Audi unveils 100th anniversary sculpture at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Audi has officially unveiled their 100th anniversary sculpture at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Hode your breath and open your eyes, it’s really stunning!!

Located in front of Lord March's Goodwood House in West Sussex, the massive sculpture features two Audi cars – the legendary 1937 Auto Union streamliner as well as the just launched R8 V10 sports car suspended in the air, at either end of a dramatic ‘swoosh’ of tyre tracks, as if they are driving off into the sky.

“I wanted to design something iconic because this year is Audi’s 100th anniversary,” explains the sculpture's creator, Gerry Judah. “The sculpture had to have a celebratory theme and it also had to encompass the qualities of the Audi brand: sporty, prestigious and progressive. "

“I drew about 20 ideas and some had elaborate bridges with vaulted arches but somehow they didn’t have quite the right style. I then had a flash of inspiration and designed this ‘swoosh’ with a car at either end to represent Audi’s 100-year history."

The steel structure weighs in at 44 tons (40 tonnes). It may look relatively simple, however, Judah said "...it's actually extremely complex, because the structure has to be rigid and completely balanced without the need for hundreds of supporting props." Built by 12 men in four weeks, the colossal monument is expected to awe and inspire more than 130,000 visitors.

Besides the sculpture, Audi will display several historic vehicles in the Festival, including a handful of Auto Union ‘Silver Arrows', a variety of early Quattro cars, and the legendary Le Mans winning R10 TDI. A brief timeline below documents what Audi thinks are some of its seminal moments over the past 100 years.

1909 - First car to bear the Audi name: the Audi Type A (2.6 liter)
1935 - The Auto Union B-type wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza
1937 - The Type C Stromlinenwagen first to break the 400 kph land speed record on the Autobahn
1938 - First to perform systematic crash tests bringing added safety and reassurance for drivers
1980 - First to introduce a permanent four-wheel drive rally car – the Audi Quattro with its turbocharged five-cylinder engine
1989 - First Audi with TDI – the Audi 100 shows the world the remarkable power and economy with TDI
1994 - First to use the Aluminum Space Frame – tough and corrosion resistant, this provided the bodyshell for the Audi A8, making it far lighter than traditional designs
2006 - First to win Le Mans with a diesel-powered car
2009 - First appearance of the Audi R8 V10 – the new 10-cylinder performance car which is capable of 0-62 mph in just 3.9 seconds

Jaguar reveals one-off ‘XK-R Goodwood Special’ at Goodwood

Jaguar has announced that they will unveil a unique one off ‘XK-R Goodwood Special’ at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.

The car features a unique Lime Green exterior paint scheme, is described as a one-off to explore the harder side of the XKR's character and allow engineers to explore some performance boundaries. Details are still unclear, however, the Goodwood Special XKR is pegged to have an 'unspecified' power upgrade on top of the standard 2010 XKR's 5.0L supercharged V8. That means more than 503hp (375kW) on tap, likely as much as 550hp (410kW) or more.

Other unique touches include a modified exhaust, 21-inch wheels, and a lowered ride-height.

One lucky attendee will also get a chance to take a ride up the Goodwood hillclimb with Mike Cross, Jaguar's chief engineer, behind the wheel.

Besides showing the special XK, Jaguar will showcase several historic vehicles including the 1957 Le Mans winning long-nose D-type, the first C-type to win Le Mans, and the stillborn XJ13 racer which never saw action due to the company's financial instability. The fastest Jaguar ever - the XF-R Prototype which reaches a stunning top speed of 225.675 mph run at the Bonneville Salt Flats will also be on display.