Goodwood Revival:  The Best Car Event…In The World

By: Jeremy Eisen

When NNJR member Rob Pellegrino invited me to join him, his wife Jessica, and their 5 year old son Jackson to go to the Goodwood Revival, I was really excited to get an opportunity to visit something that had been on my bucket list.  Between the 2 of us, we have watched a lot of live professional racing with trips to Monaco, Watkins Glen, Le Mans, etc. and everyone agreed that Goodwood is on another level.  Allow me to try to make the case why this should be on your bucket list, and why once you go, it will become something you long to return to instead of a box checked.

Before you even get into the track, you walk through the parking lot past an area reserved for classic cars and it is the greatest car show ever.  Jaguar XK-120s, dozens of E-types, and even a D-type.  Aston Martin DBs of every number, to the point that it became a running joke “there’s another Aston ::yawn::.”  That’s not to mention all of the amazing European cars we never got in the states.  Alfas, Citroens, Fiats, Bentleys, Marcos, Jensens, Alpines, Daimlers…you get the point.

Once you walk through the gates, you see that 99% of people are dressed in period-correct clothing for the 1940s-1960s and you are greeted by a full carnival with a dozen rides and lots of games, all true to the era as well.  There are static displays of old aircraft.  There is even a pedal car race with dozens of little kids out on track.  Children will not be wanting for things to do at Goodwood.

Next you have a decision to make.  Do you go watch the racing out on track or do you go view the cars up close in the paddock?  Walk through the paddock too quickly, and you will miss names on the cars like Stirling Moss and Jimmy Clark.  If you wanted to see race cars from the 1930s to the 1960s this place is nirvana.

Grab some seats at the roving grandstands and watch cars slide into and out of corners, lap after lap.  What kinds of car battles might you see?

• Lotus Elan 26R vs. Shelby Mustang
• Mini Cooper vs. Ford Galaxy
• GT40 vs. Lola T70 vs. McLaren M1A
• Ferrari 250 SWB vs. Aston Martin DB4 GT vs. Jaguar E-type
• Lotus vs. Ferrari vs. BRM 1960s F1 cars
• Jaguar D-Types vs. Lister Knobblys

There’s even a 1960’s motorcycle race with Matchless vs Norton action.

The main race that everyone wants to win is the RAC TT Celebration.  It’s a 60 minute race with 2 drivers per car racing pre-1963 GT and prototype cars.  This year, drivers like Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, Dario Franchitti, Jaques Villeneuve, Helio Catroneves, Tom Kristensen, and Scott Dixon went wheel to wheel, sliding, spinning, denting, and even crashing E-types, Cobras, Listers in a field worth more than $250mil.

The highlight of the trip for us was when we came across the trio of Ford GT40s that finished 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966, there for the 60 year anniversary.  The cars are waiting in the paddock to go back out for some flying laps and Rob walks up to the mechanic minding the winning car of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon and asks if he can put Jackson in the car.  After a few seconds of contemplation, we get the ok.  I don’t think we will ever have a cooler car picture than the son of a die-hard Ford fan sitting in the coolest Ford racecar of all time.

There is so much more I could describe from the weekend like fashion shows, a live Bonham’s auction, suffragettes marching around in character, the hundreds of vendors and displays, etc. You really need a week to experience the 3 day event but each experience remains true to the culture of the Goodwood Revival.  Everyone is friendly, polite, and genuinely wants to share their love of the event and cars with you.  Everyone on our trip all agreed this is the one we all want to go back to.  I hope we will see you there!

Thanks Jeremy,

Amazing photos.