The Goodwood Festival of Speed is always one of our favourite historic motorsport events here at Girardo & Co., though after the stress and uncertainty of the last 18 months, we’re looking forward to this year’s edition more than we ever have before. Having worked closely with the organisers in the first half of this year, we’re pumped to be bringing five historically significant competition cars to The Duke of Richmond’s automotive garden party.

Before departing for Goodwood, we couldn’t resist gathering the cars we’re due to be showing at the Festival here at Belchers Farm for an impromptu photo call. The entire Girardo & Co. team will be present at Goodwood throughout the weekend. So, once you’ve learned about each of these sensational cars below and found out where they’ll be located, please do swing by to see them in the metal and say hello to us. It will be a pleasure to meet many of our clients and friends old and new once again.

It’s been a helluva secret to keep under our hats for the last few months, but we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to introduce our new Citroën C4 WRC, which is making its debut at Goodwood this weekend. Chassis number 14 was a Works Citroën Sport entrant in the 2008 World Rally Championship driven by the greatest rally driver of all time, Sébastien Loeb, to a staggering four victories – victories which proved instrumental in securing the fifth of his record nine titles.

Those four wins were at the rallies any driver worth his salt wants to win: Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (Loeb’s record fifth win in the principality), Rally d’Italia Sardegna, Rally Deutschland and Wales Rally GB. In addition, the Red Bull-liveried car was campaigned by the Citroën Junior Rally Team in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, during which it was driven by none other than Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion.You’ll be able to see this 2008 Citroën C4 WRC either in the Cathedral Paddock or in action twice a day on the hill as part of Batch 2 – Drift, NASCAR, Touring Cars and Rally. A little birdie tells us Sébastien Loeb may well be present at Goodwood this weekend. Are you thinking what we’re thinking?

The C4 is admittedly a tough act to follow, but we reckon this more than cuts the mustard. Introducing ‘W25 SRT’, the Subaru Impreza WRC 2000 in which England’s only World Rally Champion Richard Burns won the 2000 Network Q Rally of Great Britain in spectacular style – his third consecutive Rally GB victory.‘W25 SRT’ distinguishes itself from most of its Prodrive-built counterparts in that rather than being sold to a privateer team after its Works career and put through its paces on domestic rally championships around the world, it was pre-sold to a man who, from the outset, wanted to preserve the car exactly as it had raced.

As a result, ‘W25 SRT’ is unique. Not only is this car the only two-door Impreza sold into private hands with its factory-mapped paddle-actuated semi-automatic gearbox still equipped, but it’s also in the exact cosmetic state in which it won Rally GB, battle scars and all. Today, this Subaru stands as a mesmerising tribute to Richard Burns, one of rallying’s greatest-ever talents, who’s tragically no longer with us.Prodrive marks its 40th anniversary at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with a dedicated class of its most famous cars, from a variety of different disciplines. ‘W25 SRT’ will be situated in the Cathedral Paddock and in action on the hill twice a day as part of Batch 5 – Sports Racers, Macaluso and Prodrive.

The Italian-born American racing legend Mario Andretti will be celebrated as one of motorsport’s ‘Great All-rounders’ at this weekend’s Festival of Speed. And we’re thrilled to announce that among the mouth-watering selection of the 1978 Formula 1 World Champion’s former steeds will be the 1981 Alfa Romeo 179C we’re currently offering for sale.

Chassis number 02 was a Works Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo entrant in the 1981 Formula 1 championship and raced by Andretti on five occasions, including the season-opening United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach, where he finished an impressive fourth after a faultless race. “And do you hear the crown roar?!” bellowed Murray Walker on the penultimate lap. The reason for the applause was simple: the local hero Andretti had pulled a terrific move around the outside of Didier Pironi’s Ferrari. Andretti’s teammate Bruno Giacomelli commandeered chassis 14 later in the season, claiming a convincing podium at the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas.You’ll be able to see this 1981 Alfa Romeo 179C on static display in the Main Paddock throughout the weekend as part of Batch 3 – Great All-Rounders: Mario Andretti. Alternatively, click here to find out more about the car here on girardo.com.

Think Citroën in motorsport and a certain Mr. Loeb driving a Red Bull-liveried C4 WRC just like the one further up this list will likely spring to mind. But cast your mind back to the preceding decade, the 1990s, and you’ll find another similarly successful Citroën: the ZX Rallye-Raid. This tall turbocharged titan was the class of the field in Cross Country Rallying or Rally Raid in the 1990s, winning 37 of its 42 competitive appearances and clinching the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies five times in a row between 1993 and 1997.

The ZX Rallye-Raid Evo 2 we’ve recently acquired was given the internal Citroën Sport number C05 when it was built in 1990. It was a Works entrant in the 1991, ’92 and ’93 Paris-Dakar Rallies, scoring a best finish of sixth overall on its maiden outing in the hands of Alain Ambrosino and Alain Guéhennec. Following its retirement from active service in 1994, it was registered to Automobiles Citroën and retained by the factory until 2011. C05’s first private owner commissioned the French rally-raid specialists at Team SMG Challenge with comprehensively restoring the car in 2011 – 2012. And since then, it’s not been seen in public, which means that Goodwood will be its first dynamic outing since 1993.This 1990 Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid Evo 2 will be exhibited in the Cathedral Paddock as part of Class 9 – Ultimate Rally Cars. Max and Marcus will share the driving duties throughout the weekend, wrestling it up the hill twice a day as part of Batch 2 – Drift, NASCAR, Touring Cars and Rally.

Rounding off our Goodwood Festival of Speed spread is our Old Faithful: ‘P8 WRC’. It was in this very Subaru Impreza WRC97 in which the late, great Colin McRae won the 1997 Safari Rally. On the most challenging rally on the calendar, a scarcely believable seven minutes was the margin to fellow Brit Richard Burns at the end of the rally, McRae and Nicky Grist scoring their maiden victory together and kindling one of the most successful driver pairings in rallying history. Furthermore, the feat was Subaru’s first Safari Rally victory and third consecutive win with the mighty Impreza WRC97.

Since acquiring ‘P8 WRC’ in 2018 and returning it to the exact specification and livery in which it finished second at Rally Argentina in 1997, we have orchestrated a major press drive with the car. Not only has it featured prominently in our viral Christmas brand videos, but it was also the automotive protagonist in our film ‘McRae vs. McRae’, when we pitched Colin’s father Jimmy, his brother Alister and his young nephew Max against each other in the car. That video alone has amassed more than half a million views. Today, this fabulous Subaru stands as an incredibly significant piece of rallying – and, in turn, Colin McRae – history.Bring your comfortable shoes to Goodwood – you’ll be able to find this 1997 Subaru Impreza WRC97 in the Rally Stage Paddock at the very top of the hill climb and in action on the Forest Rally Stage throughout the weekend.Photos: Tom ShaxsonYou can keep up with all the action from the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed by following Girardo & Co. on Instagram. We’ll be posting live from the festival all weekend.