This year's Goodwood Festival of Speed was one of the biggest on record. There were quite the number of attractions at the British event, and not just from the local automakers. One of the real highlights was a collaboration between California's Singer Vehicle Design and Williams Advanced Engineering, the technology offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 team. It's an exploration into lightweight design, using a 964 Porsche 911 as the test subject.
Toyota Supra dynamic debut at 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Toyota showed up to the event with a near production-ready example of its fifth-generation, A90 Supra sports car. We expect the production version to make its debut at the 2019 Detroit auto show next January. You can make out most of the design here however, despite Toyota's attempts to conceal it with a camo wrap in Toyota Gazoo Racing colors.
BMW M2 M Performance Parts concept
BMW used the event to unveil an M2 concept car fitted with current and potential upgrades from the M Performance Parts range. Most of the upgrades were aimed at reducing the weight of the M2. In fact, the concept is said to have been 132 pounds lighter than a stock version of the BMW M division's entry-level car.
McLaren P1 GT Longtail by Lanzante
One of the stars from the British firms at Goodwood was the McLaren P1 GT by Lanzante. The car, commissioned by a buyer in the Middle East, is a spiritual successor to the F1 GT Longtail, of which just three were made including the prototype still in possession of McLaren. In true Longtail fashion, Lanzante's P1 GT features a longer rear section, realized by a new diffuser jutting rearward.
Noble M500
Another British maker of exotic sports cars, Noble, used the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the unveil of its new M500 sports car. The car is a little brother to Noble's M600, and it comes packing the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 from vehicles like the Ford GT and F-150 Raptor, tuned to deliver 550 hp. No additional performance numbers were released sadly as development isn't complete.
2019 Ariel Atom 4
Track car specialist Ariel showed up with its fourth-generation Atom speed machine. The latest version, aptly dubbed the Atom 4, features in base trim the same engine found in the Honda Civic Type R, albeit with power dialed higher.
Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign
Nissan was there with its 710-hp GT-R50. The car is a collaboration between Nissan and Italdesign, with Nissan using it to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GT-R and Italdesign using it to celebrate its own 50th birthday. Right off the bat we'll tell you that the GT-R50 isn't the next-generation R36 GT-R, though we wouldn't rule out some design elements making it onto a future Godzilla. Interestingly, Nissan says it will build a small run should demand be sufficient. We're not sure that will be the case as Nissan says the asking price will be over a million big ones.
Aston Martin V8 Cygnet
We'll round off this list with one of the most popular cars on show in Goodwood: the V-8-powered Cygnet city car built by the Q by Aston Martin personalization department. The Cygnet is a rebadged Toyota iQ Aston Martin sold earlier in the decade, complete with a wheezy inline-4. This one however is packing a 430-hp V-8 lifted out of the previous-generation Aston Martin Vantage.
There was much, much more at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. As always, you’ll find our complete coverage on the show over at our dedicated hub.
