Takeaways from the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed

The main feature in front of Goodwood House this year celebrated 100 years of the MG brand

I don't blog about it annually like I did in the early days, but I still go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in some capacity every year. Since it's a sort of automotive Disneyland that only exists for four days per year, if you don't go then you'll have to wait 12 more months to go again! But this year, since I left it late to buy tickets, I could only go on the Thursday, before the less committed super-star drivers had bothered to show up (credit to Travis Pastrana for being there on all four days). Still, I thought I'd gather together the musings I've posted on Instagram and expand a little on some of them. In many ways FoS is the same every year, but the cars and drivers do change, so there is something to go and see one year that might not be there the next. Plus, in the increasing absence of major European motor shows, it has become an increasingly popular place for car manufacturers to debut new models.

So, here's what I found on a long, warm Thursday:

Good: Style et Luxe Concours Lawn

The ‘Style et Luxe’ concours lawn, tucked around the side of Goodwood House, always has some casual showstoppers on display – but this year the variety was off the scale! Millennial-era supercars within sight of sixties tractors, pre-war Bugattis and Rolls-Royces mixed between ’70s beach cars, plus Gandini/Bertone classics from all heights of the automotive food chain from Polo to Countach via Citroën BX and the reincarnated BMW Garmisch Concept. Whatever your taste in vehicles is, whatever vibe you really connect with, there was probably an example of it parked on the lawn.

The trick to achieving variety is in the diversity of the six classes/themes chosen by the organisers – although ironically, half of them were model-specific: Pagani had its own class, meaning a handful of differently-specified Zondas (the less elaborate the aero, the better they age), while another class was just for the different coachbuilt one-offs based on one of the most celebrated pre-war classics of all, the Bugatti Type 57. The third single-make class was for pre-1926 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, which looked roughly how you'd imagine they must look.

But then, to bring things down to earth, they also had a class for classic tractors! Yes, there was an orange-and-blue Lamborghini tractor and a red Porsche Diesel in amongst the Fordsons and whatnot. Another class equally lacking in weather protection was one for Beach Cars, such as a Renault 4 Plein-Air, Fiat 500 Jolly, Meyers Manx, Citroën Méhari and a Felber-commissioned Ferrari 365 GTC/4 by Michelotti that I can't say I've ever seen or heard of before. Imagine taking a V12 Ferrari onto a beach!

The most diverse class of all was possible thanks to the incredible versatility of one of the most celebrated car designers of all time: the great Marcello Gandini, who passed away earlier this year. A first-gen VW Polo, a Citroën BX 16-valve and a Fiat X1/9 Lido neighbouring Lamborghinis Miura, Countach, Diablo, Espada and Urracco S, plus the BMW Garmisch concept car; all these tastefully angular beauties originated from the same mind, a mind that influenced the direction of automotive aesthetics through the latter half of the 20th century perhaps more than any other (although Giorgetto Giugiaro might have something to say about that). To think that this collection only scratches the surface of it all...

I've been going to FoS since 2011 and this is the best mixture I've seen in ages. Hats off to all involved.

Bad: What is Ford playing at?

I took one look at an image of the new Ford "Capri" and immediately felt energy drain out of my body. Within a second of first seeing what Ford has done, my immediate thought was “Ugh... the new car market is so depressing...” and that was before I knew any details about it...

One side of the general reaction is enthusiasts feeling betrayed and bitterly disappointed. The real Capri was a blue collar hero, the GT86 of the 1970s and '80s, a truly accessible sports coupé from a marque people trusted and respected. For decades after that time, Ford Europe toyed with pretty coupé concept cars that had magazines declaring “New Capri???” in excited tones over and over again, to no avail... and now this? Did anyone want THIS to be the way the Capri came back? It should've stayed dead instead of this. This has as much to do with the original cars as a Capri Sun does.

The rest of the reaction seems to be jaded people quipping “well they'll probably sell a load anyway so whatever.” Well maybe, maybe not (how many "Mustang" Mach-Es do you see around?)... but the misused name is where concerns start, not where they end. See, I've seen someone suggest that registering a new model name/trademark internationally can cost north of €110million, meaning that the decision to recycle an old one could be nothing more bold than simple cost saving.

Explorer above "Capri"

Then there's the point that this "Capri" is actually a Volkswagen ID.4 with a new 'top hat' as they call it in the industry. Utilising an EV platform that already exists (VAG's MEB), and outsourcing that much of development and production, is quite a large cost saving... but Ford hasn't stopped there in its frugality: the 2023 Explorer – which indirectly replaced both the Fiesta and the Focus – is also an ID.4 underneath and the "Capri" bodyshell/top hat is, in fact, just a face-swapped Explorer with a fastback boot. The four doors, front fenders and complete interior are all directly interchangeable between the two Fordswagens...

Then there's the little bit of design work they actually did bother with. Ford might show sketches of a retro-inspired front mask, and the sloping rear with a short little deck on the end might loosely echo a cropped section of the mk.1 Capri, but to anyone too young to have that context organically ingrained in their mind, the side profile is instead freakishly reminiscent of... the Polestar 2. As for the front mask, filling the bulbous headlight units with four dashes in a square pattern for daytime running lights looks much more Porsche Taycan than Ford Capri...

This cynically generic design, combined with cheaply recycled model names and the outsourced platform, leads me to wonder: is Ford having an identity crisis? Or a confidence crisis? Or a financial crisis? Or all three? What does the blue oval even stand for now?

Not even Ford’s market positioning makes sense or creates any real hierarchy for its E-SUVs; they all cost basically the same! Baffling. Given that the "Capri" and Explorer are two sides of the same Deutschmark, that's kind of fair enough... but why price them within spitting distance of the "Mustang" Mach-E developed on Ford's own, in-house EV platform? Why is a Capri more expensive than a Mustang? Is £45-50k just the cheapest it can dare price an electric family car without posting a loss on each one? Is that why the stalwarts Fiesta and Focus had to die, too? And the Mondeo before them?

In North America, Ford seems more confident with its evergreen F-Series, ever-hotter (proper) Mustangs and new Bronco. In Europe, it increasingly feels like it'd be happier selling just Transit vans and Ranger trucks as a commercial vehicle company, than putting any real money into its once standard-bearing passenger cars anymore. It's a tragic sight.

Good: Genesis Magma

Genesis Magma might sound like a pretentious new coffee blend, but it's actually Hyundai’s (pretentious) new Premium+Sporty brand, with its own lava-like orange paint colour. Should sell well in Holland, then – although it's actually one of Belgium’s finest exports, six-time Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx, who is the brand’s official advisor. Quite a cool choice.

At the moment the only Magma material seems to be a one-off modified G80 and some "concept" pre-production design demonstrations of its SUVs, but the intention seems very much to be that this becomes Genesis's equivalent of ///M or AMG – except not quite as hardcore in car set-up, according to them.

These close-up detail shots are partly for the lack of space around the GV60 Magma Concept and G80 Magma Special, but also pick out some design details I rather like. The aero discs on the GV60 wheels, using the widened arches to stretch the G80 headlight surrounds into seamless aero vents, air outlets on the rear arches, the kind of artful flared bodywork that Audi/BMW-M/AMG can't seem to get right anymore – it all adds up to a balance between cohesive OEM performance car design and clear inspirations from the best aftermarket modding you see at top tier car shows.

When big car companies try making a nod to car culture, you can tell on closer inspection whether the people involved actually 'get it' or not. Given that these design touches come from the same overarching company as the Hyundai N Vision 74 Concept, a brilliant effort at capturing the themes you see in Instagram mod renders and the like, it's clear that the exterior designers in the South Korean brands’ design studio(s) do get it. In fact, Hyundai-Genesis and Kia have been doing clever, confident and well-executed design for several years now in a way that time-honoured Western brands aren't quite managing so much for whatever reason.

What a shame then, that if and when production models arrive here, Britain’s largely risk-averse, brand-loyal moneyed motorists will in all likelihood hardly buy any.

Interesting: Ni-Hao

One other takeaway from Goodwood FoS is that, in the motor show section, the presence of the usual European and Japanese manufacturers had largely either shrunk or vanished, as the invasion of the Chinese EVs appears to have truly kicked off in their place.

Honda, which a few years ago had a multistorey installation right near the main footbridge, now had a tiny activity pen tucked away in a corner with a couple of cars to the side. The brand new Prelude show car’s European debut [left] wasn't even there; it was unceremoniously plonked in the First Glance Paddock with one guy chaperoning it. Oh well, none of Honda's cars are made in Swindon anymore, so maybe that's why less effort was made for this show. Ford still had a decent-sized structure, but TBH I was too annoyed by the "Capri" to really check that stand out. Nissan, who was huge here a few years ago, was entirely absent this year – and they weren't the only disappearance. Nissan's French cousin Renault was only truly present via its Alpine division and I don't recall a single show stand by a Stellantis brand. The exceptions to the trend seemed to be BMW and Porsche, which must still recognise their loyal popularity in Britain. Oh, plus local lads JLR had the check-out-this-lean-angle Defender demonstration, on the site of the old F-Type skid ring behind its exhibition building (IIRC they used to have both, with the ramp-climbing Land Rovers front-of-house...).

By contrast, brands that most punters would've never heard of before had some of the biggest exhibition boxes of the lot. BYD, Omoda, Hongqi, whatever YangWang cars is (sounds like something a TV writer made up with little regard for cultural sensitivity), plus the superficially familiar MG (actually SAIC) and Geely’s western purchases Lotus and Polestar (Volvo).

The ‘Electric Avenue’ space for more generalised EV & PHEV interaction had several Chinese cars too, mixed in between the French Renault 5, Korean Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Italian* Alfa Romeo Junior and such like – especially if you count the Geely-funded, made-in-Wuhan Lotus Eletre and Emeya as Chinese cars. Oh, speaking of the Junior, I didn't spot a dedicated Alfa Romeo stand, so one electric crossover might've been the Milanese marque's entire new-car presence this year. There wasn't much in the way of historic Cloverleafs to be seen on the hillclimb either.

(*for less than a week it was officially launched as the Alfa Romeo Milano, until the city of Milan pointed out that you can only legally call it that if it's actually produced in Milan... otherwise it's just sparkling Stellantis. Far from the city where Alfa Romeo was founded, the renamed Junior is built in Tychy, Poland, as it's really a rebodied Jeep Avenger/Fiat 600; turns out Ford Europe isn't the only no-hoper desperate to save cost...).

Partly this is about China’s mind bogglingly vast and rapidly evolving car industry spreading west just as Japan and South Korea did in the late and later 20th century, but it also comes in the same year that the prestigious Geneva Motor Show – the heavenly neutral ground for European car companies and boutique customisers of all sizes – has officially been axed indefinitely after the financial hammering of the pandemic had put the event's future in jeopardy.

In the process of that development, European OEMs had increasingly, openly questioned the value of in-person international motor shows now that cars just launch on social media instead (to wit: the final 'GIMS' was a shadow of its pre-2020 self with the absence of VW Group and Stellantis eliminating around 20 major brands from the lineup in two fell swoops).

Chinese OEMs, by contrast, seem to have no issue with splashing out on the old-world format at all. If you were at FoS, or indeed Geneva's final motor show this past March, you'd therefore have perceived them all to be quite a big deal. Whatever you make of their design, perceived quality, or indeed the design and perceived quality of the nation itself, the fact is that China's car makers have confidence and momentum that Europe's increasingly appear not to have. That seems to be steadily bringing us a swing in market power that ought to make many bosses on the old continent a bit worried. Perhaps they are already and we're seeing what effect that's having in the decisions made about shows like this and the new cars themselves.

Whether the automotive population of our day-to-day streets is about to swing this way by the same kind of proportion, only time will tell...

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