Breakfast of Kings

 It's been a busy holiday period, with a wonderful trip to France (again) and a long weekend in Cornwall for my mums 80th birthday,  so little driving until today - the Goodwood breakfast club.

I've been a couple of times in the past and it is always impressive, especially as it is free and today was no exception. Part of the reason I like it is the route down there - lots of B-roads to stretch Barry's legs.

The place was heaving, with a surprisingly large number of fairly dull cars from my childhood in the 80s - Fiestas, Golf's etc. They were all immaculate so people are obviously restoring and garaging these, sorry, very boring cars 😀

But some of the other stuff - wow!!! Double figures for the number of E-types, 3 or 4 DB5s and 4s, bucket loads of Triumph Stags, TR6s, TR4s, even a TR3 I didn't know existed. I tried to be restrained and only take pictures of cars I hadn't seen before but even that meant a lot:

This is a 1950 Cadillac Healey, whatever the hell that is:

An Auto Union ie. early Audi:

Mm, mmm, mmmm - look at those bonnet bulges:

This is a Montevardi 375 - the owner was just driving off and it sounded beautiful:

Possibly my 2 faves of the day:

....and. Stanley steam powered thing - check out the controls in the cabin:

A glorious half day out with a fun drive there and back.

Melting Motoring Madness

 Today was the Goodwood Festival of Speed - my first visit for 2 or 3 years. But with the south of England sweltering for the last few weeks, the forecast was for 35 degC and it felt hotter.

BUT I love this event - so loud, so exciting with amazing cars - every time, I see cars I've never seen before and watching one-offs I'll never see again, never mind moving at speed, is petrol-head heaven. Yes, it's absolutely heaving and everything costs a fortune but that is irrelevant - there is no better event in the world, never mind this country and it's only an hour and a bit from me. It would be crazy not to go...one day, my grandkids will marvel that such a thing was allowed.

I always seem to enter right next to the main Porsche stand which looked pretty cool:

There were loads of Porsches parked (if I was a Porsche Club member, I could probably have parked there?) but they were all at the bottom of the hill and it was already too hot to walk back up, so this pic will have to do:

This was a stunning looking 911 - great colour and really nice interior:

...although not as impressive as this champagne cabinet - wonder if that would fit in Barry?

This was a pretty impressive bit of tech that was almost hidden away - a wireless charger for your EV:

A lot more bikes than previous years, with some real art:

Some beauties in the supercar car park:

Others just hidden away:

Splendiferous supercar  paddock (which I completely missed last time) - the 4 seater, 2300hp Koennisegg Gemera:

A stunning Pagani something-unpronounceable:

One of 6 early Konegiseggs (sp?) in the Style de Luxe section:

Six (yes six!) Miuras:

A gorgeous Ferrari California Spider:

One of the best cars of the day - look at the details:

That brace is covered in leather!! In the engine bay!

Wonderful old Ferrari F1 cars:

...and a lot of exhausts:

This is a V16, 6 litre, 520 hp Auto Union that was doing 211mph - in 1939!!! They don't go any faster today, except round corners, I guess.

A Rolls-Royce limo:

The theme for this year was Singer:

And this was probably my favourite in the whole show - look at the colour (that's not paint, its red carbon fibre!) and interior, unbelievable:

Lots of other amazing Porsches dotted around:

A host of Ferrari F1s blew my ears out - I've got some video I'll upload soon:

...and daytime fireworks were a weird thing:

A sweltering hot, wallet-busting, crowded, loud and utterly fantastic day!