Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018: our favourite moments

The 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed has been another vintage event, with more action and excitement from the worlds of cars and bikes than ever. On the following slides, in no particular order, each member of the Autocar team remembers their favourite moment from the past three days.

The reaction to the Apollo Intensa Emozione - Mark Tisshaw

There was a gentle hubbub in that very British way, crowds milling around the Supercar Paddock admiring a car park that combines the posters on the bedroom walls of every young car fan of the past decade and the next. And then it fired up: the Apollo Intensa Emozione, the ‘spaceship car’ as one observer pointed out. The huge bang of it firing up caused startled shouts at just how loud it was, those shouts giving way to a crowd laughter as everyone realised they’d been made jump at the same time, then turning to gasps of awe when they saw what caused it. How very British.

Porsche central sculpture - Jim Holder

It's quite a tribute to Goodwood sculpture creator Jerry Judah's talents that it mattered not  a jot which cars Porsche opted to put on the central sculpture this year, because everyone was going to be looking regardless. The breadth of art that has graced the front lawn over the past 25 years is an astonishing credit to his breadth of vision, and this year's example surely stands as one of the - if not the - very finest.

Riding in an autonomous 1965 Ford Mustang - Rachel Burgess

It’s obvious at Goodwood that you’re surrounded by car enthusiasts. But waiting in a self-driving Mustang at the bottom and then top of the hill for a considerable amount of time reminded me of the passion the automotive industry stirs in people. It’s easy to be impressed with powerful supercars, but in the ‘65 Mustang that was self-driving no-less, we got plenty of questions. One young marshall asked "what year was this car originally built?", while an older marshall engaged in a ten-minute conversation with us about self-driving technology and its feasibility in society. A heartening time between plenty of near-misses in the autonomous ‘stang, but that’s another story… 

Porsche - James Attwood

Porsche’s 70th anniversary was celebrated by the incredible sculpture in front of Goodwood house - but even more impressive was the array of the firm’s machines that took to the hillclimb. They ranged from the 1948 356-001, the firm’s first sport cars, right up to the 911 RSR that won the GTE class at Le Mans this year (resplendent in Pink Pig livery), and showcased the incredible breadth of Porsche’s motoring and motorsport achievements. My pick of the Porsche bunch was the LMP2000, a stillborn Le Mans concept dating from 2000 being shown in public for the first time ever, and the 1988 2708 Indy car.

Apollo Intenso Emozione - Matt Saunders

Laying eyes on the equally incredible-looking & -sounding Apollo Intensa Emozione hypercar. It was mid-batch on the first Saturday supercar run. I had no idea what I was looking at. And suddenly nothing else seemed to matter except finding out. Can’t remember when a car last made me feel like that.

Robocar - Tom Morgan

For all the skill it takes to pilot a supercar up the Goodwood hill climb at speed without ending up in a hay bale or the flint wall, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the Roborace autonomous prototype and its computer-controlled ascent. It was by no means flawless, but was an immensely impressive demonstration of what the rapidly-improving technology is capable of. And with no driver to make room for and no airbox needed to cool the electric drivetrain, it’s not hard to imagine the ultra-streamlined car making a return in future years to set a lap record.

Driving an Alfa Romeo GTAm - Sam Sheehan

Driving a 1970 Alfa Romeo GTAm up the hill at Goodwood was always going to be a memorable experience, but doing it amongst a team of all-Italian mechanics who responded to my question of “should I be careful of anything?” with “make sure you rev it really hard” made it feel even more authentic. This car has a 220bhp 1985cc engine that hates ticking over, the cabin has period vinyl-wrapped bucket seats and a veneer wood dash and there is an ash tray with recent evidence of use on the central tunnel. Seriously. This car couldn’t be more Italian if it tried. Ok, so my run was hampered by a slipping clutch (probably my fault for overheating it during the run up to the line), but nothing can dampen the memory of driving one of the prettiest and loudest coupés to grace the Duke of Richmond's driveway.

Meeting the Nio EP9 and Apollo Intensa Emozione - Jimi Beckwith

Only at a circus like Goodwood could a Lamborghini Huracan or Ferrari 488 GTB not turn a head. It takes more, and that leaves the gate open for the obscure, unknown and cars that are a little different to come to the fore. Two cars did this - the Nio EP9 and the Apollo Intensa Emozione. The Nio for its timeless style, tremendous performance and scarcity, and the Apollo IE for its mystique, wild looks and sheer presence. Between them, they embody what supercars and hypercars should be all about - head-turning, excitement-piquing, heart-stopping. 

The Koenigsegg Regera - Sam Jenkins

Although I had reserved opinions on the car since its reveal in 2015, seeing the Koenigsegg Regera in the flesh for the very first time left me somewhat speechless. In a good way. It’s an unusual model in both appearance and mechanical terms, with just one forward gear. However, the sound, presence and attention to detail - you don't see any of them at this level very often. The green exposed carbonfibre and tan interior combination may also have swayed my opinion...

Rally stage spectable - Matt Prior

I usually spend all four days at the festival and still come away thinking I haven’t seen everything. It’s worth, then, taking a stroll up the hill to the rally stage, through the cool of the trees, away from the crowds, to sit watch a rear-drive rally car being driven on its doorhandles.