Gordon Murray is heading back to Goodwood with what can only be described as a rolling argument for why V12s, lightweight engineering and extreme exclusivity are still very much alive and well.

At the front of the line-up is the first customer T.50s Niki Lauda, which will take on the Hill in anger for the first time. It’s one of just 25 track-only cars, each named after milestones in Murray’s racing career, and this particular one wears a livery inspired by his first Formula 1 win at Kyalami in 1974. It’s the sort of detail that matters deeply to exactly 25 people on earth, all of whom probably own one.

Alongside it is the S1 LM design model, which has already done the small matter of selling for over $20 million and is now making its European debut. It’s not so much a car as it is a very expensive idea of a car, rendered in carbon fibre and ambition.

Then there’s the Le Mans GTR XP1, an experimental longtail prototype that looks like it’s already travelling at speed even when parked, and the T.33 Spider validation prototype, making its first public appearance while continuing its long journey towards production.

It also, crucially, still has a naturally aspirated 3.9-litre V12, because Gordon Murray does not appear to believe in compromise, turbochargers, or silence.

The man himself describes a relentless programme of development, delivery and design purity. Meanwhile, former driver Dario Franchitti is just looking forward to hearing multiple V12s scream up the Hill, which is really the only correct response.

In short, Goodwood this year will feature a small fleet of extremely expensive, extremely light, and extremely loud engineering statements—each one insisting that the internal combustion engine still has a very good reason to exist.