Goodwood Festival of Speed

The head says the Festival of Speed should be number one, but the heart beats harder for… well, you’ll get to that in a minute. But, my goodness, the Festival of Speed is incredible, brilliant, mind-bogglingly amazing. Based around the imposing Goodwood House and its driveway, which handily serves as a challenging hillclimb, the Festival of Speed has replaced the staid British Motor Show as the place for manufacturers to show off their wares. Thankfully, however, it’s so much more than that, and it’s not all about the F1 and WRC cars, either – although they help… No, for Magneto, the appeal of the Festival of Speed is in the crazy gems that the event has the power to turn up. The Hurst Hemi Under Glass wheelie car, the Beast of Turin Fiat, Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat dragster, the Lotus 38 Indycar, Jaguar’s XJ13, and hundreds, maybe thousands more. It’s incredible – and they’re all easily viewed in the busy paddocks. If you’re there for only a day, you might not even make it to the slippery forest rally course at the top of the hill – but you’ll be missing out. Ditto the drift track, the BMX stunts, the Future Lab, the Supercar Paddock… the list goes on and on. So really, you need to be at the Festival for two days at the very least.