There’s much more to the Goodwood Festival of Speed than just the Formula 1 cars.
Here’s a collection of my ten favourite non-F1 cars at the show this year, including some stunning Alfa Romeos, an Indianapolis 500-winning Lotus and more.
Lotus-Ford 38
This is the very car that Jim Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with. He missed that year’s Monaco Grand Prix to enter the race – something that would be unthinkable today.
Even more remarkably, he still won the world championship despite having missed that round. Jackie Stewart did much of the driving in the car this weekend.
Alfa Romeo 155 Touring Cars
Alfa Romeo are celebrating their centenary this year, which explains why there are so many of their cars at Goodwood.
In the mid-nineties the company was active in several touring car championships. The 155 was campaigned in the British championship, winning in 1995, and also the German DTM series.
That became the short-lived ITC in 1996, where the teams enjoyed much greater technical freedom, as it clear to see in the vastly more sophisticated aerodynamics of the ITC racer. Unfortunately spiralling costs killed the ITC.
Mercedes CLK LM
Mark Webber won’t be in a hurry to get re-acquainted with this one. He suffered a huge crash in this car, flipping it over at Le Mans in 1999.
But unlike his Valencia crash last week, Webber could do nothing to avoid that accident. The car’s unstable aerodynamics caused it to flip over at top speed.
Alfa Romeo 164 Procar
The ultimate Q-car? This 164 was built by Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team as a prototype for a new racing series he intended to set up using F1 engines in saloon car silhouette bodies.
Only the fat racing slicks, rear spoiler and engine starter inlet hint at the gigantic power on tap in this racing car. Other manufacturers were cool on the idea and Procar, intended as an F1 support series, never took off.
Audi R15 TDi
Audi scored a surprise one-two-three finish at Le Mans this year with their diesel T15-plus, mainly by out-lasting the rival Peugeot 908s, all four of which retired during the race.
BMW M3 GT2
A smashing livery on this GT2-spec M3 which won the Nurburgring 24 Hours earlier this year.
Mercedes 300SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupe’
At the same time Mercedes were dominating Grand Prix racing in the mid-fifties, similar technology propelled them to the front of sports car racing.
This road-going car was based on their SLR sports car, built in coupe form and used by designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut. Only two examples exist.
Alfa Romeo SE 048 SP
Three years later than the Procar, another unraced Alfa Romeo. This was built to contest the 1991 world sports car championship but when the team took it testing they found it was far off the pace and never raced it.
Few of the other teams could keep up with Jaguar’s XJR14, so that was probably a smart decision. It’s a pity it didn’t go as well as it looks.
Jaguar XJR14
Speaking of which, here is that XJR14. Ross Brawn designed the car, taking advantage of the sports car rule book to build a machine that was little more than an F1 car with a few concessions to sports car regulations.
It left their rivals – including the works Mercedes team featuring up-and-coming driver Michael Schumacher – unable to compete.
McLaren MP4-12C
It’s too soon to say whether the McLaren’s MP4-12C will one day be thought of as fondly as its previous road car, the F1, which was formerly the world’s fastest production car.
As it’s not intended to rival its famous forebear in outright performance, perhaps it will not become as celebrated. But its importance for one of F1’s most successful teams cannot be understated.
As McLaren and Mercedes prepare to go their separate ways, the MP4-12C leads McLaren’s efforts to become a major performance car manufacturer in its own right.
Lewis Hamilton took a passenger ride up the hill one of the awkwardly-named cars on Sunday.
Top ten non-F1 cars at Goodwood in pictures
Goodwood Festival of Speed
- Vettel to drive sustainably-fuelled F1 cars at Goodwood Festival of Speed
- Lotus 43: F1’s only 16-cylinder race-winner
- Goodwood Festival 2015: Eighties F1 cars
- Goodwood Festival 2015: Highlights from the hill
- Goodwood Festival 2015: Cars from F1’s first 30 years
- Minardi M189: Heroic minnows’ only race-leading car
- Raikkonen joins F1 stars at the Goodwood Festival
- Schumacher’s first cars & recent racers at Goodwood
- Senna’s racers among eighties F1 cars at Goodwood
- LEC, Maki and more rare seventies cars at Goodwood
Moebius
4th July 2010, 16:13
You’re wrong on the Mercedes CLK-LM. Mark Webber “flew” in a Mercedes CLR (1999), the car you poster is a CLK-LM, the 98 car, which was a derivate of the CLK-GTR.
Morteza
4th July 2010, 16:19
That’s 100% right. It was CLR not CLK.
OEL
4th July 2010, 19:18
You beat me to it!
matt90
4th July 2010, 22:01
Plus, I think this was the car from Gran Turismo 4 which was incorrectly named as the CLK GTR. That drove me mad. Also, a really interesting lineup of cars I haven’t seen before just makes me even more annoyed that I didn’t go for the first time in years.
miguelF1O (@)
5th July 2010, 18:05
yep by the way he crashed twice once in practice and the other on warm up his teamate on the n5 car peter dumbreck also flipped
1st web crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPqhd74cFl0
2nd web crash at 2:32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V2Jqp27XFM
LewisC
4th July 2010, 19:20
What, no Range Rover Evoque? ;)
I love the 164 Procar. Spectacularly bonkers.
Metallion
4th July 2010, 19:24
Incredible cars, some of which I’ve never seen before. The Alfa Romeo SE 048 SP for example, really beautiful car. I’ve never been to Goodwood so I really appreciate all these photos, it makes me want to go even more. If this isn’t car porn I don’t know what is.
MuzzleFlash
4th July 2010, 23:31
Some beautiful stuff there.
But I believe the Alfa Romeo 155 won the 1994 BTCC (with their cheating aerodynamics), the 1995 won by John Cleland in the Cavalier.
Chris
4th July 2010, 23:39
Hmmm, I would say that we have another Alfa Romeo fun here… ;-)
US Williams Fan
5th July 2010, 0:28
The Alfa’s were beautiful ….. especially the SE 048 SP.
Thanks for the photos!
lukeaa
5th July 2010, 0:42
Nice to see someone else appreciating the livery on the BMW, thought I was the only one. I never knew that Ross Brawn designed that car, some nice knowledge there! Oh and thanks for posting the picture of the Mark Webber Mercedes, quite a wierdly beautiful beast
Eric
5th July 2010, 0:51
fully agree excellent photos Keith, what a great show, not just been able to see but also hear some of those incredible cars must have been a highlight,
thanks for sharing as i live in NZ would be imposable for me to ever get there.
Thanks Eric.
sato113 (@sato113)
5th July 2010, 0:54
i like that alfa romeo dtm car, and LOVE the silk cut Jaguar. bring back tobacco liveries!
Dan N
5th July 2010, 8:49
Yeah it’s sweet, haven’t seen it in years.
Peter
5th July 2010, 1:40
In the 1986 FIA Review video (narrated by that hugely funny Aussie, Clive James) there is a clip of Riccardo Patrese driving the 164 Procar at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix weekend. I believe it has a V10 engine under the bonnet. That thing sounded sensational and was reported to have a top speed somewhere around 200mph.
Can anyone name some of Bernie’s more, shall we say, eccentric motor racing ideas? He’s had some strange ones, not to mention some woeful ones, of which the Group A WTCC is a perfect example.
I think the reason most manufacturer’s didn’t go for Bernie’s silhouette formula was they wanted to go Group A touring car racing instead because it was more relevant to what they were trying to sell to the public and because of the then new WTCC. Did Bernie kill off the WTCC because he feared it would take from F1’s popularity or because he was saying “FU” to the car makers who shunned his proposed series?
Sorry for the long winded essay there…..
Stealthman
5th July 2010, 3:23
The official story is that the WTCC was originally canned because of its success… apparently it was so popular that the FIA were afraid it would take away some of F1’s publicity.
Peter
5th July 2010, 1:50
Just to add, 164 Procar’s “tale-of-the-tape” is:
3.495 liter, Mid, longitudinally mounted N/A Alfa Corse 72º V10
6 speed Manual, RWD
750kg
605bhp (451Kw) @ 12100 rpm
373 Nm
340 km/h / 211 mph
Sorry, just love the car. And I believe that the V10 for this car is the only V10 engine Alfa Romeo has ever built (to the public’s knowledge at least).
miguelF1O (@)
5th July 2010, 18:07
i want that one it looks minimal but wow very fast
Racer
5th July 2010, 2:08
Wow the BMW M3 GT2 looks dangerous.
S.J.M
5th July 2010, 14:14
Any of the cars that were entrants in the “Style et Luxe” could be contenders for this, a huge array of cars ive never seen before and unlikley to ever again. Although I have a soft spot for that Marcos-Buick Mantis XP which looked fantastic!!!
miguelF1O (@)
5th July 2010, 18:15
am i the only one that like the mclaren mp4-12c i have read that a lot of people say that the car looks cheap for me it looks like an mclaren of course it isnt the f1 but the f1 was just for showcase this is a supercar to show off on the street it is a 100% british made no bmw engine or mercedes
Peter
5th July 2010, 18:56
Nope, you’re not the only one. It’s a beautiful car. IMO even more so than the McLaren F1.
Paul McCaffrey
5th July 2010, 21:52
The Audi is an R15 TDI not a T15. Simple typo! Apparently they have dropped “Plus” from their press releases.
Torg
6th July 2010, 11:27
That works Alfa 155 DTM has to be one of the most beautiful touring cars on the face of this planet. Rediculously stunning!! Love it so much ive got a 1/10 tamiya r/c car exactly the same on display at home. Its never gonna get used :)