Goodwood Festival of Speed sculptures: the best of

THE Goodwood Festival of Speed is a rolling motor show featuring the world’s most exotic racing and road cars touring Lord March’s driveway in the beautiful English summer sunshine.

While the cars are the stars of the show, there is plenty to see off the track, with manufacturers revealing new and future models and a who’s who of the automotive world meandering around the grounds.

In the centre of it all is a towering sculpture. Each year a new artwork is commissioned to sit in front of the Goodwood Manor paying tribute to that year’s theme. This year it is the man who made modern Formula 1 what it is today, Bernie Ecclestone. In the past the Goodwood sculpture has celebrated a manufacturer or particular models.

Last year, a sculpture was made to celebrate BMW’s 100th anniversary. The end result was a swooping, colossal structure, with three iconic cars from three motorsport disciplines (the Mille Miglia, Le Mans 24 Hour, and Formula 1), all suspended at its peak.

Mazda was honoured the year prior, with its iconic Le Mans winning 787B sportscar hoisted atop a rotating spiral that seemed to scratch the heavens.

Instead of simply hanging a car overhead in 2011, a giant Jaguar E-Type was constructed and placed nose-down over the grounds. The construction overlooked the entire event, and was lit up at night.

Then, to celebrate the Porsche 911 in 2013, three of examples were elevated on pylons. At the time it was the tallest sculpture to be constructed at Goodwood, reaching 34 metres into the sky. Weight? Not including the Porsches, 22 tonnes!

It remains a mystery what will be constructed to celebrate Mr Ecclestone this year, but judging by previous iterations it will be an unexpected masterpiece.