The Supercar Run at this year’s Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard features more rarified and exotic machines than ever and a huge number making first appearances.
One that’s gone down hugely well with onlookers near and far is the new Ford Mustang GTD, which pairs GT3 levels of aero madness with an 800PS supercharged V8. Between the noise and the madness of the fact this thing has number plates, people have been eating it up.
In the rarified world of ultra-exclusive hypercars, we saw a special-liveried version of the new Pagani Utopia, as well as the screaming Huayra R. Meanwhile Gordon Murray Automotive debuted Mule 3 of its T.33 manual supercar. The star of the Hill? Personally, I can’t get enough of the Koenigsegg CC850, the manual-transmissioned callback to Koenigsegg’s slippery, stylish, elegant roots, free of any jutting spoilers and wings and without any garish exposed carbon bodywork. The Bugatti Mistral – the open-topped Chiron Bugatti once insisted it would never make – also brought a touch of elegance and beauty to the run.
Quite the opposite of the Mistral and CC850’s elegance was the Czinger 21C, the radical American 3D-printed hypercar, which has more wing than an F22 Raptor and was thoroughly striking in its green carbon with red highlights scheme. A fun aside regarding the Czinger, it’s running timed in The Shootout...
Another awesome appearance was made by the Yangwang U9, a Chinese supercar that put on a show to shut down the doubters and naysayers saying all the crazy machines springing up out of the East are just vaporware…
The array of track-only specialist supercars continues to expand at the 2024 Festival of Speed too, with the Bugatti Bolide now pretty well ready to go. Also here and as seen at the Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport earlier this year, the screaming Gordon Murray Automotive T.50S. The coolest this year? Absolutely the McLaren Solus GT, not just because of what it is, but because of that outstanding Mika Hakkinen 1998 F1 livery.
If you’re in the market for a very-few-off special, bizarrely, there’s never been more choice. In our Supercar Paddock this year, even the likes of the ultra-limited, über desirable Porsche 911 S/T is comparatively affordable and widely available. Fernando Alonso’s new passion project that he drove up the Hill, the Aston Martin Valiant track car, is for instance, one of just 38 that are to be made at over £2million each.
Off the Hill, Koenigsegg brought its Chimera, a Frankenstein Agera that’s had the CC850’s manual shoehorned in. A very similar one-off came out of Pagani, called the Huayra Epitome, also featuring a manual ‘box, in this case borrowed from the Utopia. Once again, the Festival of Speed has proven to be a one-stop shop for anything and everything in the world of supercars.
Photography by Nick Dungan, Toby Whales, Jordan Butters, Pete Summers and Nick Wilkinson.
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