Rolls-Royce Revives Racing Glory: Goodwood Festival Winners Return

Rolls-Royce has brought back the winning racecars from the Goodwood Festival of Speed from 2000 to 2013. Rolls-Royce's design director at the time, Ian Cameron, raced the RR-0.01 and RR-0.02 to victory in the 2001 and 2002 Goodwood Soapbox Challenges, respectively. Cameron hit a peak downhill speed of 72 mph in 2013, the last year of the competition.

These one-off commissions are significant since they marked the beginning of the company's production of automobiles following its acquisition by BMW.

The German carmaker was entangled in a contentious bidding war with Volkswagen for Rolls-Royce brand rights around the turn of the millennium. At 0:01 a.m. on January 1, 2003, after protracted talks lasting several years, BMW finally reached an agreement with the British brand and delivered its first contemporary vehicle, a Phantom, to a client.

But since the talks took a while, Rolls-Royce didn't debut its current form with the Phantom. Considering the current moniker of the brand's era—the "Goodwood Era"—it's natural that the first contemporary cars produced by the company were these Goodwood racers.

Damage to the racers in competition meant that the apprentice-led restoration crew had their work cut out for them. Fabricated from aluminum, carbon fiber, and fiber glass, the RR-0.01 takes design cues from the Phantom VII. As for the second contender, RR-0.02, it drew inspiration from the 1911 London to Edinburgh Trial champion, Silver Ghost. As an added bonus, it has a formula racing-style steering rack, leather accents, and tubular tires to reduce rolling resistance. The bike is constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber.

After undergoing extensive restoration, the soapbox racers will be released from their exhibition at Rolls-Royce's Goodwood headquarters. The next stop is Northamptonshire, where they will be on display alongside the documents and relics of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club.