When more than 200,000 car-mad visitors turn up on Lord March's front lawn over a four-day period to gawp at celebrities and inspect and play with a remarkably diverse array of new and old cars and motorcycles, there can be no argument – the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the world's largest, loudest, craziest garden party.

It is a mix of everything that is wonderful in the world of cars and bikes.

And this also seems be the new blueprint to replace the traditional motor shows which are inexorably heading towards the abyss. Increasingly the major premium brands (and a few mainstream manufacturers) are using the Goodwood FoS to reveal spectacular new products, often emphasising the introduction with a noisy acceleration run in the hands of a legendary race driver up Lord March's driveway, more familiarly known as the hillclimb.

There's reigning Formula One champ Nico Rosberg, comparing notes with Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Mark Webber. Le Mans greats Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Emanuelle Pirro mingle alongside a bevy of their old winning Audi prototypes. Derek Bell fronts the TV cameras to pluck out highlights of his magnificent career, which including stints in the Australian Tasman Series.

Alan Jones was a late withdrawal with an ear infection. But former world superbike champ Troy Corser (pictured below) was there to represent Australia.

That said, it is a most egalitarian expo. Here there are young toffs in their finest casual wear, some ladies in cocktail dresses and tweedy "newspaper arrived yet, Fawlty?" types, circulating with the more obvious car and bike nutters. Lots of shirtless British chavs giving their tattoos a sunbake.  Surprising number of family groups too having a big day out.

Rare Formula One cars and sports cars were given a dusting off and a bellowing, snarling run up the hill, sometimes in the still capable hands of their old custodians. But illustrating the diversity of men and machines, there were old NASCAR rumblers, electric cars and everything in between.

Photo: Peter McKay

Off to Lord March's fabled Saturday night ball we went too, rubbing formalwear-covered shoulders with 600 others, among them one-third of the Spice Girls, Ross Brawn, Christian Horner, Jamiroqai, Jochen Mass, Luca di Montezemolo, the Napoleonic Jean Todt, model Jodie Kidd, Niki Lauda, F1 design geniuses Gordon Murray and Adrian Murray, Liberty Media's Chase Carey. If Lord March had a naughty thought, he could have put Carey and the man he booted from F1 on the same table.

The fireworks and water show running with a big screen video plucking out the more positive chapters of Ecclestone's colourful life was stunning. The guests didn't seem to mind a mild wetting when the wind blew.

Back inside, the music cranked up. Jools Holland was joined by Pink Floyd drummer and mega car collector and fan Nick Mason for a tune. Then on came the special act, the aptly named Mike and Mechanics.

Then it was obviously past Bernie's bedtime.

Land Rover has a man-made off road course on its site. Huge, lavish demountable structures – 200 in all - are constructed a couple of weeks out and then pulled apart again. They house the 300-plus exhibitors and corporates on site. Organisers lay around 20km of trackway, bring in approximately 4500 hay bales to line the hillclimb and off-road arena.

They print over 498,000 tickets and wristbands in total for FoS,

About 1000 picnic benches are brought in so punters may eat anything from fish and chips to gourmet spreads purchased from the many outlets.  And if sir wants a haircut or some 600 quid shoes, step right in. Brown or black, sir?

The Festival of Speed is arguably the biggest greenfield event build in the world.

A front-engined Kurtis Kfaft Cummins diesel Indy car with a long cigar nose, the Lotus 49 which shook up F1 with the then new Cosworth DFV, the dominant Michael Schumacher F2002, the Brabham BT52 with its almost 1500-horsepower BMW four-cylinder. Amazing to see and hear all at the same event.

Among the assortment of classics from the past century or more of endeavour were 1000-horsepower turbocharged grand prix cars of the 1980s, unlimited Group 7 sports cars from the glory days of Can-Am, the 750kg-formula European Championship leviathans of the mid-1930s and the outrageously quick bewinged beasts of rallying's Group B era.

A Forest Rally Stage at the top of the Goodwood hillclimb presented spectators a rare chance to see both historic and contemporary rally cars carving their way through the challenging, tree-lined terrain carved into the chalky hillside. This year the weather complied. Last year, it became a mud-wrestling weekend.

Another who got a huge unwanted (Bronx) cheer was the driver of a Ferrari 458 race car who spun into the hay bales very publicly. That tight climb can bite hard. It is where the Sydney-domiciled John Dawson-Damer was killed in one of his Lotus collection some years ago.

Tyre maker Michelin trotted out four of the world's newest, most ferocious hypercars headed by the Aston Martin Valkyrie, F1 designer Adrian Newey's stunning low-volume creation.

Two others made their UK debut. The Vanda Dendrobium with synchronised opening of doors and roof like the opening of the petals of a rare orchid, and an all-electric, four-wheel drive driveline is quietly mad. DSD Design Boreas was another newbie first revealed at Le Mans. The Spanish-made monster is a plug-in hybrid with more than 1000-horsepower. Just 12 will be made.

So much to do and see, Goodwood is an unrelenting assault on your senses. Car lovers can't get enough. It is said that such is the size of the corporate take that Lord March broke even before the gates open on Thursday. Then the first of more than 200,000 punters and corporate guests started pouring in…