The Discrepancy Between a Solus GT and a 'Family Huckster' - That's Goodwood FoS

As opposed to dry automotive shows, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, held annually in Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, is all about movement rather than static displays. And this year's edition has had everything, from a multitude of funny crashes to scary evolutions that defy the laws of physics. The diversity of apparitions heralds a good example. Everything from the latest model introduction to reinvented old-school-style supercars like the Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulogne is welcomed with open arms.

The event was created by the Duke of Richmond in 1993, so it celebrated its 30th anniversary this year – even in adverse conditions. For example, the typical English (bad) weather led to canceling all activities on Saturday, but around 200,000 people still enjoyed the motoring weekend, nonetheless. Just about everyone was in attendance, albeit with significant exceptions. For example, I would have loved to see renowned Texas tuner Hennessey Performance make an extra effort and send their all-new H850 Ford Mustang Dark Horse to roar its 850 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque up the iconic hill climb.

Oh, well, you cannot have everything in life – but you can sure have stuff that only dreams are made of. The best example is represented by the incredible discrepancy between the victor and runner-up in the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb Shootout – the Vision Grand Turismo-inspired McLaren Solus GT limited-production track-only mid-engined hypercar and the 1983 Subaru GL station wagon dubbed the 'Family Huckster!' Sure, both are marvelous feats of engineering in their own right – but to see something that's like a page out of the near future meet with another something that looks like 'Back to the Future' material is truly something to behold.

Born in Sony's Grand Turismo Sport virtual world and brought into real life by McLaren Automotive and its wealthy clients, the Solus GT will only be made in 25 units as custom customer cars – all powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 engine packing a whopping 830 hp and 479 lb-ft that only need to carry the weight of a vehicle that's below the 2,205 lb. mark! Oh, and the time in Sunday's grand finale with McLaren Factory Driver Marvin Kirchhofer behind the wheel was astonishing: 45.342 seconds.

Of course, the runner-up was no less impressive on its own. During its second participation at Goodwood FoS, Travis Pastrana and his Subaru Motorsports USA-made 'Family Huckster' made good use of the available 862 horsepower to entertain the massive crowd with donuts and burnouts. Despite the inclement weather, Travis and the Huckster wowed the public in an early Sunday run up the hill that was hooned to the extreme as a tribute to the late Ken Block – and then was edged out during the official run by the Solus GT by just one second.