Where do I even start?
The Goodwood Revival, an event which has taken place in September since its inception in 1995, is a special event. That sentence however sells the Revival short. I think I’d go as far as to say that this is probably the most important automotive happening on the planet.
I’ve spent the last few days considering this, and I really can’t help but to keep arriving to the same conclusion. Nothing from anywhere in the world that I’ve ever seen can even come close to touching this. In a world of imitations, the Revival is truly unique. Where else can you see a grid of Ferrari GTOs racing wheel to wheel in this day an age? A grid with a value of over $500 million.
Every detail is accounted for – the modern cars are kept outside the perimeter of the site and a separate car park is created for the many vintage cars that arrive over the course of the three days.
You can lose hours in the car park alone and you don’t even need a ticket to get this far into the event.
I think I arrived at around 8am on the Friday morning, but didn’t pass over the bridge into the show itself until just before noon.
Make no mistake, these aren’t trailer queens – everyone of the cars in the car park was driven under its own power to get here.
The Revival has a special power which ignites your senses of awe and amazement. I think it’s normal to feel numb after a few hours as usually, your mind just cannot comprehend what’s going on.
As much of a cliché as it is, the Revival is as close as you’ll ever get to travelling back in time to what remains the greatest period for motoring enthusiasts, from the late 1940s to late 1960s. Twenty years where we lost ourselves into the soul of the automobile. A time where cars were designed with no boundaries and only one goal – to look beautiful.
The Revival isn’t just about the cars though, it’s about something much more important than that.
It’s about a way of life.
Once you arrive into the main area of the Goodwood Race Circuit, your senses are treated to a full on assault. From faux-presidential campaigners trying to rally support for their candidate …
… to an authentic grocery experience should your thirst or hunger need to be satisfied throughout the event.
Even the ‘latest’ cars are celebrated with promotion appropriate to the era.
I’m sure this gentleman could tell us a story or two.
Staring through the glass into an unobtainable world, I guess some things don’t change over time.
I’ve never been a motorcycle guy but anyone with petrol in their veins can’t help but appreciate mechanical beauty when they see it.
Although it’s still four wheels that gets my heart pumping.
Recreating a car show from Earl’s Court allows us all to experience the excitement of a car launch from the relevant era.
A pair of Hurricanes and a Spitfire regularly pass overhead, their sound drowning out the cars on track. Later they would be joined by a Lancaster bomber, the sight and sound of which sends chills down your spine. The thoughts of watching squadrons of them launch from British shores in the 1940′s is something we’ll only every be able to dream about today but still, the Revival provides with just enough to quench our thirst for it.
Lunch is provided by modern facilities cleverly disguised.
A Mustang & Mustangs occupied a busy corner of the market area.
Overhead, another pair of fighters duel for supremacy in the skies.
My own personal quest to install some of this life style into my modern life would have to feature a Ford rod of some description.
The amalgamation of cultures into one area provides a fascinating in-sight to the world of the time. When British and American cultures combine.
The authentic paddock packed with authentic race cars. This ’67 GT40 MK IV won Le Mans that year with Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt behind the wheel. A car that should probably be in a museum but instead is still being used as Ford intended.
Forty five years later and it’s still going strong.
I’m going to leave the details of the cars present to Jonathan, whose knowledge on these matters far exceeds mine. He’ll be along later with more stories from the Revival.
There was often times where I’d have to pinch myself to remind me that I wasn’t dreaming, and that it was all happening before my very eyes.
And happening inside my ears too. I wish I had the literary skills required to describe this sound to you. I could write for the next twenty years and not even come close.
In fact I could probably try and mumble on about this for ever more and you still probably wouldn’t believe me.
This is the greatest show on earth. Next year, you need to be here too.
