A 1975 Copersucar FD03 Formula 1 car driven by Tiago Monteiro, the Ferrari F80 and machinery spanning pre-war competition cars to Group B rallying will take to the Serra do Caramulo for the 21st Caramulo Motorfestival, which take place on September 4-6, 2026.
More than 50,000 visitors are expected for the three-day Caramulo Motorfestival 2026, which is centred on the Rampa Histórica Castrol and the Museu do Caramulo. Friday is given over to warm-up runs on the hill, before timed competition begins on Saturday and continues on Sunday. The rest of the mountain village is occupied by museum exhibitions, club runs and displays, motorcycles, an automobilia fair, an off-road course and air shows on Saturday and Sunday.
Formula 1 provides one of the main themes for Caramulo Motorfestival 2026. The Copersucar FD03 will leave the museum and run on the hill in the hands of Tiago Monteiro, the only Portuguese driver to have finished on a Formula 1 podium. The FD03 is one of the surviving cars from the Fittipaldi brothers’ Brazilian Formula 1 project. Developed in 1975, it uses a 2993cc Ford Cosworth DFV V8 and five-speed transmission, and weighs around 630kg. It was driven in period by Wilson Fittipaldi, Arturo Merzario and Ingo Hoffmann. For 2026, Monteiro will demonstrate the car on the Rampa Histórica rather than it remaining a static exhibit.
The FD03 is accompanied by the museum’s current Fórmula Mágica exhibition, which runs until October 18 and is spread across the Museu do Caramulo and Caramulo Experience Center. The exhibition includes the Lotus 97T associated with Ayrton Senna’s first Grand Prix victory at Estoril in 1985, Nigel Mansell’s Williams FW14, Nelson Piquet’s Lotus 100T, the Ferrari F1-2000, Williams FW16, Jordan 199, Benetton B196, Sauber C18 and Red Bull RB14. The Fittipaldi material includes the FD01 and FD04 as well as the FD03 that will run outside.
Monteiro is one of several Portuguese competition figures confirmed for the weekend. Pedro Matos Chaves, who raced in Formula 1 before winning two Portuguese Rally Championships, is also due to attend, together with 1995 Group N World Rally champion Rui Madeira, former rally co-driver Nuno Rodrigues da Silva and Carlos Tavares. Monteiro’s 16-year-old son Noah, currently competing in Formula 4, is also listed among the invited drivers.
The Rampa Histórica remains the competitive centre of the event. The 2.8km mountain course was used for the original Rampa do Caramulo, first held in 1979. Competition continued until 1993 before the hillclimb was discontinued, returning in 2006 as one of the foundation pieces of the newly created Motorfestival.
For 2026, competition is divided principally between Speedmasters and Chronomasters. Speedmasters covers outright speed categories ranging from pre-1981 Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 machinery to Group A, Group N, prototypes, barchettas, open-wheelers and later competition cars. Chronomasters runs as a regularity competition, with groups stretching from pre-war machinery through to cars built this century. Entrants are selected on criteria including competition history, originality, condition and restoration quality.
Friday September 4 begins with non-timed warm-up running from 9:30am. Practice and competition start from 8:30am on Saturday, with further runs throughout the day, before the final competition continues from 8:30am on Sunday. The list of demonstration and hillclimb machinery continues to develop. Ferrari’s new F80 has been confirmed and will run on the Rampa Histórica Castrol. The 1200cv V6 hybrid will appear alongside a Dallara Stradale, while the provisional selection also includes a Fiat 131 Abarth Group 4, Lancia 037, Lancia Delta Integrale Group A, Porsche competition machinery and a Jaguar XJR-5.
The museum itself predates the Motorfestival by almost half a century and is closely tied to the unusual history of Caramulo. The mountain settlement was developed from 1921 by doctor Jerónimo de Lacerda as a sanatorium resort, eventually becoming the largest centre of its kind in Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. By the late 1930s it had its own hydroelectric power, water and sewage systems, waste disposal and unusually extensive roads and gardens. Jerónimo’s sons Abel and João de Lacerda subsequently began planning for Caramulo’s future as advances in medicine reduced the importance of sanatorium treatment. Abel concentrated on art, while João became responsible for the automotive collection.
The first car was a neglected 1925 Ford Model T acquired by João in 1955. What began as a private collection expanded rapidly, and cars were first placed on public display in 1959 on the ground floor of the Abel de Lacerda Foundation building. A dedicated automobile museum followed in 1970. Its architecture reflected João’s insistence that the exhibits should remain functioning vehicles: the building was designed so that cars could be removed easily for maintenance and use.
That policy is still reflected in the collection, which has expanded to nearly 200 vehicles across several museum spaces. Cars with particular Portuguese histories include an armoured Mercedes-Benz 770 and Cadillac Series 75 used by António de Oliveira Salazar, the Rolls-Royce Phantom III used during Portuguese visits by Queen Elizabeth II, Dwight D Eisenhower and Pope John Paul II and a Pegaso Z102 B Touring Berlinetta presented by Francisco Franco to Portuguese president Francisco Craveiro Lopes.
The Motorfestival was created in 2006, when the Rampa do Caramulo was revived after its 13-year absence. The second edition in 2007 attracted more than 14,000 visitors; by 2024 the event reported more than 40,000 spectators, 1400 participating historic and sporting vehicles, and over 160 cars entered for the hillclimb. In 2023 it became the first Portuguese event nominated for Motoring Event of the Year at the Historic Motoring Awards.
The competition now sits within a much broader three-day programme. Saturday’s club gatherings include the Alfa Romeo Clube de Portugal, British Lightweights and Friends, Club Lancia España y Portugal, Porsche Clube de Portugal and Clube Mini Lusitanos. Further groups arrive on Sunday, including Maranello Legacy, Mustangue Clube do Norte and Citroën and Vespa gatherings. Classic-car parades follow the completion of the hillclimb on both days.
The Good Drive also returns on September 4 and 5, providing passenger runs up the hill for children and social-welfare organisations in cars supplied by participating owners. Bikersville covers motorcycles, while the off-road area, Motorlândia, automobilia fai, and Saturday and Sunday air displays run alongside the automotive programme.
Caramulo Motorfestival 2026 takes place in Caramulo, central Portugal, from Friday September 4 to Sunday September 6. The museum and Fórmula Mágica exhibition remain open throughout the event, with the Rampa Histórica Castrol warm-up on Friday and competitive running on Saturday and Sunday.
More details on Caramulo Motorfestival 2026 are available here.
