Video: How I raced this giant Lincoln Cosmopolitan at Goodwood

17th March 2023

Simon Ostler

Back at the 79^th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport, we caught up with Julian Balme, who raced what was probably one of the more charismatic cars on the entry list for the entire event. This Lincoln Cosmopolitan certainly does not look like it would be particularly well suited to racing, and that’s before you consider that this absolute barge of a thing is also packing a four-speed automatic transmission.

Powered by a purring 5.2-litre V8, the Cosmopolitan glides around our Motor Circuit with an odd serenity that doesn’t suit its size, but the way Julian describes driving this car sounds more akin to what you’d expect from Nick Swift in his Mini. Because it’s an automatic, “it’s pretty gutless out of the corners” he says, so it’s all about carrying momentum which, considering how much this car weighs with its drum brakes a huge heavy steering wheel, sounds like one hell of a challenge.

He likens the experience of driving it to a swan. It looks calm on the surface, but there’s a whole lot of furious paddling going on underneath. We just loved seeing it in action out on track here at Goodwood for the first time since 2006.