Feature
643hp AWD Hybrid Corvette E‑Ray Lands in the UK
A refreshing alternative is ready to order in the UK, complete with right-hand drive.
July 10, 2025
V12 screamers, retro icons and track monsters — these were our standout cars from the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Once a year, seemingly everyone remotely into cars descends on West Sussex to celebrate everything fast, loud and gloriously unnecessary. The Goodwood Festival of Speed has evolved into a mecca for petrolheads as a showcase of the cutting edge of the automotive world, along with a healthy dose of nostalgia, and 2025 delivered that in spades.
I might have had a year off from the 10-hour round trip down to Goodwood this year, but I was still glued to the live streams to witness some jaw-dropping machines scream their way up the hill, and I’ve narrowed down my 10 favourite cars from this year’s event.
These are in no particular order, and a car not being on here doesn’t mean I think it’s crap; these are just the ones that ‘do it’ the most for me, whether it’s the way they sound, the way they look, or the way they kick me right in the nostalgia glands.
Yes, I know I haven’t mentioned the Ferrari F80, flying the flag for the latest generation of world-beating hypercars. I’m sure it drives like a rollercoaster on wheels, but after the V12 LaFerrari, it didn’t set my non-existent hair on fire to watch. Don’t worry, Ferrari fanboys, I drove Adam’s 430 Scuderia yesterday and was reminded why it’s up there with my favourite driver’s cars of all time, but the muted whoosh from the F80’s V6 hybrid powertrain means that, as a spectator, it didn’t excite me anywhere near as much as an old BMW.
Not just any old BMW, though! Straight from Gran Turismo into reality, the E46 M3 GTR brought a wave of nostalgia to the Hill for me. Back in 2001, my dad had an E46 320ci, so the E46 M3 was my dream car, and I always supported BMW in racing, including Williams in F1 with their BMW V10s. Wide arches, high-revving V8, and enough presence to shut down an entire paddock. Driven by Andy Priaulx, this was a rolling reminder of my childhood and BMW Motorsport’s golden era.
The Valhalla has been teasing us for what feels like an eternity, until it finally made its UK debut at Secret Meet just a few weeks ago. Seeing it run up the hill at Goodwood proves again it’s the real deal. With F1-derived aero, a twin-turbo V8 and enough carbon fibre to make a racing car blush, Aston’s mid-engined monster finally feels real — and very, very fast.
Another car that made its initial debut at Secret Meet. Tom Walkinshaw Racing is back with a wild, supercharged V12 restomod. Think XJS silhouette on steroids, with bespoke everything underneath. Many people are getting a little fed up of restomods by now, but this one has generated intrigue from so many, from the way it looks to the biblical sound coming from its side pipes.
Strange name, but a one-off Koenigsegg is always going to cause a stir, and “Sadair’s Spear” is something else. Built as a track-focused version of the Jesko, Sadair’s Spear is named after the horse Jesko von Koenigsegg (Christian’s father) rode in his final race in 1976. This is a reminder that Koenigsegg doesn’t do subtle, in looks or performance, and it smashed the production car record up the Goodwood Hillclimb, beating the Czinger 21C by 1.68 seconds.
No supercar list is complete without the GOAT. Last year it was the 1997 Longtail, but this year it was real royalty — the 1995 Le Mans-winning number 59. Seeing an F1 GTR up close is a moment in itself, but hearing it fire up and charge the hill in all its V12 glory. Spine-tingling. It’s a reminder of how analogue, raw and beautiful even the most advanced racing cars used to be, and is still the benchmark for so many, even thirty years on.
Built to celebrate the Le Mans victory of the F1 GTR we’ve just covered, the 95-59 (meaning 1995, the year of victory, and 59, the number of the winning car) is based on McLaren’s current platform, but just like the F1, it has three seats and a central driving position. The twin-turbocharged V8 kicks out 850hp through the rear wheels, and the styling is a tasteful modern evolution of what an F1 might look like if it were designed today.
Yep, a third central-seat car, and one that also made my list last year. Gordon Murray’s F1 sequel deserves its spot again thanks to the unreal shriek from its V12 as Dario Franchitto took it all the way to 12,000rpm — yes, twelve thousand! The T.50S is louder, lighter and even more track-focused than the road car, and it certainly gave the Huayra R a run for its money in the aural contest.
The name is a bit of a mouthful, but Singer’s latest offering is a seriously appealing one for me. No turbos, no huge numbers, just pure thrills. Singer’s new Carrera Coupe pays homage to the 1980s Carrera 3.2 and Super Sport, but with modern engineering finesse and a howling 9,000rpm, 414bhp naturally aspirated flat-six. It’s rear-wheel drive, manual, and an utterly gorgeous love letter to the air-cooled 911s of the ‘80s. If I could own any car on this list to drive on a Sunday morning, this would be it.
Imagine taking the already ludicrous Huayra R (which made my top 10 last year, too), sawing the roof off, and adding even more aero. The result is the Huayra R Evo Roadster — a shrieking, track-only sculpture with a naturally aspirated V12 soundtrack that echoed through the Sussex countryside like a war cry. Completely unhinged, completely wonderful, and possibly the best sounding car there this year.
This is another nostalgia hit for me as my dad used to take me to Silverstone around this era to witness Schumacher’s glory days and condition my eight-year-old ears to the legendary V10s as they took Copse with the slightest of lifts. It’s great to see these cars even move at all these days, but Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen made the most of his chance behind the wheel and absolutely stormed up to let the crowd hear that V10. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they could hear it back in Maranello.
