Goodwood Festival of Speed: 50 years of Porsche 911 to be celebrated

The 50^th anniversary of the Porsche 911 will be one of the central themes to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which takes place from 11 – 14 July.  All seven generations of the 911 will be on display, along with special demonstrations from classic Le Mans cars and historic rally legends.

Key to the celebrations will be a bespoke 911-inspired sculpture that will be displayed on the lawns of Goodwood House. Details of the sculpture are a closely guarded secret, but event organisers are promising ‘a highly distinctive art installation’ to mark the 50^th anniversary of Germany’s most famous rear-engined sports car.

Throughout the weekend there’ll be live demonstrations from a stunning array of historic racers, with a bumper section of Le Mans cars from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. The 24 hour racing veterans will include the 936 Spyder, 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ and the 962. There’ll also be a delectable selection of rally cars in action, with the SC Safari and Paris Dakar Carrera 4x4 set to battle it out on Goodwood’s purpose built rally course

More rare 911s will be on display at Goodwood’s Cartier Style et Luxe Concours, with the original 901 from 1963, Turbo SE ‘flatnose’ from 1987 and Type 993 GT2 contesting in the weekend’s hotly coveted design competition.

Former Porsche factory race drivers will also be in action over the weekend and an undeniable highlight will be the sight of Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood being reunited with their 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours winning Porsche 917 KH. Both drivers will get time behind the wheel of the famous racer, which has been fully restored with its distinctive red and while livery.

There will also be an indication of Porsche’s future, with the Cayenne S Hybrid and plug-in Panamera S E-Hybrid set to be displayed alongside the 1900 Lohner-Porsche ‘Semper Vivus’ – the world’s first full hybrid car.