1965 Ford Mustang heading up the Goodwood Hillclimb – AUTONOMOUSLY

Classic American Muscle meets the future as a 1965 Ford Mustang, prepared by Siemens, hits the Goodwood Festival of Speed to take the hillclimb autonomously.

You’ll find everything you can think of that matters in the car world at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, spanning just about the whole history of motoring too, with modern performance cars rubbing shoulders with Classic metal.

But one car at Goodwood which, certainly on the surface, appears to be a very pleasing 1960s American Muscle Car is actually hiding a very modern secret under its skin. It can be driven autonomously.

A 1965 Ford Mustang, complete with original 289 V8 and three-speed slush ‘box, has been given a very modern makeover by Siemens and is now able to blat up the hillclimb without the driver (there has to be a a driver) touching the controls.

Siemens has built the ‘Stang to demonstrate their autonomous technology in an appealing way, bringing together past and future to create an interesting spectacle for FoS visitors.

But this isn’t a truly autonomous car, scanning its surroundings and making decisions, but a car using GPS to navigate a predetermined path up the hill, round the bend, past the flint wall and over the finish line. It won’t be quick, but it will be interesting.

Sitting in the driver’s seat for the twice daily run will be Cranfield University’s Dr James Brighton, whose team has developed the autonomous Mustang with Siemens, and Lee Dryden, Siemens head of marketing, explained:

I just love the way the ’65 coupe looks, and the way the V8 roars. If you are going to  choose an iconic American car from the ‘60s, it’s the first thing that springs to mind.

It’s the first time we have done anything like this and yes of course it is fun to do it for the Festival of Speed, but it also makes you think what cars might be like in the future.

You can catch the autonomous Mustang at the Goodwood FoS twice a day from Thursday to Sunday.