Spectacular Aston Martin gathering of past, present and future
Visitors to this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard can’t fail to notice that Aston Martin is this year’s celebrated marque. The Central Feature, whose design represents endless motion to reflect Aston Martin’s successes in endurance racing, dominates the scene in front of the House and marks 70 years since Aston Martin first raced at the Goodwood Motor Circuit.
At several times throughout the weekend, there will a ‘moment’ to celebrate the marque’s seven decades, the first of which took place yesterday. Many key cars from Aston Martin’s illustrious history gathered around the Central Feature to create a spectacular array of sights and sounds… all to the backdrop of some daytime fireworks and a blast of Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory performed live.
Who couldn’t enjoy seeing three Project Cars – DP212, DP214 and DP215 – lined up together with the ‘Razor Blade’ speed record car of 1923? The latter took the record from AC Cars. The crown in Aston Martin’s heritage jewel, though, is its outright Le Mans win in 1959, when the team claimed a decisive one-two finish.
While Aston Martin’s heritage is very important, this isn’t a company that rests on its laurels, so there was also plenty that looked to the future – like the dynamic debut of the Rapide E electric saloon and DBX SUV. The new car ensemble was completed by the Vantage AMR and DBS Superleggera.
Current motorsport successes include three class wins at Le Mans in the GT1/GTE category, but it’s clear that Aston Martin wants to return to the glory days of outright victory at the French endurance… and the forthcoming Valkyrie could just make that happen.
Photography by Pete Summers.
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