Goodwood to honour Canadian-American Challenge Cup at 81st Members’ Meeting

Goodwood’s 81st Members’ Meeting will host an on-track demonstration to celebrate the Canadian-American Challenge Cup with a collection of up to 25 Can-Am racing cars from 1966 to 1974, including iconic vehicles from the likes of McLaren, Shadow and Porsche.

The Can-Am Cup was unique in the 1960s and ‘70s and created room for innovation, as races had little to no restrictions on engine capacities. Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Sir Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti and Mark Donohue are just some of the star drivers who appeared in the series in that famous period.

The 81st Members’ Meeting will take place Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April 2024.

Rolls-Royce Phantom celebrates the Italian Riviera

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has presented a one-off Phantom ‘Inspired by Cinque Terre’ - a car that takes inspiration from the Italian Riviera.

Cinque Terre - Italian for ‘Five Lands’ - is more than your typical Italian coastal town, with its colourful buildings sitting below famous vineyards in one of the most picturesque locations in Europe, if not the world. The Phantom takes the vineyard inspiration and runs with it, including grape motifs on the Ligurian Blue exterior, rear doors and picnic tables.

Taking more than a month to finalise the desigh, the now famous starlight overhead has a 14,338 stitch embroidered map of Italy added to it with five flowing stars precisely positioned by hand at the edge of the coastline to represent the Cinque Terre villages. Inside the glove compartment, there’s a silver debossing depicting the five villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore .

Unfortunately, this one-off commission has taken its place in the client’s collection and is unlikely to ever be replicated.

New Lotus flagship centre opens in Paris

Taking place during Paris Fashion Week 2023, Lotus has opened a new flagship store in the famous ‘Golden Triangle’ area of the French capital city centre. Following openings in London, Munich and Oslo, the new store is designed to showcase the best of Lotus, celebrating its rich history, whilst looking towards its electric future.

The ground floor will be home to the next generation vehicle line-up which includes the Eletre hyper-Suv, Emira sports car, Evija hypercar and Emeya hyper-GT. The first floor is dedicated to the brand’s heritage and will display road and race cars from Lotus’ 75 year history. For customers, the basement level will act as a VIP lounge and virtual reality configurator where they can customise their vehicles with the help of Lotus product experts.

Formula 1 aiding Aston Martin Valhalla supercar development

Aston Martin is using technology from Formula 1 to aid its development of Valhalla, the brand’s first series production mid-engine supercar. Facilitated by the consulting arm of the team, Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT) is directly assisting Aston Martin’s performance engineering team in three key areas of development - dynamics, aerodynamics and materials.

Aston claims that 90% of the Valhalla’s dynamic characteristics and vehicle setup happened in a simulator before the final stages were completed on the road. 

F1 technology has also gone into the Valhalla’s under-body aerodynamics and as Aston says doesn’t have to comply with strict motorsport regulations designed to limit downforce, it is free to benefit from “fully active aerodynamics systems at both the front and rear of the car which will generate over 600kg (1,300 lbs) at 240 km/h (150 mph).”

The Valhalla makes use of three electric motors. One sends power to the rear wheels, along with the bespoke V8 engine, and acts as a starter and generator, while the other two motors drive the front axle, where they can use torque vectoring to shuffle power between the front wheels. In terms of numbers, it will have a top speed of 217 mph and 0-62 mph time of 2.5 seconds.

Expected to cost around £580,000 when on sale, the first running prototype will take to the road later this year, with Valhalla set to enter production in 2024 and limited to just 999 models.

British drivers u-turn on electric vehicles following 2035 announcement

Research carried out for Kwik Fit - one of the largest independent automotive parts, repair and replacement specialists in the world - has revealed that the recent announcement of the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars being pushed back from 2030 to 2035 will result in fewer EV sales.

The figures indicate that the number of car buyers planning to choose an EV or hybrid has dropped by more than two million since the ban was moved from 2030 to 2035. During the last three years, the number of drivers considering buying low emissions vehicles rose from 33% in 2020 to 42% in 2022. However, due to the recent announcement, that number is now at 38%.

Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit, said: “There has been a clear change in drivers’ plans following the Government pushing the ban on sales of new petrol or diesel powered cars back to 2035. It’s obvious that the car park of the UK will be a mix of ICE, hybrid and EVs for many years to come, so it’s vital that drivers are supported in making sure their car runs as efficiently as possible for the long term, whatever type of fuel it uses.”

Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Goodwood, Rolls Royce, Lotus, Aston Martin & Kwik Fit