Cartier Style et Luxe results at the 2023 Festival of Speed | GRR

100 Years of Cyclecars – The Birth of Affordable Motoring

Winner: 1921 Tamplin, Bob Jones and family

Not every car on the Lawn is worth an unfathomable amount of money. Not every car on the lawn is, well… A full-sized car. Meet the ‘100 Years of Cyclecars – The Birth of Affordable Motoring’ class.

These wild little machines are small, often low-powered, and made to be as simple and accessible as possible. The oldest creation is a bright yellow Rolo Sociable from 1912, the only known surviving Rollo cyclecar of any type, while the youngest is a 1927 Auto Red Bug. It might look like a section of garden decking with four wheels, two tiny seats and a steering wheel, but it’s actually an EV. Not bad for almost 100 years ago. 

Derby Days – Bespoke Bentleys of the 1930s

Winner: 1937 Bentley 4 1/4 litre Couper by Park Ward, George Howitt

Next up is a fantastic handful of classic Bentleys, a celebration of some of the bespoke Bentleys created before the second world war. These imposing machines make the cyclecars look like Dinky Toys, handbuilt over the course of hundreds of hours, no one vehicle the same as the next. 

Every one of these Bentleys use a 4.25-litre four-cylinder engine and just two years cover the quintet. If you’re walking past, take a look at the tool box in the rear of the 1937 Rothschild Sedanca Coupe by Gurney Nutting. It’s not so much of a toolbox, more of an immaculately presented, velvet-lined tool tray.

Outstanding In Its Field – Land Rover’s Serial Success Story

Winner: 1953 Land Rover 80-inch Series 1 Royal Review Vehicle, Peter Stevens

With a class name like ‘Outstanding In Its Field’, there’s really only one kind of vehicle you would expect to see: Land Rovers. But these aren’t your ‘regular’ Land Rover Defenders.

Not only is there a 1949 Land Rover Fire Tender, complete with a colour-matched water tank and trailer to tow along behind, but there’s a 1957 Land Rover 80” Series 1 that was one of only two examples built for the SAS. There’s also a 1953 Land Rover 80” Series 1 Royal Review Vehicle, one of five cars built for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 1954 tour of Australia, complete with a specially designed rear deck from which the Queen could wave to the crowds. 

Style and Substance – Custom Low-Riders

Winner: 1950 Mercury Series OM Coupe ‘Kustom Leadsled’, Teri Smith

If you’ve ever wondered what a car with a letterbox for a windscreen would look like, look no further than the ‘Style and Substance - Custom Low-Riders’ class. It’s hard to believe these cars are drivable let alone road-legal, oozing style and menace in equal measure. 

It’s impossible to pick a favourite, quite frankly, every single one of the seven low-rider stunners detailed to perfection. But if there’s one thing we’ve learnt from this merry gang of American heroes, it’s that white-walled tyres should make a comeback.

Anything but the 911 – 75 Years of Stuttgart’s Other Icons

Winner: 1957 356A Carrera 1500 GS Speedster T1, Carlo Vögele

The Central Feature at the 2023 Festival of Speed celebrates both 60 years of the Porsche 911 but also 75 years since Porsche’s first sportscar, the Porsche 356. The Cartier class ‘Anything but the 911’ is a further celebration of Porsche’s ‘others’, and what a bonkers collection it is. 

There are the two modern Porsche ‘hypercars’, the Carrera GT (in a custom Zagato bodystyle) and the 918 Spyder. There’s also a Porsche 959, 356A, 906 and Schuppan 962 CR P1, one of only six road-going Schuppan 962s and a car with a top speed of 230mph… In 1992. Delightful.

Wheels of Fortune – Grand Tourers of the 1950s

Winner: 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Vignale, The Aston Workshop

Looking for a GT car from the 1950s, a car that would cover big distances with very little fuss, with plenty of power at your disposal should the mood take you? These cars are right up your street. 

There’s a truly gorgeous 1955 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT 4th Series, plus a 1956 AC Aceca, a dainty little creation when you compare it to the mighty AC Cobras we so often see at Goodwood events. One car you simply cannot miss is a 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Vignale, or, should we say, the 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Vignale. The only Vignale Aston Martin in existence, this car was commissioned by the King of Belgium before it went to the USA, ended up in a scrapyard and was then thankfully restored in the UK in 1996.

The Road to Le Mans – GT1 Homologation Specials

Winner: Nissan R390, Erik Comas

If the 1990s and 2000s are your ‘era’, the GT1 Homologation Specials might require you to have a short lie down. When we say ‘might’, we mean you’ll almost certainly need someone to mop your brow with a handkerchief.

The cars on show speak for themselves, so we’ll just list them: Lamborghini Diablo GT, Bugatti EB110SS GT, Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion, Nissan R390, McLaren F1, Maserati MC12 Stradale, Mercedes-Benz CLK LM. Absolutely ridiculous. 

Enzo’s Ferraris – The Commendatore’s Cars

Winner: 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica, Ferrari Classiche

Enzo Ferrari famously built his road-going machines cars to fund racing, but it’s impossible to argue ‘il Commendatore’ didn’t have a fantastic knack for creating stunning road cars. Proof of that can be found in the collection of Ferraris on the Cartier Lawn in 2023. 

Not only is there a Dino 246 GTS, the car that carried the name of Enzo’s son Alfredo ‘Dino’ who tragically died aged 24, but there's a beautiful 275 GTB with a mind-blowing green paint job and a gorgeous 330 GT 2+2. To Enzo, they might have ‘only’ propped up the racing team, but to us they’re the cars of our dreams. 

Photography by Pete Summers and Nick Wilkinson.