A 28-Liter Fiat and Other Vintage Race Cars Went Wheel-to-Wheel at Goodwood Last Weekend

There’s a lot more going on at Goodwood than the annual Festival of Speed. The 82nd Members’ Meeting took place over the weekend, and some of the coolest race cars from England and abroad emerged from hibernation to hit the track. If you missed it, you’re in luck. The organizers filmed it all and broke down the highlights into separate videos. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re into pre-war classics, new endurance race cars, or just about anything in between.

One of the highlights from the practice round is the 1910 Fiat S76, whose 28.3-liter four-cylinder (!) earned it the nickname Beast of Turin. The engine was rated at 290 horsepower, which would have qualified it for the “hypercar” label had the term been around 125 years ago. It shows up at about 1:44 in the video and you can’t miss it. It has the funky proportions you’d expect from a car with such a massive engine.

Numerous high-level race cars hit the track, including the Porsche 911 RSR, and 1960s cars were also out in full force. I’m always amazed at how quickly a classic Mini can go around a track. Its racing resume is impressive, but keep in mind that it wasn’t developed for competition; it was created as an alternative to so-called bubble cars, like the BMW Isetta. Even more than 60 years after its launch, the original Mini remains one of the most accessible entry points into vintage racing. Working on a classic Mini is a pain (guess how I know?), but that’s a different story.

The real action came the following day, when the cars raced for a spot on the podium. The S.F. Edge Trophy is particularly fascinating. It’s open to race cars that are at least a century old, and the 2025 grid included a 1917 Hudson Super Six, a 1914 Peugeot Indianapolis, a 1913 Theophile Schneider Aero Special, as well as the aforementioned Beast of Turin. Many of these cars are hand-built few-offs, so seeing them in action is a real treat. I can’t imagine the level of ingenuity required to keep something like that on the road, let alone in racing condition. You can’t go to AutoZone and ask for a coil that fits a 1905 Darracq 200hp. You can’t go to the nearest Darracq dealership, either.

Cadillac attended the Members’ Meeting to showcase the V-Series.R endurance racer, and Gordon Murray Automotive sent out a T.33 for a few hot laps. And, the Win Percy Trophy would have been fascinating to watch from start to finish. It’s open to Group 1 touring cars with less than 2.8 liters of displacement, which is a pretty broad spectrum. I spot a first-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI, an Alfa Romeo GTV6, an E21-generation BMW 323i, and a Ford Escort RS2000. Where else can you see such a diverse selection of cars racing on the same track?

There were several “oh shit!” moments, too, and Goodwood compiled them into a separate video. Watching it puts things into perspective: I worry about parking my 1972 Volkswagen Beetle too close to other cars because I’m worried about scratches, yet these enthusiasts don’t think twice about driving a multi-million-dollar classic flat-out. It doesn’t always end well. At about 2:00 in the video above, a Ferrari 250 GT worth more than the average house spins off the track and hits the barricade. It keeps racing with one of its exhaust pipes hanging off. Fast-forward to 3:28 for a slow-motion look at a Jaguar E-Type hitting a barrier. The damage looks surprisingly minor, all things considered.

Towing home a wrecked classic race car is a tough hit, but it doesn’t change the fact that cars are more fun when they’re being driven.

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