This year's Goodwood Festival of Speed (11-14 July) will celebrate five decades of the Porsche 911. The traditional sculpture outside Goodwood House will be inspired by the model whilst cars from the company museum in Stuttgart and private collections will be in action throughout the weekend.
Back in September 1963 Porsche unveiled its new model at the IAA International Automotive Show in Frankfurt, replacing the 15-year old 356. At the launch it was known as the 901 but trademark issues saw the designation changed to 911; since then over 820,000 examples spanning seven generations have been built. Each one of those generations will be represented at this year's festival.
One of the cars coming from the Porsche museum is a 1967 model 911, which is on a world tour to mark the model's half-century. In addition to its appearance at the Festival of Speed, this car will visit Pebble Beach in the USA as well as China, France and Australia.
More details of Porsche's involvement with the Goodwood Festival of Speed will be announced closer to the event date. Other Porsche models running up the 1.16-mile hill include the 356, 908, 917 and 962.
John Lambert - 25 Feb 2013