The unveiling of the AMG GT R at GoodWood Festival of Speed

Mercedes-Benz is fully embracing this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed theme ‘Full Throttle: The Endless Pursuit of Power’ with the debut of its latest model, the Mercedes-AMG GT R.

The GT R will be revealed to the world’s media at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands on Friday, before being transported to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for its public debut on Saturday 25th June, where it will be both on the Mercedes-Benz stand and also making its way up the famous hill.

The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 Team will be bringing the F1 W05 Hybrid, for debut on the Goodwood hill. The F1 W05 Hybrid is the car in which Lewis Hamilton gained his second World Drivers’ Championship in 2014, and which also secured the first ever Formula One World Constructors’ Championship in the history of Mercedes-Benz.

Also being driven up the hill will be the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Edition 1 Coupé – unmistakable thanks to its striking yellow decals – and the luxurious yet brutally fast Mercedes-AMG S 63 Cabriolet.

Making their UK debuts on the Mercedes-Benz stand are the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 Cabriolet and E 43 Saloon, alongside the SLC 43, SL 63 and S 500 Cabriolet.

Also in the Goodwood line-up is the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS of 1957 – the car in which Paul O’Shea won the American Sports Car Championship – having won in 1955 and 1956 in a 300 SL.

The intervening years up to the present day are represented by a 280 E (W123) rally car from 1977; a Sauber-Mercedes C 9 Group C racing car from 1988; a Mercedes-Benz 1834 S racing truck of 1996; and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 customer sports racing car.

Of course, the Festival of Speed is about more than the vehicles alone, and a number of Mercedes-Benz Classic brand ambassadors will be driving, including: Roland Asch; Ellen Lohr; Klaus Ludwig; Jochen Mass; and Susie Wolff.

Now in its 23rd year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed was started in 1993 by Charles Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March and Kinrara, and is widely considered one of the most important motoring events of the year. The organisers are once again this year expecting more than 150,000 visitors from all over the world. The 2016 Festival runs from 23-26 June.