GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF PORSCHE

Porsche couldn't have picked a better place to celebrate its 75th birthday. The Goodwood Festival of Speed is the mecca for petrolheads and our motoring ed Dieter Losskarn simply had to join the party

- Dieter Losskarn

IT WAS IN 1948 WHEN THE FIRST EVER PORSCHE SPORTSCAR WAS REGISTERED FOR ROAD USE. And Porsche chose the world’s largest automotive garden party, with 50,000 visitors per day, set against the backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex, UK, to celebrate its 75th anniversary. But there was even more reason to party. The Goodwood Festival of Speed turned 30, while Porsche’s 911 celebrated its 60th birthday and Le Mans its 100th.

Besides the famous 1.16-mile climb up Goodwood Hill, the focal point of the festival was the central feature sculpture in front of Goodwood House by British artist Gerry Judah. For the fourth time in three decades dedicated to Porsche, and showing off their most iconic models. High up in the air and all original.

After thundering up the hill, the parade of classic road and track Porsches gathered here to present themselves in all their beauty. From the 356 SL Gmünd Coupé to the famous Le Mans winning 917K racecar.

The Stuttgart firm also brought a couple of brand-new vehicular treasures to the party. A highlight was the all-new Mission X. Porsche concept cars have always been pleasantly close to reality. So this hypercar in the tradition of 959, Carrera GT and 918 Spyder will most likely become a production model soon. The dramatic two-seater features Le Mans-style doors which open upwards to the front and a high-performance electric powertrain. It will deliver more downforce than the current 911 GT3 RS and offers a charging speed of about twice that of a Taycan Turbo S. The idea is nothing less than to create the fastest road-legal car on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. With lots of motorsport DNA and an impressive power-to-weight ratio of one hp per kg, this should be feasible.