This year’s edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which kicks off on Thursday, is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the 25 years history of the event.
For the end of the week, expect to see a flood of info and photos of never before seen machines like the Nissan GT-R50, the 2019 Toyota Supra, or the entire lineup of Rolls-Royce cars in a single place.
Tesla will bring the Model 3 to Europe in an official manner for the first time, and two autonomous vehicles, including a classic sports car, will be trying to make history on the hill climb course.
With one day left before the start of the event, Mercedes-Benz announced it too will be bringing something special at the show: the T80 land speed record attempt vehicle.
The special machine will be displayed for the first time in public at the British event. The car that will most definitely steal the show is an authentically replicated spaceframe and a cutaway DB 603 engine, mounted on the original chassis of the monster machine.
The T80 was built in 1939, merely months before the outbreak of World War II. In was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Mercedes as a means to shatter the land speed record and prove once and for all the supremacy of German engineering. Unfortunately, war broke out and stopped the vehicle in its tracks.
To break the record and reach a targeted speed of 750 km/h (470 mph), Porsche designed the T80 as a six-wheeler, powered by an insane 44.5 liter inverted V12 engine (yes, forty-four point five).
The unit was a variant of the one used on the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane but tweaked to insanity. The DB 603 was producing horsepower like crazy, being rated at a staggering 3,000 hp (2,200 kW), twice the power of the Bf 109.
A complete look at the record car that never was prior to its official presentation can be found at the following link.
Tesla will bring the Model 3 to Europe in an official manner for the first time, and two autonomous vehicles, including a classic sports car, will be trying to make history on the hill climb course.
With one day left before the start of the event, Mercedes-Benz announced it too will be bringing something special at the show: the T80 land speed record attempt vehicle.
The special machine will be displayed for the first time in public at the British event. The car that will most definitely steal the show is an authentically replicated spaceframe and a cutaway DB 603 engine, mounted on the original chassis of the monster machine.
The T80 was built in 1939, merely months before the outbreak of World War II. In was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Mercedes as a means to shatter the land speed record and prove once and for all the supremacy of German engineering. Unfortunately, war broke out and stopped the vehicle in its tracks.
To break the record and reach a targeted speed of 750 km/h (470 mph), Porsche designed the T80 as a six-wheeler, powered by an insane 44.5 liter inverted V12 engine (yes, forty-four point five).
The unit was a variant of the one used on the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane but tweaked to insanity. The DB 603 was producing horsepower like crazy, being rated at a staggering 3,000 hp (2,200 kW), twice the power of the Bf 109.
A complete look at the record car that never was prior to its official presentation can be found at the following link.