The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the motoring highlights of the year and 2017 was no exception. Jaguar announced a world debut at the event as did other big manufacturers, but this year it was definitely the year of Jaguar. Wins in the Supercar showdown, public debut of the Project 8, fastest up the hill with XJR-12D meant that Jaguar was all smiles after this years event.
Did you see that coming?
Goodwood Festival of Speed has become synonymous with special edition car launches and is seen by some as the showroom for the worlds rich list. The cars on show are not your normal event cars, supported by manufacturers themselves this is the pinnacle of the car showroom, but moving.
Jaguar have been taking full advantage of this and replicated a wining formula tested by the Project 7 a few years ago. Release a teaser when no-one is expecting it, then follow up with the first public outing being at Goodwood. Roll forward to 2017 and we are presented with the most unexpected news, a new project and its not what you think. The day before Goodwood Festival we finally see the Project 8 in its animal glory. The snarling, wailing 5.0 ltr Supercharged V8 XE, normally a relatively subdued small executive saloon suddenly becomes the fastest, most powerful road legal Jaguar ever built.
Was it all about the Project 8?
Well, no. Jaguar did open their order books for this latest hand built SVO offering and with only 300 available you get a feeling that they are now very close to filling that order book, so you would be excused for thinking that it was the only car from Jaguar. However also on show from Jaguar you had the I-Pace, the first electric concept from Jaguar and another car that seems to take all agreed concepts and turn them on their head. Joining the “Pace” family of Jaguar the I-Pace promises sport car performance with family saloon comforts. The company also revealed the latest version of the XJR, the most powerful version to date.
What about the not so modern Jaguars?
There would be little point calling this a festival of speed if all the cars were in their own compounds, static and just looking pretty, so thankfully they have the hill climb and the moving motor show. The moving motor show was added in 2010 after the cancellation of the British Motor show aimed directly at buyers of new cars. The festival Hill Climb though is where all the fun happens and Jaguar have been involved in it heavily in the last few years, in particular with Justin Law and the collection of Jaguars that Don Law racing bring to the event. This year it was the turn of the XJR-12D and Justin Law managed to get the car up the hill with all its wheels winning the Festival of Speed Shootout. Watch the video here and enjoy the sound of it, try not to wince when you see how close he gets to the hay bails.
