Defender V8 to storm the Hill at FOS

The UK’s largest premium manufacturer is coming to Goodwood in force this year, previewing the latest refreshed versions of its model range and marking themes that range from the company’s shift to electrification to the Jaguar E-type’s 60^th anniversary.

Jaguar has committed to being all-electric by 2025 and battery-powered Coventry cats come no faster or sexier than the car which will be making its pubic debut – in the flesh, if not on-screen. It’s the Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV concept, an endurance racer created for the virtual world of Gran Turismo using feedback from gamers.

As a display model it won’t be moving anywhere but if it could it would hit 62mph from standstill in 1.65 seconds on the way to a maximum speed of 255mph. Its stunning form is the latest in a long line of beautiful Jag endurance sports racers and is sure to be a must-see at the Festival.

Heading up the Hill will be newly-fettled and electrified versions of the F-Pace SVR, the E-Pace plug-in hybrid and the XF Sportbrake, and we’ll get our first at the Land Rover Defender V8. This one is not electrified but then with a 525PS (386kW) 5.0-litre V8 on board there will be plenty who will say it doesn’t need to be. We should definitely be able to hear the latest Landie coming…

The same wonderful supercharged V8 but in top 575PS (423kW) form will be powering up the Hill in the flat-out Michelin Supercar Run under the bonnet of the special F-Type 60 Heritage Edition, one of just 60 cars to be built in homage to the 60^th anniversary of the E-type. You will hear this one coming too, but also spot it for its Sherwood Green paint job, a colour that hasn’t been offered since it was an option on the E-type in the 1960s.

Also on the Hill will be Terry Grant, promising to do things with an XE, F-Pace and F-Type that really should not be tried at home; in the past his Jaguar-borne stunts have included a barrel roll and a loop-the-loop, as well as setting the record for the fastest car up the Hill – on two wheels. Goodness knows what he has in store this time.

Covid-19-safe drives will be available along with passenger rides in the F-Type on a special drift course, and in the Defender on an off-road circuit around the stand. All experiences have to be pre-booked by smartphone this year (look for the special signs around the stand) so there is no queueing. Younger fans can take to the track with radio-control Land Rovers.

And the tennis? With the Festival coinciding with the last days of the Wimbledon Championships this year, the JLR pavilion will offer live screenings of matches, while front-running Brit Kyle Edmund will be looking to ace the hillclimb on Saturday when he is let loose in an F-Type.