The World’s Most Luxurious Parking Lot (Inside the Goodwood Festival of Speed)
The Festival of Speed revolves around the Estate house and the long driveway that runs up the hill in front of it. Cars, often driven by the most famous racing drivers in the world, take turns running up the driveway.
From the lawn in front of the Estate house you can watch the action: There goes a pre-war Mercedes F1 car! And there an ultra rare, $20-something million Ferrari 250 GTO! And there a new McLaren P1 GTR!
It’s a social event as much as it is a brand-building, car-selling one.
It’s McLaren who is hosting me at Goodwood this year. And while Goodwood now plays host to many automakers over the three-day Festival of Speed, the British ones — like McLaren — are given pride of place.
It’s a small company, growing rapidly out of McLaren’s F1 racing team. The CEO is here. And CFO. Both chief designers are here. Wives and girlfriends, too. It’s a social event as much as it is a brand-building, car-selling one.
How do you court potential buyers for your $3.9 million P1 GTR? Running them up the driveway in the be-winged 1,000 horsepower supercar can’t hurt.
Colin Goodwin, the McLaren’s chief test driver, says the GTR is a handful at Goodwood. Over the 40-50 second run up the driveway, its slick tires never have a chance to warm up. The car slips and slithers its way up the hill, no doubt making an indelible impression on would-be owners as well as the many children in attendance, who watch in awe from the sidelines.
Elsewhere on the estate, at the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance, are a dozen sparkly Citroen DSs, as well as members of the “200 mph Club:” a black Ferrari F40, a red McLaren F1 and a yellow Bugatti EB110 SS. These cars were selected to compete for Best in Show. Winning the prize could increase the value of the car. The decision is up to the judges, including Jonatahn Ive and Marc Newson.
