling the event, pacing around in the shadows and threatening to derail my usual Goodwood visit. The show is question? Top Gear.

I can’t imagine the change of leadership at the flagship BBC show escaped the attention of many around the world (especially us petrol heads) but fewer are probably aware of the search for the final presenter line up. Chris Evens has thrown down the gauntlet to those with the passion, knowledge and drive (excuse the pun) to take up the second and third seats in this motoring behemoth.

This time last week, I was stood on a balcony outside a restaurant in Warsaw, with a dodgy mobile connection, no notes or timer, making a 30 second audition for the show on BBC 5 Live. The traffic providing the background noise should have been atmospheric. It wasn’t.

As you can probably tell, it didn’t quite go to plan thanks to the less-than-ideal circumstances and the fact the actual audition is meant to be a video. This aside, the professional speaking coach on the show thought I was too much of a geek, with no personality. Those who know me will probably agree with the geek analogy, however the personalty comment didn’t sit well with me. I make damn sure to put my heart and sole (and personality) into everything I do – especially when presenting so I’m not taking this one lying down.

30 seconds isn't long enough to tell the full story, such as my MG Montego talking car review at the age of 14, Sinclair C5 racing, an ownership history including a Citroën C6, Fiat Bravo and a Fiesta MkI (and the fast ones) and combining design, tech and vehicles at Brandwidth with a life-size holographic Toyota, a Lexus orchestra of cars (in the Top Gear studio), the first Apple Watch app for Porsche and a virtual reality X-Wing fighter! I even painted Tiff Needell's portrait – but that's another story. Fancy some more of this on Top Gear?

Here’s the video.

I’ll be a petrolhead until I die but to be honest, that includes vehicles of all forms of propulsion. Feast your eyes on the Festival of Fun…

Goodwood Festival of Speed: The Greatest (Motor)Show on Earth

It's the show that offers the lot – motor racing, new model reveals, celebrity drivers and guests, stunts and the Red Arrows. Goodwood Festival of Speed is everything modern motor shows aren't... because it's actually a show.

If like me, you share more than a passing interest in cars, particularly fast ones, you'll either have already have visited this iconic event or it's written in engine oil on your automotive bucket list.

This year's show was as popular as ever and visitors flocked to the live action around the garages to sample the sound and smell of F1 and supercar models of present day and yesteryear. It's a spine-tingling experience that the digital world is a long way from effectively simulating. I hope this event keeps the memories alive long after the petrol engine is legislated off our roads.

I wanted to capture as much of the passion and action of the event this year so my Twitter, Vine and Instagram feeds were working overtime. Audi builds the largest stand by far, but Goodwood isn't all about scale, it's about intimacy and a genuine connection between fans and brands. Nissan won the day for me, revealing their incredible Concept 2020 supercar, the stunning IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow design studies, Nismo GTRs (one driven up the hill by Sir Chris Hoy, who also made a guest appearance on the stand), a raft of new models and Oculus Rift VR simulations. All this on a relatively small stand. No Audi, bigger is not better.

To illustrate the popularity of Nissan's Concept 2020, my Vine video has received 1100+ Likes and 500+ reVines. With no social replies to this from official #FoS and @Nissan channels, an opportunity has been missed to be part of the conversation.

The only disappointment for me this year (apart from my Dad being unable to attend as my regular Goodwood track buddy) was the overhyped promise of social channel interaction – otherwise known as Twitter and Instagram coverage. As with previous years, this remained largely one-sided – with the official #FoS channels being particularly guilty of blatant 'broadcast' with very little engagement (apart from conversations with the manufacturers).

Notable social highlights were a Twitter acknowledgement from @MercedesBenzUK for this shot...

...and a regram by @McLaren for my photo of the M7C (currently on over 3000 likes).

This is an amazing show, year after year. Long may it continue, perhaps with the virtual social experience to match the physical extravaganza next year.

My full photo stream is available on Instagram, but here are my highlights.