The Michelin Supercar Paddock is always a popular destination at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, and, once again, the crowds were out in force to inspect, debate and dream about the world’s ultimate high-performance cars.
With a brand new location near the hillclimb start line, the avenues of exotics were swelled with fans flooding in for the final day of action. And what better way to start a Sunday morning than with a cup of coffee, a gigantic bacon roll and an eye-watering selection of automotive exotica.
Each and every example on display could have an entire gallery dedicated to it, but between bites of our breakfast, we tried to select a few highlights.
The first was the achingly cool Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake with its estate-styling. The Zagato design oozes class and sophistication whilst still looking menacing enough for the 6.0-litre V12, 580bhp, 0-62mph in just 3.5 seconds performance. A lovely thing.
What else? Of course, we couldn’t pass up a visit to the bonkers Prato Orange with over 900 horsepower. When launched, it featured the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 engine ever used in a production car.
In a dizzying display, every turn unveiled more naughtiness. How about the new, limited-run Porsche 935? Inspired by the iconic 935/7B Le Mans racer affectionately known as Moby Dick, the latest offering from Porsche delivers 700 horsepower and completely revolutionised aerodynamics.
Since we’re in the Porsche section of the paddock, a quick drool over Andy Bruce’s Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer. Incredibly, 2019 marks Singer’s 10th anniversary, and looking at the workmanship on this example, they should feel very pleased with their efforts so far. It is faultless and looks fantastic in the understated ‘Attack Grey’ finish.
Over the way, we also had Lanzante’s Porsche 930 Tag Turbo, fitted with a turbocharged 1.5-litre V6 F1 engine from the 1980s with actual F1 race pedigree. That’s a bit special too.
The Supercar paddock even boasts a few bikes this year, including the super-charged Kawasaki Ninja H2R hyper-sport. This thing is so fast, it’s strictly track-only. Standing alongside, it looks like it’s doing 200mph with the engine off. When you turn the engine on, you can twist out a top speed of over 249mph. Phenomenal.
Add in to the mix the Brabham BT62, the gorgeous McLaren GT, a McLaren Senna or two, a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Coupe and a Pagani Zonda R Evolution, there is a serious amount of horsepower to explore. Nearly 8,000hp as it happens. That’s quite a lot. Enjoy the gallery!
Photography by James Lynch, Joe Harding, Matt Sills, Jayson Fong, Dominic James and Harry Elliot.
FOS
FOS 2019
2019
Michelin
Supercars
Michelin Supercar Paddock
Gallery