New car news

03 July 2009 - 10:00

Festival of Speed preview

The world's coolest garden party kicks off today, as hundreds of awesome cars gather on a posh man's driveway.
 
Yep, it's the infamous Goodwood Festival, and here's a little round-up of what's going on.

Audi will blast the R8 V10 up the Hill, and keep an eye out for a couple of quick Jaguars, too. You won't miss the first one - the lurid green XKR we showed you yesterday. The other is the XFR Bonneville car we featured a while back.
 
Of course, the Festival isn't just about new stuff. The paddocks will be crammed with all sorts of cars you've never heard of, like the Matra MS630 and Alfa Tipo 33 TT 12. But they're not just for bearded men - these old things will blow you away.
 
The F1 teams will make their annual visit, too. Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will be among them, and Lewis even gets to drive Ayrton Senna's 1988 championship-winning MP4/4. That'll make up for his dodgy start this season...
 
Aston Martin will be there with the V12 Vantage and, just in case you're not excited enough, it will roll out this year's LMP1 Le Mans car, too.
 
But our favourite bit of action will involve a Mini. And some girls. To celebrate the car's 50th anniversary, Lord March and Damon Hill will attempt to fit as many Mini-skirted girls as possible in the back of a Cooper. And, in the name of journalistic integrity, we'll be crammed somewhere in the back, just to verify the numbers...
 
We're running out of space to tell you about everything here. But we'll report back with a gallery from the weekend.