Selecting the overall victor at the annual Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ automotive design competition at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is never an easy task. However, at this year’s event, held on the sweeping Cartier Lawn at Goodwood House over the weekend of July 11-13, the judges duty of crowning the overall winner was made easier by a truly stunning motor car.
The 1930 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK ‘Trossi Roadster’ shone out as the natural winner. Specially imported from the USA for the Goodwood event by the Ralph Lauren Car Collection, the Trossi Mercedes proved a huge hit with the Festival of Speed visitors.
The only one if its kind in the world, the car has an illustrious history and was once owned by Count Trossi himself. The Cartier class of exquisite coachbuilt supercharged Mercedes-Benz of 1925-1939 also included the class winner, a 1927 680 S Torpedo Roadster, owned by Miguel Gonzelez.
Other class winners included the famous 1911 ‘Golden Ford’ in the 100 years of the Ford Model T class. The ‘Great Britons’ class of stars of the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show was won by the pristine 1948 Land Rover Series 1 of Tim Dines. The victor of the rear-engined revolution, celebrating 60 years of Porsche innovation, was Thomas Straumann’s original 356 ‘Gmund’ coupé. A new perspective, with adventurous design from post-War America, saw the pioneering 1948 Tucker Torpedo of John Jackson win his class. The dawn of the Supercar class was won by the stunning Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, whilst the 1999 Bugatti Chiron 18.3 was the surprise winner of the audacious supercar concepts of 1980-2000 class.
One final Cartier class caused a real stir with all Festival goers, with a gathering of the most memorable cars used by James Bond in the popular 007 film series, with some gorgeous Bond girls on hand to add a touch of glamour. The famous Aston Martin DB5, used by 007 in Goldfinger, and now part of the Louwman Collection, took victory in the class.
As with all previous Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ a prestigious panel of judges from all areas of the creative world gathered together survey the rich entry from their own individual perspective. Many of the dozen judges knew little about cars, so their aesthetic judgements made a refreshing change from the automotive experts that attend other events. This year’s judges include TV and radio presenter Chris Evans – who parked his desirable Ferrari 250 California that he recently purchased for a record £5.6 million on the Cartier Lawn alongside the ex-Steve McQueen 250 Lusso – plus acclaimed architect Sir Norman Foster and Queen musician Roger Taylor.
[Source: Goodwood Festival of Speed]
