The beauty of an event like Goodwood is it can be anything a manufacturer wants it to be, and this year Land Rover took the opportunity to celebrate its 70th anniversary at the event with its largest-ever parade of vehicles on the Goodwood hill. The 70 vehicles included a Centre Steer prototype which was the very first Land Rover, the first prototype of the latest Range Rover Sport SVR, and everything in between.
Regardless of the type of event, news and new models from exotic Italian manufacturers are always a big hit with car enthusiasts. And this time it was the turn of Maserati, which took the opportunity to unveil a new version of its Levante SUV, the 542 bhp Levante GTS. It's another V-8-powered version of the manufacturer's Porsche Macan rival and sister vehicle to the Levante Trofeo that was revealed in New York earlier this year. It's claimed to be able to reach 60 mph in as little as 4.2 seconds and achieve a top speed of 181 mph, and although it drew plenty of admiring glances at the show, it's actually unlikely to be sold in the UK.
Ferrari also had a large presence with four models making their UK debuts in the shape of the FXX K EVO, the 812 Superfast, the 488 Pista, and the Ferrari Portofino.
Away from new model launches and classic race cars, a couple of driverless cars were brought along to show what they can do on the famous hill climb. One was the Siemens autonomous Ford Mustang, which was a 1965 Mustang with autonomous technology fitted that proved to be challenging as the driver had to intervene on the first run.
On the other hand, the Roborace Robocar didn't have a driver at all and managed to navigate its way up the hill without incident.
Supercars are always going to be the main focus at an event such as this, and as well as the usual suspects of Aston Martin and Ferrari there were a number of complete newcomers. Among the most notable were the incredible Nio EP9 EV which recently set a new record at the Nurburgring, and the Apollo ID that also claims to be a spectacular performer with a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.7 seconds.
Another big feature at Goodwood is the Bonhams auction sale, which this year hoped to see a new world record set with an ex-Jim Clark Aston Martin DB4 Zagato expected to go for more than £12million. In the end, it went for 'only' £10.1million. However, a 1958 BMW 507 bought by the boss of MV Agusta for the late John Surtees as a present for winning his first 500cc world championship raised £3.5million, which was much more than its estimate of between £2million and £2.5million.
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