Yesterday was the last day of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed—and boy what a day it was. We saw hundreds of vehicles make their way up the iconic 1.16-mile hill climb over the five-day event, everything from turn-of-the-centry machines to modern hypercars.
These 10 were the fastest. They range from 1970s Formula One race cars to modern sports cars, and everything in between. Some of these vehicles have taken on the hill climb before with great success, while it marked the maiden voyage for others.
You can watch the full top 10 video from Goodwood below.
Time: 49.86 Seconds
Modern cars weren’t the only ones to crack the top 10. Coming in at number 10 is the lovely Lotus-Cosworth 77 Formula 1 car that made its racing debut in 1976. Developed by Colin Chapman and a team of Lotus engineers, it packs a mid-mounted Cosworth V-8 engine making 465 horsepower. Pro racing driver Nicholas Padmore completed the course in 49.86 seconds.
Time: 49.82 Seconds
You might not know this, but Goodwood has its own dedicated rally stage just a few miles away from the hillclimb. There, some of the coolest rally cars of history come out to play. But this rally car opted for the hill climb instead; the Ford Puma Rally1 debuted in the World Rally Championship in 2022 with a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine making 380 horsepower. Adrian Formaux drove it to a time of 49.82 on the Goodwood course.
Time: 48.91 Seconds
Race cars don’t get much more iconic than this. The Nissan Skyline GTR Calsonic debuted in Japan in 1993 and went on to win the Spa 24 Hours as well as three Australian Group A championships. It had 550 horsepower when new but is closer to 1,000 hp these days—and it concurred the hill climb in a blistering 48.91 seconds.
Time: 48.83 Seconds
In its first official outing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Czinger 21C—an obscure supercar from California—broke the production road car record and cracked the top 10 fastest times of the weekend. It completed a timed run of the course in 48.83 seconds. Under the hood is a twin-turbocharged 2.88-liter flat-crank V-8 making up to 1,250 horsepower.
Czinger
Time: 48.19 Seconds
This Alpine was made for hill climbs. The A110R Pikes Peak took on the daunting Colorado hill climb event back in January before bringing its talents to Goodwood. With rally driver Raphael Astier behind the wheel, it completed the course in 48.19 seconds.
Time: 48.05 Seconds
The Porsche 911 GT3 cup was made for on-track performance. It has a 4.0-liter flat-six engine making 485 horsepower and weighs just 2,778 pounds. With British racing driver James Wallis behind the wheel, the GT3 Cup finished fifth on the weekend with a timed run of 48.05 seconds.
Time: 47.50 Seconds
Subaru built the GL Family Huckster specifically for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It debuted in 2022 and became the fastest wagon to ever take on the hill climb. This year, before crashing into some hay barrels, Travis Pastrana recorded the fourth fastest time of the day: 47.50 seconds.
Time: 47.34 Seconds
This gorgeous Gurney Eagle-Chevrolet FA74 Formula 5000 race car from 1974 was one of the oldest cars in the timed stage—but it was also one of the fastest. Packing a 5.0-liter V-8 engine with 600 horsepower, racing driver Michael Lyons finished with a time of 47.34 seconds, cementing the race car in the top three.
Nick Dungan / Goodwood
Time: 45.15 Seconds
Subaru had a second specialty vehicle take on the Goodwood Hill Climb—and it was even quicker. Debuting for this year’s Festival of Speed, the WRX: Project Midnight has a 2.0-liter flat-four engine that makes 670 horsepower and revs to 9,500 rpm. Scott Speed drove it to a second-place finish with a time of 45.15 seconds.
Time: 43.99 Seconds
The fastest car at Goodwood wasn’t a car at all. Ford’s electric SuperVan 4.2—with Romain Dumas behind the wheel—recorded a ridiculous hill climb time of 43.99 seconds. Even with 1,400 horsepower under the, it’s still shocking to see such a big vehicle move that quickly.
