The Goodwood Festival of Parking 2012 - Part Four

No question about it, the star of the third installment of the Festival of Parking was the little Abarth 695 esse-esse. Having said that, there's a whole lot of love for the Citroën C6, although there's talk on twitter that Sarkozy Black has fallen behind Carla Bruni White when it comes to the choice of colour. Either way, it won't be long until prices of the C6 fall below £5k and petrolheads everywhere start reaching for their wallets.

But back to the matter in question and on to part four of the Goodwood Festival of Parking. Once again there's a strong European flavour on offer, but the Japanese flag is certainly flying high.

So pick your favourite from this list of ten cars.

Peugeot 205 GTi

Despite making a credible claim to be one of the greatest hot hatches ever built, there was a distinct shortage of Peugeot 205 GTis in the Goodwood car park. But when you stumble across one as beautiful as this 1.6, you don't need to see another one. This is one I'm sure @FailCar will approve of.

Mazda RX-7 (FD) Series 3

For me, the series 3 Mazda RX-7 is one of the most beautiful sports cars ever to emerge from Japan. Sadly many of them have been modified to death, with others seemingly spending their entire time going sideways at a drifting competition.

Cosmetically at least, this one looked relatively untouched, but the rear stickers hint that it may have undergone some tweaks underneath.

A quick glance on eBay reveals that you can pick up a series 3 RX-7 for as little as £3,000, with even top notch cars going for less than £8,000. Going fast and furiously has never looked so attractive!

Volvo V70R

Surely one of the most desirable Volvos ever made? This early phase one V70R has aged magnificently and has to be one of the best ways to travel fast, safely. A 2.3 litre turbo-charged engine developing 250bhp may not seem like much by today's standards, but by golly could these things shift. They'd accelerate to 60mph in around seven seconds and because it was ‘just’ a big and boxy Volvo, you'd be free of unwanted attention. No wonder they there the choice of motorway cops for many years.

Just get yourself an account with a local tyre fitter.

Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v Evoluzione II

Like the Lotus Carlton previously listed, this Lancia needs no introduction. A legend.

Honda Prelude

It's over a decade since the last Honda Prelude rolled off the production line and I for one think that's a shame. In the two decades that the Prelude was made, there were five different generations and over 800,000 were sold. What's more, in my book, there was never a dud one.

The fifth generation car seen here was the least successful Prelude, both from a sales and critical perspective, but I think it's one of the prettiest of the bunch. And because its styling was the most conservative of all the Preludes, it was mostly bought by older, more careful owners who religiously stuck to the service schedule and treated their car to a wash and wax every Sunday morning.

But the best news of all? You needn't pay more than a thousands pounds for a 2.2 VTi with four-wheel steering. Bangernomics has never looked so pretty.

Volkswagen Corrado VR6

Arguably one of the greatest front-wheel drive car of all time with one of the sweetest, most silky engines ever produced. I miss my Corrado VR6 more than just about any other car I've owned. Which says it all really. Brilliant little cars from a time when Volkswagen still produced genuinely thrilling cars.

Jaguar XJ-S

After the Paul Smith X-Type debacle in part three, it's time for Jaguar to redeem itself with this pair of XJ-Ss. I rather like the tasteful modifications on the white car, but it's the top car, complete with its ‘very ‘80s’ colour scheme that gets my vote. Lovely.

Suzuki Cappuccino

At its peak, there were 1,000 Suzuki Cappuccinos in the UK. The fact that nearly 75% of them are still either on the road or SORN is a testament to the car's quality and how much people love them.

It's one of the rare Japanese Kei cars that officially made it across to the UK. You could only order them in black or silver, but a few different coloured imports would have made their way across from Japan by now.

I really like them, although I'm almost certain I'll be too big to drive one. Plus I'd probably look a little silly with my head poking up above the windscreen. Here comes Noddy...

Renault 5 Campus Prima

It's probably down to its bright red paintwork, but this Renault 5 Prima really stood out amongst the grey, silver and black cars at Goodwood. I like it when seemingly ordinary cars survive against the odds, especially in this post-Scrappage era.

Despite effectively being replaced by the Clio in 1991, the Renault 5 soldiered on until the mid ‘90s, helped in part by the fact the original Twingo was never produced in right-hand drive form.

You may think that with just under 1,000 Campus Primas on the road, numbers are holding out relatively well. But when you consider that just ten years ago there were 16,000 on the road, you realise that the 5 is spiralling into the abyss.

Daihatsu Sirion meets Audi R8

I took this shot for two reasons. Firstly, to show the fantastic diversity on display in the Goodwood car park. And secondly to demonstrate that Dutch yellow number plates look so much better than the hideous white plates we have to make do with in Great Britain. Dutch plates even help to make this Sirion look more appealing than the R8. No really, they do.

Which begs the question, which country has the best number plates? I'm quite partial to the plates in Switzerland, although the small Belgian plates look good too.

Having said that, if it's a French car, it just has to be on French plates. Fact.

So that's it for part four. Tempted to call it a day now and get back to writing more waffle and bunk.

Same time next year though?