Don't blink! What not to miss at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014

One of our biggest challenges of the year is choosing what to include in our Goodwood Festival of Speed preview, such is the sheer wealth of entertainment on offer throughout the weekend. Here is this year’s attempt to narrow down our highlights into a ‘what not to miss’ at Goodwood guide...

Star cars

Where do we start? Well, before paying tribute to your favourite machines of yore, you might want to catch your first glimpse of their latest descendants. This year’s Festival debutants includeJaguar’s limited-production Project 7, the race-inspired Bentley Continental GT3-R, Morgan’s retro-tastic Plus 8 Speedster and the Aston Martin DP-100 concept, the latest in a series of ‘Visions’ made for the Gran Turismo video game. There’s also a new McLaren 650S by McLaren Special Operations, and a UK debut for the Maserati Alfieri and Centennial Editions. Visitors will also witness the first public coming-together of the LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder andKoenigsegg One:1 – a long-awaited battle made more exciting by the fact that the Supercar Run will be timed this year.

As well as watching the countless classic and historic racing cars giving their legs a rare stretch by bombing up the hill, you’ll also be able to acquire your own – should your bidding nouse outwit that of the others at the Bonhams auction, that is. Sale highlights include the ex-Graham Hill Lotus 49B, an ex-Works Ferrari 375-Plus and one of the rare Aston Martin ‘Ulsters’.

Anniversaries in abundance

Almost every event in this year’s calendar honours Maserati’s centenary in one way or another, and Goodwood will be doing this in the grandest manner possible: no fewer than 20 important cars from the storied manufacturer will climb the hill, with a class all to themselves. Other milestones to be celebrated include 60 years of the Jaguar D-type, 50 years of nail-biting racing at Goodwood from Derek Bell, and 120 years of Mercedes Racing – the latter marked not only by way of the centrepiece sculpture, but also the 18 cars being flown from the museum.

Historic heroes

With all these potent (and often priceless) machines storming up the hill, there will be plenty of professionals trying to ensure they remain on the narrow, ribbon-like asphalt. Derek Bell will celebrate his Goodwood golden jubilee by piloting a Bentley Continental GT V8 S. Meanwhile, John Surtees OBE will complete a tandem display with Kimi Räikkönen, both in their respective Championship-winning Ferraris. Other racing legends in action include Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss, Emerson Fittipaldi, Damon Hill and Brian Redman, the latter of whom will be reunited with his Porsche 917 (albeit with period-altered bodywork). They’ll be joined by many of their modern-day F1 successors.

Oddities and rarities

If your motoring preferences are a little more... ‘style conscious’, the Cartier Style et Luxe display will be a priority destination. Now in its 20th year, the unmissable pageant again promises a “definitive celebration of fine automotive design” which, in previous years, has meant a fair few curiosities finding their way onto the lawn. This year will see dedicated classes for both 1950s Maserati GTs (with entrants bodied by Pininfarina, Zagato, Frua and Allemano) and a Mad Men-inspired group of ‘aspirational’ American two-seaters. There’ll no doubt be plenty of head-turning machines elsewhere, including the Maserati Tipo 151/3 – better-known as ‘the other Breadvan’ that was last seen (unpainted) at the 2012 Revival.

Beyond four wheels

As if there weren’t already enough cars to have you buzzing around all weekend, there will also be bikes, planes, helicopters – and goodness knows what else Lord March has in store. On the two-wheeled front, Giacomo Agostini will be showing off the talents that have made him the most successful GP racer ever. In the air, the Red Arrows will commemorate their 50th anniversary with a new sequence for the ever-engaging acrobatic display, as well as a new tailfin design.

The last remaining Avro Vulcan jet will also be in action, having undergone a revision to its wings that will keep it from being decommissioned for at least two more years – a £400,000 operation funded entirely by supporters. Thankful chief pilot Martin Withers has promised them and the other Festival attendees a spectacle in return: “I’ll turn her on her side and fly up Lord March’s drive, then ease the throttles up to 90 per cent to make her Olympus engines howl as we climb out.” To us, that alone sounds like reason enough for the trip to Chichester.

Photos: Classic Driver/Goodwood

Fancy a free ticket next year? There are plenty of Goodwood invitation-worthy cars for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

‘64 Bultaco Mercurio – The Gas Department

Sure, Café racers are great. But you can’t deny that they are also very, well, they are very British. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; some of our best friends are English. But what if you wanted to build a bike that was true to your own roots, and not those of some leather-clad Pommies who lived a world away and an age ago? What if you wanted to take the essence of the scene and then put your own spin on things? If you were from sunny España, you’d start with a Bultaco, add a cup of café solo and maybe go for a little raza around the autopista. Which coincidentally is exactly what Bacelona’s Gas Department has just done. And they’ve also created a bike which we think is probably the best-looking Bultaco we’ve ever seen. Here’s their ‘Summer Night’ café racer.

“Most people look and don’t see,” says The Gas Department’s Dani Ebo. “They restrict their view to the fashionable image, the trending topic, the easy initial impression and the first glance. Here at Gas Department, we want to feel our work, respect the origins, improve the past, open up a new path and bring back to life the heritage from our projects.”

These fine Spanish lads say that they had always wanted to design something like this - some streamlined beauty to portray their history and the passion for motorcycles they experienced from their youth and their parents. “We hunted for a motorcycle capable to represent us. Since we live in Barcelona, Spain, an original Bultaco would do the trick. Bultaco was founded in Barcelona in 1958, and they produced several models until 1983. Mostly known by their off-road machines, there were a few sport models and even several racing world championships.”

Low and behold, they found this 1964 Bultaco Mercurio 155 at a friend’s garage. Some searching, pictures, Photoshop and a few beers later, the final design was done. Once they had it on the lift at the workshop, they realised that there wasn’t too many parts that would need to be made or found to get what they wanted out of the bike.

“The main lines of our design resembled a lot those from the most famous Bultaco, the Tralla, and one of its racing versions, the Tralla Super Sport, or TSS. In order to embody the spirit of this bike, we decided to replace the gas tank with one from the old TSS racing bike and surround the tail section within a bespoke rear cowl made a little more rounded than the TSS original.”

“As we didn’t want to spoil the round shape of the tail, nor the flowing looks of the whole tank-tail combination, the rear light was deeply sunk into the rear cowl. The extra long tank is held in place thanks to a gorgeous leather belt. Made out from the same leather used for the seat, it is directly bolted to the frame just in front and behind the tank. Xtrim Seats manufactured both the seat and the leather belt for the tank.”

It goes without saying that the new single-seater needed a nice, new pair of racing footrests. Surprisingly, these were made from Yamaha R1 stock parts, but with new bearings and fancy stainless levers added. This achieved that light racing look without losing the old-time appeal the boys were after. The exhaust had to be shorter too, but all the internals were saved and fitted to the shortened can so as not to alter the bike’s rather sweet two-stroke performance.

Being an old smoker, the engine took a lot of reconditioning work; inside it was fitted with new bearings, gaskets and rings. Outside it was blasted, polished, and also painted. The brakes remain unaltered though thoroughly refreshed. A similar treatment was given to the front forks, which now have their lovely springs on display. The rear shocks come from a Virago cruiser; they had the exact height needed, plus they provided a great improvement in the bike’s roadholding.

Then the only task left was the paint. Once cut and polished, the chosen colour gently recalls the 60′s, but the subtle pin-striping also manages to add some unexpected pep and sprite to the bike’s tobacco brown retro-ness. Lovely.

via PIPEBURN

Ferrari Testarossa Koenig Competition: King of the neighbourhood

Those who really wanted to stand out in the Eighties (no mean feat, we’ll admit), took their Ferrari straight to Willy Koenig’s tuning studio, for a steroidal injection of unashamed muscle. Love them or loathe them, the market is beginning to covet these rare machines once more…

Willy Koenig was the undisputed emperor of the wild Eighties tuning scene.

Every generation gets the supercar it deserves and, in that regard, the Eighties spoke for itself. Even the Germans, today so concerned with keeping well within the boundaries of taste, wanted something a little more exciting. Anything went: if it had more wings than an aircraft (and more horsepower, too), it was worthy. Enter Willy Koenig, the undisputed emperor of the wild Eighties tuning scene. As early as 1961, Koenig was forging an impressive career in motorsport. In the subsequent years, he would drive Ferrari 275 GTBs, the legendary Ford GT40,BMW M1s and the Porsche 962. But his joy didn’t end on the track ­– his real dream was to develop the ultimate road-going sports car. 

Poster-car looks and up to 1,000HP

Design, aerodynamics, equipment, engine and suspension – nothing was safe from Koenig’s discerning eyes. It all began in 1974 with the Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, followed by a raft of countless other Ferraris, as well as Mercedes-Benzes, Porsches, Lamborghinis and Jaguars. The recipe was simple: install a ridiculously powerful turbocharged engine, widen considerably and add huge spoilers and deep ventilation tunnels. The most successful and best-known Koenig Special was the Koenig Competition, based on the iconic Ferrari Testarossa. Its testosterone-fuelled, F40-esque design was real poster-car stuff and, if requested by the customer, its twin-turbo V12 could produce up to 1,000HP. Its list price was appropriately outlandish: one million Deutsche Marks. 

Gone were the Testarossa’s of-the-era gills (though they were later used as distinguishing features in Koenig’s Mercedes-Benz SEC and Porsche 928), but in came stance and muscle. Those cruising the red-light districts of Frankfurt and Hamburg in a Koenig Competition would rightfully feel like the kings of the neighbourhood. In the Nineties, however, the tuning craze slowly faded and in-house manufacturers at BMW M and Mercedes-AMG came to dominate the market. The Koenig Specials disappeared, often without trace. 

A certified classic?

As the Eighties generation grows older and wealthier, it was perhaps inevitable that the brutal, tuned monsters would be rediscovered by serious collectors. A genuine and well-preserved Ruf Porsche, Alpina BMW or Koenig Ferrari isn't easy to find and hence prices are rising, rapidly. At Artcurial’sLe Mans Classic sale on 5 July 2014, a 1987 Ferrari Testarossa Koenig Competition Evolution II will go under the gavel. One of just 12 built and with a mere 46,000km on the clock, the car is estimated to fetch between 80,000 and 120,000 euros (not that different from a bog-standard Testarossa). Barmy? Regardless, we can’t wait to see what it brings. 

More information on the Koenig Ferrari Testarossa offered by Artcurial can be found here. You can find hundreds of modern and classic Ferraris in the Classic Driver Market. 

Travel in style with these vintage suitcases

Distant lands and legendary hotels – for those who lived during the early Twentieth Century, travel was still a great adventure. We’ve found 12 classic suitcases in the Classic Driver Market which would certainly have some tales to tell…

The golden years of travel

The golden years of travel are long gone but the glamour of that cosmopolitan era, when you could decipher the history of a traveller by the numerous hotel stickers on his leather suitcase, still resonates with us deeply to this day. You can still find the cases at auction houses or antiques dealers – elegant items from Hermès or Louis Vuitton, plastered with stickers from the Waldhaus in Sils Maria, the glamorous Lutetia in Paris or the infamous Shepheard Hotel in Cairo, once branded the ‘second worst hotel in the world’ by Mark Twain. The following 12 well-travelled examples from the Classic Driver Market have seen their fair share of the world and should inspire some wonder in their new owners. Who knows where they’ll travel next? 

12 suitcases with which to travel in style

Market | Collectibles

Louis Vuitton Valise Bisten

EUR 1 561

Market | Collectibles

Valise en parchemin ivoire

EUR 699

Auctions | Collectibles

A brown leather Louis Vuitton suitcase, circa 1920

EUR 1 496 - 1 745

Auctions | Collectibles

A Hermes suitcase, circa 1930

EUR 1 246 - 1 870

Auctions | Collectibles

A large North West Tannery Co. leather suitcase, circa 1900

EUR 623 - 997

Auctions | Collectibles

A Louis Vuitton suitcase, circa 1930

EUR 1 496 - 1 745

Auctions | Collectibles

A Moynat travelling trunk, circa 1930

EUR 748 - 997

Auctions | Collectibles

A large vintage car trunk with three graduated cases, by Brooks of...

EUR 2 493 - 3 116

Auctions | Collectibles

A Louis Vuitton motoring trunk, circa 1910

EUR 1 994 - 2 244

Market | Collectibles

Louis Vuitton vintage travel trunk

P.O.R.

Market | Collectibles

Louis Vuitton vintage travel trunk

P.O.R.

Market | Collectibles

Travelling black trunk

EUR 575

Ferrari F12 TRS is a multi-million-euro one-off with 1950s cues

The latest unique Ferrari to emerge from the Special Projects division is this F12-based barchetta, which takes inspiration from the legendary 250 Testa Rossa racing car of 1957…

Completing its maiden voyage during the third Ferrari Cavalcade held in Sicily over the weekend, the F12 TRS is the latest Prancing Horse to be built specifically to a single client’s demands – the marque’s way of thanking its most loyal aficionados, while also banking a healthy cheque in the process. So, what did the anonymous commissioner receive in exchange for the rumoured €3.1 million he wired to Maranello?

Well, the underpinnings of a 740HP F12 Berlinetta, for a start – but most importantly, a custom barchetta body that combines subtle styling cues from the 1957 Testa Rossa (an example being the transparent engine cover) with modern design flourishes, such as the wraparound windscreen leading back to the double-bubble rear cowl. Some of the F12’s key features have been reinterpreted, the re-profiled ‘aerobridge’ and the T-shaped (thong?) graphic at the rear of the car being the most noticeable. Inside, we’re told features have been pared back to the bare minimum – well, you didn’t require a glovebox in a Testa Rossa, did you?

Photos: Ferrari

You can find hundreds of classic and modern Ferraris for sale in the Classic Driver Market.