Top 7 cars debuting at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024
From electric hatches to £6m hypercars, here are the highlights from this year's event
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The Festival of Speed is a yearly event held at Goodwood House in Chichester. It’s famed for hosting car launches, celebs and the thrilling hillclimb that weaves right through country house grounds.
This year was an important year, celebrating all things classic and electric.
With so much noise to cut through from the event (and we mean literally, some of the cars are loud) here are seven of the best new cars to debut this year:
Red Bull RB17
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Not only is Red Bull dominating Formula One, it’s also about to jump to the top of the tree of track-only hypercars with the brand-new RB17.
Designed by the master of aerodynamics, Adrian Newey, this is a statistician's dream. But can it compete with the Aston Martin Valkyrie Pro?
1,200hp, 900kg, 15,000rpm red line. It’s definitely coming for the Aston’s crown.
Oh, and an eye-watering price of £6 million.
Ford Capri
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The Capri name was put to rest in 1986, but 38 years later and Ford has brought it back as an all-electric coupé SUV.
Based on the VW ID.4’s platform, this swanky new Capri is far from the original with more space, futuristic looks and much more powerful and efficient electric motors. No more V6 engines here.
Credit where it’s due, though – Ford has kept the iconic monobrow between the headlights, which we love to see.
Honda Prelude
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Like a lightning bolt from the past, straight into our hearts with a shock of nostalgia, the Prelude is back. It’s been 23 years, but it seems worth the wait.
The new Honda Prelude, like its predecessor, is a sleek coupé but with a modern twist.
Power will come from a hybridised Civic engine, giving you plenty of power and fuel efficiency when it arrives in 2025.
We all love to see a brand stay true to its roots when it brings back a model name.
Land Rover Defender Octa
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Standard Defender a little tame for you? That’s where the new Land Rover Defender Octa steps in – powered by a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8.
This 635hp monster is Land Rover’s answer to Mercedes-AMG G63 and is the most powerful Defender ever, borrowing its engine from none other than the new BMW M5.
Just look at how mean and rugged it is. No need to take this one for an aftermarket body kit.
Alpine A290
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Ever since Renault teased the reborn electric Renault 5 at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, we’ve been eagerly waiting for the tuned-up Alpine version, and it’s finally here.
The Alpine A290 is a 220hp electric hot hatch that promises incredible driving dynamics, making it the first proper mainstream fun electric hatchback.
And the other best part? Just look at the thing. Proper retro-futuristic design with flashes of racecar heritage (hint: look at the steering wheel and those ‘X’-shaped lights)
Yangwang U9
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Following on from the Yangwang U8 SUV, the U9 is a fully electric supercar that can actually jump all four wheels off the ground... for some reason.
It plans to come to the Chinese market as a Ferrari rival, producing 1,300hp and costing around £180,000.
We can’t wait to see what Yanwang is going to cook up next.
Tesla Cybertruck
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Pickup trucks are no doubt an American phenomenon, so seeing one in the UK is always a surprise, especially when it’s a Tesla Cybertruck.
If you haven’t heard of Elon Musk’s latest creation, then you must be living under a rock, possibly on Mars.
This electric pickup weighs 3,000kg, is 5.6m long and has a (claimed) 0-60mph time of 2.6 seconds. That’s some serious pick up (and go).