The grass at Goodwood gets muddy. Always does. But between July 9 and 12 next year, it will also get fast. Real fast.
The 2026 Festival of Speed is back. It’s got a theme this year. Singer. You know them. Those guys who take old Porsche 911 bodies and make them better than the original. The event pays tribute to them, but let’s be honest. You’re not here just to look at restored 1960s iron. You’re here to see what the future looks like before anyone else does.
Hillclimb is chaos. It’s glorious. It’s a 1.16 mile run where manufacturers throw their prototypes at a hill to prove a point. Here’s what they’re throwing.
Electric Shockers (And Hybrids Too)
Alpine isn’t sleeping. The A110 Future Concept hits the hill first. Aluminum chassis. 800-voltage architecture. Two rear motors. It looks like they want the next electric Alpine to drive like a proper Alpine. They’ve got the A290 and A390 on display too, plus the F1 car. It’s a full spread.
Over in the BYD camp? Big moves. The Denza Z Coupé is the star. Three motors. 1,500 horsepower. That’s a lot of juice. They’re bringing the whole family. Z9 GT. B5. D9. Even the Shark pickup truck shows up. It’s a massive footprint.
Toyota and Lexus are playing the rivalry card. Again. The GR GT and GR GT3 hybrid V8 coupes make their European debut. Wait. V8 hybrid. Is that the last gasp? Maybe. They also brought the LFA Concept. Just to haunt us with memories. And the GR010 Hybrid reminds everyone they won Le Mans. Recently.
Renault is going retro-electric. The Turbo 3E has 547 horsepower. It sounds like a joke but it’s not. The Twingo and 4 Plein Sud join it on the hill. It’s sporty. Or at least trying to be.
Mazda isn’t mentioned. They rarely are. But Honda is here with the Prelude HRC Concept. Developed by their racing arm. They’ve also got the tiny Super-N electric car and a motorcycle or two. Freddie Spencer even rides the CB1000F. Old school cool mixed with new school tech.
The Heavy Hitters
Lamborghini stays quiet but deadly. The Urus SE Performante leads the charge. It’s fast. It’s heavy. It does the hill well. They don’t say much else, which is typical. Mystery sells supercars.
Bentley goes fancy. The Supersports Mulliner gets a new paint job. Literally. Gradient finish. The color changes as you walk around it. Interior is two-tone. Seats for two only. Because practicality is the enemy of exclusivity.
Audi brings the Nuvolari. It’s a supercar concept. It looks sharp. It’s supposed to show what their F1 car will look like when they finally get back in. Or maybe not. We’ll see. They’ve had a rough ride lately.
Zenvo never ceases to try the impossible. The Aurora Tur prototype shows up. Six-liter V12. Quad turbo. Three electric motors. 1,850 horsepower. Deliveries start in 2027 if they survive production. Good luck with that.
McMurtry? The Speirling Pure returns. Fans. Not on the engine. On the front and back. Downforce at a standstill. 60 mph in 1.55 seconds. 3Gs. Physics feels optional there. It’s insane. I love it.
Heritage And Honors
BMW is feeling nostalgic. Forty years since their last F1 win. The turbocharged Benetton BMW B186 gets a spot. They celebrate 40 years of M3 history with the Concept Neue Klasse. On the hill, you’ve got the M2 Track Kit car and the M3 Touring 24. They’ve even brought back the i3 concept? Strange choice. But the iX5 and 7 Series are there for the main stage.
Pagani marks 70 years with the Huayra 70 Derecho. Open top. Manual gearshift. Gated, naturally. 852 horsepower. 217 mph. It’s a masterpiece of engineering. No electric motors. No buttons. Just mechanics and passion.
Gordon Murray Automotive brings the S1 LM. Only five exist. Homage to the McLaren F1. The T.33 Spider is lighter. Simpler. Purer. The T.50s Niki shows up too, already delivered to owners. It’s intimate. It feels real.
Subaru sponsors the Forest Rally stage. The E-Outback drives as safety car. The electric Uncharted makes its dynamic debut in the UK. Richard Burns’ 2001 Impreza pulls double duty as hero. Rally heritage isn’t dead. It just needs mud.
New Faces And Question Marks
Cupra debuts. Finally. The Raval is their first electric city car. Unannounced surprises promised. I’m skeptical. But I’ll wait and see.
Aston Martin leans on the “S”. DB12 S. Vantage S. DBX S. Plus the Valhalla, Valkyrie, and Vanquish. And the 2025 F car. They’ve got coverage everywhere. From road to race track. Do they need it all? Maybe not. But they have it.
MG drops two concepts. One is a B-segment EV coming in 2027. It previews design direction. The rest is standard production tech displays. Standard? At Goodwood? Feels flat. But hey, it’s MG.
Ferrari brings the house. The Amalfi, 296 Speciale A, and 849 Testarossa hit the hill. The XX program hits its 20th birthday. FXX and FXX-K Evo cars get special livery. They celebrate 75 years since that first World Championship win in ’61.
The F80 is still around. So is the 12Cilindri. Some with manual transmissions? Yes. The 12Cilindri M. Do we really need it? We said it then. We still do it now. Tradition is a strong drug.
The Drive Home
By Friday afternoon the hillsides will be a parking lot of prototypes and concepts. Some will stay there forever. Most won’t. The GR GT might become the GR Yaris killer. The Zenvo probably won’t be legal in Europe yet.
But you’ll remember the sound of the Nuvolari concept engine. You’ll see the gradient on the Bentley paint under the July sun.
Who needs it all to go electric? Or maybe they don’t care.
