Pre-1966 Porsches Running on Synthetic Fuels Will Race at Goodwood

Porsche is already a strong player in the electric car space and only leaning further into electric performance, but the brand also has a plan to future-proof internal combustion. That will come in the form of synthetic fuels, designed to allow the cars of the past to stay on the road long after electric cars become the world's default. The prospect promises to keep historic cars on the road for generations to come, so the upcoming Goodwood Revival is using a field of pre-1966 Porsches to show exactly what that looks like in practice.

Goodwood announced earlier this week that the historic event will invite a full field of Porsches to the prestigious event in a race called the Fordwater Trophy. Each will be powered by synthetic fuels, marking what the track calls the first-ever historic motor race run on sustainable fuel. It is a proof of concept that puts the history it means to protect on the line, showing how effective these synthetic fuels can be in real time with real early 911s.

Porsche's push for synthetic fuels is well underway, starting with a $100 million investment that has already yielded a production facility in Chile. The prototype fuel is shelf-stable and can be produced to varying octane numbers that work exactly as traditional gasoline would in cars timed to run on a specific octane of fossil fuel. That makes it a perfect fit for cars that were never designed with sustainability in mind, and poses a potential solution to the problem of historic fleets facing down the eventual extinction of fossil fuel production.

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