The Goodwood Festival of Speed >will feature historic touring cars from the last 40 years. One of the oldest cars is an Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAM from 1970, and some of the most historic models ever to race will be on show. Our favourite would have to be the 1984 Jaguar XJS. It was Jaguar’s success in “tintop” racing on both sides of the Atlantic that led to the Le-Mans winning XJR-9 of 1988. That was powered by the same XJS engine, possibly the last serious Sports Car racer to be powered by a genuine road car engine.

Other genuinely historic saloon car racers will include the early 70s Zakspeed Ford Capri of Klaus Ludwig, plus a quintet of significant Vauxhall tin top racers, including the ex-Gerry Marshall Firenzas, DTV, ‘Old Nail’ and ‘Baby Bertha,’ plus the fearsome Carlton TS6000 Thundersport of 1986. Vauxhall may not be the first name you think of when it comes to 1970s racing cars, but the Magnum/Firenza based cars were hugely successful. Unfortunately, Ford’s slicker PR machine ensured it was Escort rally cars that hovered up 90% of the publicity.Contemporary tin tops will include current BTCC stars Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden in the Honda Civic and Frank Wrathall in the Toyota Avensis. The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC will also be among the first electric racing cars to compete against the clock for a timed run up the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb.