BY COBEY BARTELS & PETER BARNWELL

THE 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS) is done and dusted, once again cementing its place as the world’s pre-eminent motoring exhibition.

This year saw the celebration of some key automotive milestones like the centenary year of the Le Mans 24 Hours, 75 years of Porsche and of course three decades of the legendary hill-climb event.

It is hosted by Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, at his Goodwood House in West Sussex, England that sees the property transformed into a motorsport Mecca for four days each year with the centrepiece being Goodwood’s tight and treacherous hill-climb track.

The FoS is used by vehicle manufacturers to launch hotly anticipated performance models accompanied by a range of rare-as-hens-teeth race cars, many of them one-off examples. It is a sensory overload for motor-heads old and young.

Acknowledging 100 years of the Le Mans 24 Hours, Goodwood hosted many of the most revered endurance racers assembled for the occasion from the game-changing Ford GT40 to Mazda’s screaming 787B, a crowd-favourite Maclaren F1 GTR and even Audi’s sooty R10 TDI.

There was no shortage of Le Mans cult cars on show for motorsport tragics.

Indeed, there was no shortage of anything with four wheels at this year’s FOS and we’d need a separate book to even begin to touch on just how many incredible cars were there this year.

So we chose six of the best that caught our attention, in no particular order.

Stuttgart’s 75th

Porsche celebrated 75 years since the release of its first sports car, the 356 and it brought out the big guns to mark the occasion premiering a stunning electric Vision 357 Speedster based on the petrol-powered Vision 357 released earlier this year, which pays homage to the 356 with retro-modern styling and familiar lines.

No manufacturer does a better job of carrying a design theme across model generations, with the open-top 357 honouring the 356 Speedster that represented the pinnacle of motoring freedom back in the ‘50s.

The 357 Speedster may honour Porsche’s history, but it looks firmly to the future with its 718 GT4 e-Performance drivetrain and 718 GT4 Clubsport chassis, offering blistering performance potential.

While Porsche hasn’t offered official power output details, the 718 GT4 e-Performance with which it shares an electron-powered heart, offers peak power of almost 800kW. The Speedster features a shortened windscreen and one-sided tonneau cover, like its distant relatives, highlighting its sleek, monolithic body.

This year also marks 60 years of the legendary 911, a model that spawned countless automotive enthusiasts across generations.

Back to the future with Bentley

After 93 years, Bentley breathed new life into the Speed Six racer with an artisan-built factory recreation model at the FoS. Not a replica, Bentley pieced together an entirely new car based off the original and built it using the same processes through the Mulliner Continuation Series.

They referenced original drawings and mechanic notes from company archives to piece the new Speed Six together studying the 1930 Speed Six in Bentley’s Heritage Collection as well as an original 1930 Le Mans racer known as ‘Old Number 3’.

More than 600 parts were fabricated from scratch for Car Zero, built ‘the old way’ across the past ten months yielding the new Speed Six that produces nearly identical power to the original racers.

Bentley says initial dyno testing of the 6.5-litre six-cylinder race-spec engines showed them to produce 205bhp, within 5bhp of the 1930s race engines.

Car Zero will be retained by Bentley but 12 customer cars are underway – all of which are already sold.

The new Speed Six was built and trimmed at Mulliner’s workshop within the Bentley Dream Factory at Crewe in the United Kingdom and while this model was finished in Parsons Napier Green with tan leather interior, customers with deep pockets will have the chance to discuss tailored specifications for their Speed Six Factory Works vehicles.

Pole position

Polestar showcased its forthcoming 3 and 5 model prototypes with the electric vehicles providing joy rides up the hill.

On-show in First Glance Paddock, the pair of prototypes was joined by the 2 BST edition 230, ahead of their hill climb efforts with a few lucky passengers taken for the ride of their life.

“We love showing our latest prototypes to the public at Goodwood,” said Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath.

“With production starting in the first quarter of 2024, it’s time for Polestar 3 to take its first-ever run up the famous Hill.

“The latest Polestar 5 verification prototype is here, too. Developed in the UK, Goodwood is like home turf for our electric four-door GT.”

Both have been confirmed for Australia with the Polestar 3 already available for order online, with deliveries expected from Q2 next year, while the 5 is expected to launch in 2024.

Egad, electrifying Caterham

Specialist British sports car manufacturer Caterham is best known for lightweight, (almost) open-wheel driving machines designed primarily to be used on the racetrack, like the Seven, but it has turned its attention to road-going EVs.

Its latest offering, Project V, is an electric coupe that honours the minimalistic Caterham design ethos with a low kerb weight and serious track potential.

The Project V features a 200kW single motor, driving the rear wheels, paired with a 55kWh lithium-ion battery.

Tipping the scales at an unusually light (for an EV) 1190kg in two-seater configuration allows a 0-100km/h time of less than 4.5 seconds and estimated top speed of 230km/h, with weight savings achieved through the use of a carbon-fibre and aluminium composite chassis.

Project V will be available in 2+1 and optional 2+2 seating layouts, with double wishbone suspension all round and fully adjustable geometry – hinting at its track day potential.

The Caterham’s Project V is expected to launch in late 2025 or early 2026, with a target price “starting from less than £80,000”.

Vee shall overcome

Aston Martin is celebrating its 110th anniversary with a special-edition re-imagination of both its older flagship Vantage and legendary ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer, with the new true-to-form front-engined, rear-driven Valour – a V12 with a manual gearbox behind it.

The Valour is limited to just 110 units globally, said to offer an “engaging” driving experience aimed at purists and, well, unhinged Aston aficionados.

Opting to send all 525kW from the 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 through a six-speed manual ‘box, onto a mechanical limited-slip differential, is a bold move the firm says offers “a truly absorbing experience” for owners.

Huge 275mm front and 325mm rear tyres provide grip and are fitted to 21-inch lightweight forged alloy ‘honeycomb’ wheels, while stopping power comes courtesy of 410mm front rotors gripped by six-piston front callipers and four-piston clamplers up back.

The brutish grunt is underlined by the Valour’s chiselled lines and dramatic go-fast features like the front splitter and fender vents, futuristic LED head- and tail-lights and a huge rear diffuser that houses triple tailpipes.

But beyond the modern exterior and aerodynamic design focus lies a timeless two-seat cockpit that focuses on achieving “uncommon simplicity and seductive tactility,” with traditional woollen tweed seat coverings and even the choice of a walnut gear knob.

Aston Martin went as far as to leave the shift mechanism exposed for dramatic effect and to pay homage to the Velour’s motorsport bloodline.

“Inspired by the iconic, muscle cars from our past, we have endowed Velour with an abundance of power and torque, while using modern technology and engineering to make that performance more exploitable and enjoyable,” said Aston Martin director of vehicle performance, Simon Newton.

“A big part of honouring that driver-pleasing character was mating our fabulous V12 engine to a manual transmission.

“It was a unique part of the brief, and the end result is something truly unforgettable; a state-of-the-art driver’s car that thrives on being pushed to its limits and has the true heart and soul of a timeless analogue classic.”

Maserati twins get eight-banger donk

Maserati paid its respects to the mighty V8 engine type with two new models.

The Trident bid farewell to V8 models, of which they’ve sold 100,000 across 64 years, with the Ghibli 334 Ultima and Levante V8 Ultima - both powered by, you guessed it, a 420kW twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8.

Going out with a bang the Ghibli 334 Ultima – the ‘334’ denoting its top speed - will become the fastest internal combustion engine sedan in the world, a mere 1km/h faster than Bentley’s Flying Spur.

While the Levante V8 Ultima doesn’t set any records, it features a carbon exterior kit as standard, two unique paint colours, and unique details in this special-edition trim.

Just 103 of each vehicle will be produced by Maserati.

And then…

Other noteworthy appearances were MG’s Cyberster performance electric convertible, and McMurtry Automotive’s track-only record-setting Speirling, among countless other performance icons.

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