The year's greatest automotive (and lifestyle) event
Plus a few new exclusives, including some sideways time in the Mach-E Rally.
Greetings from home, for once. Spending a precious few days on the homestead to get caught up on life and several projects that are dragging on. One of which is a Comet pinball machine restoration that just won't play. But more on that eventually.
This past Monday, I returned home from an event I've heard so many rave reviews of over the years that I didn't think it could possibly live up to the hype.
Dear reader, it exceeded my wildest expectations. I'm talking about the Goodwood Revival, an annual event that, since the late '90s, has been celebrating the period when that track was active in racing. That is, from the 1940s to the 1960s.
The Revival has evolved into a celebration of not just the cars and drivers of that era but everything else. That includes dress, with the vast majority of attendees donning their finest period attire before heading out to the circuit.
Before becoming a historic racing venue, Goodwood was an RAF base in WWII, so the proceedings have a significant military angle. I nervously (and proudly) wore my grandfather's WWII uniform on Saturday, my first day there, fearing that I’d look a bit foolish. I needn't have felt awkward. I fit right in amidst the many other faux GIs.
Anyhow, more on-brand, the racing was phenomenal, a collection of some of the most valuable historic cars on the planet being driven on the limit on a sinuous circuit that makes every pass a heroic effort. More than a few of those machines were trailered home with new dents and damage that will cost more than my house to repair.
I tried to capture some of the excitement in my writeup for Hagerty of endurance racer Romain Dumas' epic run through the field in a 1963 Ford Galaxie. His machine looked a little like an aircraft carrier as it swayed and rocked its way through a field of Minis. It was amazing to watch.
That was one of my favorite cars from the event, which I rounded up for MotorTrend. I also included some of my favorite costumes and styles of dress, which you can maybe use as inspiration should you ever have the opportunity to go yourself. If you do, don't hesitate. Just make sure whatever period-appropriate footwear you choose is practical in the mud.
Wheeling the Mach-E Rally in secret
It's been a few weeks since my last update (hello, new subscribers), so I'll include some highlights from earlier, including this exclusive for The Verge. I was invited out to Ford's top-secret testing grounds in Romeo, MI, to see how and where the Mach-E Rally was developed. The company created a bespoke rallycross course on the property and used it to try and literally run the wheels off the development cars. The wheels stayed on, but parts of the bodywork did not, learnings that ultimately made for a better Mach-E, one of my favorite EVs of the moment.
Progress at Redwood Materials
I also had another exclusive for MotorTrend, this one giving an update on Redwood Materials' progress. The battery recycling company started construction of its anode materials building, one of many that will ultimately provide raw, (mostly) recycled materials for the domestic production of batteries. It's another significant step towards creating a circular battery economy here in the U.S.
The facts of mining
Speaking of circular economies, my latest myth-busting piece for InsideEVs looks into the ugly truth of mining materials for EV batteries and motors. This is a difficult topic I've written about before, but this series is all about shedding light on the truth about the transition to EVs, and it ain't always 100 percent pretty. But knowledge is important, as is context, and after reading this, you'll see that there's reason for optimism not only that EVs will only get cleaner from here but that domestic supplies (including Redwood) are growing to meet the need.
The Volvo EX90 was (mostly) worth the wait
Finally, my impressions from behind the wheel of the long-awaited Volvo EX90. There are still scant few three-row electric SUVs on the market, so this is an important car not just for Volvo but for the market as a whole. Is it good, or good enough to merit its $79,995 MSRP? Mostly, yes, assuming the company's engineers can deliver a few critical software updates before these SUVs start rolling out to dealers.
And that's plenty enough for now. In the week ahead, I'll be headed out west to drive the XC90's biggest competitor, its corporate cousin, the Polestar 3. I can't wait to see how it stacks up.
Until next time, have great weeks, and be well.