This weekend, we marked the sixth anniversary of Michael Schumacher's devastating skiing accident. It has also been a year of more festive anniversaries for the German Formula 1 ace as he turned 50 in January, and it has also been 25 years since he won his first World Championship and 15 since he won his last. To mark those occasions, the Goodwood Festival of Speed included a special Michael Schumacher class in 2019. In our final update of the year, we have taken a closer look at two of the cars that were instrumental in clinching the first and last of Schumacher's World Championships.
First up is the Benetton B194 Ford used to clinch the title in 1994. The brainchild of Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, it was not an easy car to race, which was underlined by Schumacher's three alternating team mates, who could do no better than third on just two occasions. The German, on the other hand, won eight races. Of these, four were scored by the featured example, which was used to score half of Schumacher's points that season. Interestingly, it was demonstrated at Goodwood for its German owner by Schumacher's nemesis of old Damon Hill.
Following his spell at Benetton, Schumacher joined Ferrari and this would result in five seasons of absolute domination between 2000 and 2004. During that final year, he used the F2004. Like its predecessors, it was in a league of its own, winning 15 of the 18 Grands Prix it competed in. The chassis highlighted today was used in the first six races of 2004, winning the first five in a row.

During this holiday season, our thoughts wandered to what car we would have liked to see under the Christmas tree in a perfect world. A superb candidate would certainly be this Ford GT40 'Gulf', which was one of the stars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this year. Built ahead of the 1968 season, this was one of a handful of Mark I GT40s built to the ultimate specification by John Wyer Automotive. Liveried in the legendary Gulf colours, it is fitted with a five-litre Ford V8 engine and boasts a wider track and body than the original, production GT40s introduced in 1965. The featured example was not only the most successful of all GT40 competition cars, it remains as one of the most successful racing cars in history. It was driven to victory in the 1969 Sebring 12 Hours and also became the second car in history to win Le Mans two years running. The second victory, in 1969, came after Jacky Ickx made his famous protest against the dangerous Le Mans starting procedure. It was also the closest victory to date as Ickx and Jackie Oliver beat the second placed Porsche 908 by just 120 metres. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of this legendary win, GT40P/1075 made a rare appearance in Europe to start at Goodwood.

One of the major anniversaries celebrated this year was the 50th of the legendary Porsche 917, which was introduced in 1969 and finally brought an outright victory for the German manufacturer in the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following year. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the 12-cylinder engined racer also took centre stage with a dedicated class. The star car in the group was the actual car driven to the outright victory at Le Mans in 1970. It was entered by Porsche Salzburg and driven by Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann. At the Festival of Speed, chassis 917-023 was reunited with Attwood, who drove the car up the hill on behalf of the owner.
Also making a rare appearance was this 917 Lang Heck or Long Tail. Raced at Le Mans in 1971 in Gulf colours, it has been more recently been on permanent display in the Le Mans Museum in Martini livery. For this occasion, 917-045 was entrusted to Derek Bell, who raced the car in period.
Another former 917 racer back behind the wheel of his old car was Brian Redman, who demonstrated the unique 917 PA Spyder. The name is a reference to the Porsche and Audi distributor in California, Vasek Polak, who had encouraged Porsche to enter the lucrative Can-Am series. This was the first Can-Am version of the 917, which would ultimately be developed in the all-conquering 917/30.

With the end of the year fast approaching, it is time to take a look back at some of our favourite events and cars. Definitely ranking high on that list is the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille from which we have featured three very special cars today.
Taking best of show that day was this unique Talbot Lago T26 GS Figoni & Falaschi Coupe. It had originally been built for an industrialist who had made his fortune selling zippers. Several cues on the one-off design including the chrome trim serve as a reminder of what had paid for the car. Following a longterm American ownership, it was more recently sold to the Czech Republic where it was restored by the owner himself. The result was quite spectacular as in addition to winning Chantilly, chassis 110103 was also a runner up at Pebble Beach in 2018.
This year the 20th anniversary of the Pagani Zonda was celebrated. To mark the occasion, the factory set up restoring chassis 001, which had been used in period for homologation and crash-test purposes. It was rebuilt to the same configuration of the 1999 Geneva show car, which had long been upgraded to a later specification. For good measure, the only other Zonda C12 preserved in its original guise was also shown at Chantilly.
One of the major anniversaries celebrated this year was the Bentley centenary. At Chantilly there were three classes dedicated to the British marque. One of favourites from the Bentley line-up was this beautifully preserved 4½ Litre Maythorn Saloon. In good Bentley fashion, the Weymann patent bodied machine is not only regularly shown at events but also fervently driven on the road.

The new year is almost here and that means the start of a new auction season, which traditionally kicks off in Scottsdale, Arizona. One of the major sales is staged by RM Sotheby's, who have announced this one-off Mercedes-Benz 540 K Coupe as one of the headlining consignments. The car started life as a Cabriolet A but was later converted it into the unique Coupe that it still is today. The 540 K is offered in highly original condition and from a single family ownership of 50 years.
This week, several upcoming competition cars were announced. Among them is the BMW M2 CS Racing, which is set to make its debut during the 2020 season. The German manufacturer also offered a first glimpse of the M4 GT3 that is not due until the 2021 season.
Honda Performance Development have revealed a race-ready version of the Civic in the form of the Civic Type R TC. It is features 330hp turbo engine and a six-speed manual gearbox. For twice the price, HPD can also sell you a Civic built to full TCR specifications.
Ahead of the official launch at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, Toyota offered a first glimpse of the GR Yaris, which is the second high performance production road car developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing.

The Lotus Type 72 ranks as one of the all-time Grand Prix cars, propelling drivers to the world championship twice. In 1972, it was Emerson Fittipaldi, who used the Type 72 to win the title and the car he raced predominantly was chassis R5. He used this car to score the final two of a total of five wins in his championship winning year. It was later crashed and replaced by a new car using the same number. The wreck was however retained and over the last five years R5 was restored to its former glory by Classic Team Lotus. It was ready in time for Fittipaldi to be re-united with his favourite Type 72 earlier this year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Another Classic Team Lotus to debut at Goodwood was this Lotus 38 Ford. Boasting the ever striking STP livery re-applied during the recent restoration, 38/7 was raced at the 1967 Indy 500 by Jim Clark. Following its retirement from contemporary racing, it was re-painted in Team Lotus colours but fortunately, it has now been turned back to they Day-Glo orange used in 1967.
At this year's Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or this Lotus 47 GT made its return to the racing track for the first time in nearly four decades. It was raced in period in Portugal and Angola and has been owned by the same family for over 35 years. We later also caught up with 47/GT/21 at the Monza Historic.

One of the great additions to the historic racing roster is the Endurance Racing Legends series for recent sports racers and GT cars. From this season, there are actual races for these cars and the winner in both rounds at the Spa Classic was this Dallara SP1. The car had originally been conceived by Dallara and Oreca for the Chrysler works effort ahead of the 2002 season. It finished fifth at Le Mans behind the Audis and Bentleys and was later raced by Rollcentre Racing. Back from a spell in North America, chassis DO-004 was returned to its works livery and raced at Spa and demonstrated at Goodwood this year.
McLaren have announced yet another addition to their line-up in the form of the 620R. It is a road legal version of the 570S GT4 competition car. As the name suggests, the twin-turbo V8 produces 620 metric horsepower in the 620R. Priced at GBP 250,000, the 620R will enter production in January with deliveries starting the following month. Buyers in Europe or the United States will receive a Pure McLaren Track Day with expert driving tuition at a race track.

Tomorrow, British auctioneer will host their blue ribband sale at the company's Bond Street headquarters. The headlining lot is definitely the Aston Martin DB4 GT Lightweight we looked at a few weeks ago. Further interesting consignments include three examples from the collection of Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay. The most valuable of the trio is this beautifully restored Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Lightweight. It is one of 200 built that was originally owned by a friend of the Porsche family. Chassiss 911 360 1097 joined Jay Kay's collection in 2008. Another Porsche offered from the singer's stable is this low mileage Carrera GT. This Ferrari F12tdf was acquired new by Jay Kay, so is offered from the first owner. During his three and a half years of ownership, he only covered 1,600 miles in this mighty Ferrari.
Another interesting car that will cross the block on Sunday is a royal example of the Aston Martin Virage 6.3 Volante. Built using the mighty 330 bhp version of the quad-cam V8, this particular example was commissioned by none other than the Prince of Wales. He would own the bespoke Aston Martin for close to 15 years and it was later also displayed at the Aston Martin factory for several years. The ex-Prince Charles Virage can be yours for an estimated GBP 225,000 - 275,000.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Peugeot's return to sports car racing a decade after the hasty withdrawal early in 2012, the French company now revealed a first glimpse of the machine due to race in the new hypercar class. While only a head on rendering was released, the plan is to field a car complete with hybrid technology and in partnership with Swiss watch brand and current LMP1 squad Rebellion.
The recent announcement made us reminisce of the 908 raced by the French manufacturer during the 2011 season. It was set to be back out in 2012 but a last minute decision saw the programme scrapped when the pit enclosure for the Sebring 12 Hours had already been built. We were recently reminded of just how fast these cars when this 908, now in private hands, dominated at the Dix Mille Tours. Now run by Equipe Europe, chassis 908-04 is a two-time race winner.
Fast is never fast enough for the good men at Hennessey Performance Engineering, so it was only a matter of time before they would work their magic on the all-new mid-engined C8 Corvette. The result is this HPE1200 Twin Turbo Corvette. The type name leaves little room to speculate as it will indeed by powered by a 1,200 bhp, twin-turbo version of the new LT2 V8 engine. Hennessey will also offer a supercharger kit that raises the power of the standard engine to 700 bhp for those who feel a bit faster is indeed fast enough.

Leading auctioneer RM Sotheby's staged the first ever Abu Dhabi sale on the start-finish straight of this weekend's Grand Prix on Saturday evening. Topping the $31.3 million sale was this one-off Pagani Zonda Aether. Built late in 2017 on a brand new chassis, this Roadster is one of around a dozen custom Zondas built with the 760hp version of the naturally aspirated Mercedes-Benz AMG V12. Crucially, this engine was mated to the desirable six-speed manual gearbox. The unique machine sold for $6.8 million, which is a new world record for a Zonda.
Jaguar have launched a comprehensively revised F-Type last night. It features an all-new front facia and more subtle revisions throughout. The range-topping model is the F-Type R, which is powered by the 575hp version of the familiar supercharged V8.
Topping the Audi Q8 range will be this RS Q8. This is powered by a 600hp twin-turbo V8, which is complemented by a mild hybrid system connected to the alternator and can generate up to 12 kW of power.