The second part of our McLaren invite took us to the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England. For car fans, this event is a must attend event before you die. Set on Lord March's Estate, the annual "Festival of Speed" or FoS is a hillclimb that encompasses everything from vintage exotic and race cars to current state of the art prototype vehicles. Besides the hillclimb itself, FoS also has numerous manufacturers, and individuals who donate their cars to be shown in a public car show.
2013 FoS celebrating 20 year anniversary
I have always read about the FoS since it started back in 1993 and have always wanted to go. What I did not realize was how large this event really is. It is 3 days of crowds of over 70,000 people per day who flock to see this from all over the globe and encompasses a lot of walking. I was really tired after only walking half the event (and I am not in that bad of shape). The amount of cars and people you see are incredible and coming from the States, I got the chance to see cars I have only heard of. I wish I could have taken more of what I got to see in, as you almost become numb to the cars you see. I have only seen 2 McLaren F1s in my life, at Goodwood I saw four F1s alone within 20 minutes. It's mind blowing.
McLaren was celebrating its 50th anniversary at the FoS
McLaren was celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year at the FoS and they were very excited to show us the setup they had at Goodwood. After our dinner with the McLaren team of engineers and management the night before, we were up and ready to head to Goodwood at 07:20. We could tell this was going to be a good event just by looking at the cars of some of the guests at Tylney Hall Hotel. Many were there for the FoS as well and you could tell quickly which cars they were headed there.
New (2013 Aston Martin Vanquish S)
and Old (Jaguar E type) all celebrated at the FoS...
By 07:30 we were on the move to Goodwood with our hosts. After a nice picturesque drive through some of the West Sessex countryside, we arrived at quite a large jam. With 70,000 people coming on a daily basis to a small town, you can imagine why the traffic is so bad. After some confusing moments about how the get to the McLaren hospitality tent we were shuffled out of our van's and began to walk into a toy store for full grown men... the supercar paddock greeted us first.
2013 Pagani Hyuara wrapped in 3M brushed steel vinyl with Italian flag accents
2013 Koenigsegg Agera R
2014 Porsche 991 GT3 (this car was very fast going up the hillclimb)
Aston Martin show car celebrating their 100th Anniversary next to a new 2013 AM V12 Vantage S
Pink Bugatti Veyron on display.. oh and an F40 in the background...
After walking through the SuperCar paddock we arrived at the McLaren Hospitality Tent which was located right behind Goodwood house at the base of the hillclimb. All I could hear was loud music blaring the theme song for the upcoming movie "Rush" about McLaren F1's James Hunt and Nicky Lauda which looks fantastic. After coming upon the hospitality area we came to realize that this was a dominate showing of cars put forth by McLaren for spectators...
A trio of incredible machines greet guests at McLaren (McLaren F1 GTR, F1 LM, and the new P1 on display...
The McLaren F1 is my ultimate dream car. A car made with no compromises back in 1991, to this day it still competes with today's hypercars in terms of performance numbers. The fact that they had an LM and GTR on display was already enough to make my day. It also led the eyes directly to the main stage where a Volcano Yellow McLaren P1 sat greeting guests in between a MP4-12C convertible and MP4-12C specail operations coupe. The lineage is quite clear to see between the F1 and P1 in design and the detail in all the engineering. The closer you look the more you respect the car. As McLaren's guest, we were lucky enough to go up and get a personal view of the P1. I must say I originally was not a huge fan of the car when I saw photos, but in person this thing blows your mind. The angles and aggressiveness of the aerodynamics is mind blowing. And it literally stops you in your tracks...
epitome of hypercar...
hydraulic wing varies depending on downforce needed...
now that is a rear diffuser...
all black is clearcoated carbon fibre...
everything is about low unsprung weight with carbon fibre, magnesium, and titanium...
great angles on this car...
at 6'0 and 210lbs I was very comfortable inside the P1, lot of space...
devil is in the details, carbon fibre badges for weight savings and talking point...
Besides the P1, McLaren also had a very nicely optioned MP4-12C on the stand filled with special operations add ons...
After looking over the P1, the crowd at the McLaren tent was getting crowded, so T and I decided to take a walk and experience the FoS firsthand...
the crowds are coming to check out the McLaren tent...
Since Goodwood is so large, we decided to just roam and inspect. Besides the active hillclimbs going on all day, there is a complete car show atmpshere on the lawns with classics, new, and race cars just parked everywhere. In the 30C heat, we headed out and here is some of what we stumbled upon...
Porsche GT1 LeMans race car parked on the grass...
Rowan Atkinson's (Mr Bean) McLaren F1 made an appearance.
Chris Evans (the British DJ, not the US actor who girls love) Ferrari F40 which had great paint...
Classics everywhere...
Goodwood House with Porsche's 100 feet above for their 50th anniversary...
Goodwood House offered prime viewing of the starting line...
Numerous manufacturers had booths set up...
Michelin tent just happened to have an Audi R18 e-tron sitting in it... amazing car
Fernando Alonso's 2006 Renault F1 car...
Mercedes unveiled their CLA45 AMG at the show...
Toyota's LeMans racer also there...
Nothing but Ayrton Senna's MP4-4 prepping for its hillclimb...
About 2 hours in to our walk we decided to go to the grandstands to watch some of the car's doing the hillclimb. A fun experience to see these cars go at it in such a close environment...
Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes F1 car...
Lewis Hamilton burning up about $8k worth of tyres before going to the paddock...
Toyota GT-One LeMans racer
Starting to really get hot now around 13:00
Audi R18 e-tron driven my Alan McNish
Tom Kristensen driving the Bentley Speed 8
LeMans racers awaiting entry into the Paddock area...
Romain Grosjean driving the Reneault LeMans car
Classic BMW V12 LMR making an appearence...
50th Anniversary for Porsche...
Ruf performed well in the hillclimb as well...
Porsche everywhere...
New 991 GT3 racing up the hill...
British Airforce Vulcan performed numerous flybys...
With 3 ebent sof the Hillclimb completed we got hungry and headed back down towards the McLaren tent going down the other side of the driveway. More suprises were in store for us there...
Met up with the Stig over at the Top Gear tent...
Sir Stirling Moss driving the 1954 MB F1 car which sold for around $35 million USD on Saturday...
Another classic Ferrari 250GTO making the climb...
Porsche 917 refused to be left behind...
Gorgeous cars everywhere...
Classic Martini colors...
By the time we finally got back to McLaren's tent, we were starving and hot. After a nice lunch and about 4 beers, I went around to take a closer look at my favorite car at the show, the McLaren F1 before we had to leave back to Tylney Hall...
Before we left back for Tylney Hall, we were having a discussion with a few McLaren designers and CEO Mike Flewitt about the P1 and its color options and what suits the car best. This turned into a good debate as many of us thought lighter colors look best while a certain few loved the P1 in dark colors. Mr Flewitt then asked us if we would like to see the dark colored P1prototype PP02 used to perform in the hillclimb to compare. After an emphatic yes, we were soon back in the stable area of Goodwood to take a look at the P1 in darker paint and stumbled upon car PP01 in Petrol Green. You can be the judge...
PP01 cooling down after being thrashed up the hillclimb by Jenson Button
Again, the diffuser is just proper badass...
Mike showing us the car, McLaren execs are die hard car guys at heart. Have to love it...
Soon after checking out the Amithest PP02 and Petrol Green PP01 model we were back on the van to Tylney Hall. It was quite a quiet ride as we were exhausted, sunburned and still in awe at the vehicles we just saw. I cannot thank McLaren Automotive enough for such a great day and event. It really gave all of us a true appreciation of how much the people working for McLaren appreciate automobiles that are meant to go fast. The excitement and smiles they all had we truly genuine and went to prove to me once again, the car transcends all races and cultures. If you like the automobile, you cannot help but smile when you see a McLaren headed your way...
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