Some Assembly Required – Goodwood Revival

Posted by newhillgarage ⋅ October 12, 2025

I am excited to report that I recently completed a bucket list item, that being attendance at the Goodwood Revival in the UK. This is a fascinating event, frankly without parallel in the US. It is a unique combination of vintage car race in conjunction with a giant nostalgic fashion event. A brief history, per the Goodwood.com website.

It’s an unabashed celebration of flat-out wheel-to-wheel racing, around the sweeps and curves of this classic circuit, which remains unchanged since its heyday. The inaugural Revival opened on 18 September 1998, when the Earl of March drove around the circuit in the Bristol 400 in which his grandfather, the 9th Duke of Richmond, opened the track 50 years before. It’s now the world’s most celebrated historic motor racing event, with race fans coming from all over the world to soak up the unique atmosphere in period costume.

Generally speaking, only significant racecars are invited to participate in the Goodwood Revival. Cars are from the 20’s up though the mid 60’s. And there is one category for motorcyles. Cars are placed into run groups that practice on Friday and each have a race on Saturday and Sunday. The really fascinating thing is that very rare and high value cars regularly participate. And they race hard. There is no holding back. I don’t think it is considered proper to actively bang into other cars but they are driven on the limit, in very close quarters.

One class had 10 E-Types. Another class had half a dozen C-Types. Another had 3 D-Types. Even Jaguar saloon cars have a class. One of the most exciting races had Jaguar Mark 1 saloon cars finish in the top 3 positions. There are of course other manufacturers represented. Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, TVR, Triumph, and many that you may not have heard of. You really should visit the Goodwood website to understand the broad spectrum of cars that are entered.

So it is fascinating to see these old cars raced in anger. Add in the additional wildcard that they run rain or shine. It rained quite a bit during my 3 days of attendance.There were multiple covered grandstands where you can get a seat out of the rain. The cars of course reduce their pace but the car control exhibited by the drivers is frankly amazing. There is a lot of sawing of the steering wheel and tail out drifts. It is great fun to watch.

Also fun to watch are the spectators in period dress. These folks really go all in for the period dress thing. I understand that some come purely to see and be seen in the fashion parade. There are fashion shows on site but many just seem to sit or stroll outside the track. Actually, there is a wide gamut of activities that take place outside the track. It appears that the event promoters really try and provide activities for the entire family. It really has a similar vibe to the NC State Fair, without the rides and animals. Although I did see something I’ve never seen before. A herd of sheep were driven up the pit straight. This was part of a celebration of racing driver Jim Clark, who apparently grew up on a sheep farm.

Some the car owners choose to bring in pro drivers. Among drivers who drove in the various races were Jimmy Johnson, Tom Christensen, Dario Franchitti, and Jenson Button, just to name a few. I know it is not easy for those of us in the US to attend an event in the UK. If you want to get a feel for the racing, go to Youtube and search on Goodwood Revival 2025. Then, if you like what you see, you can look into making plans to attend at some point. I can assure you that you will have a great time.

One particularly cute part of the weekend is a pedal car race, for children. Here is the paddock for them.

I rented a “caravan” to be delivered and set up on site. This saved us from having to deal with event traffic to and from the racetrack. Not cheap but very convenient.

I also was able to stroll through the “high value pits”. Like most vintage racing, things are pretty chill in the pits. There didn’t seem to be any problem with coming right up to the cars. Some are worth millions.Here are a few photos.

And finally, one fun feature was that a very large number of VW buses were invited to park together and do a track parade. As I have owned two VW buses in my life, this was nostalgic fun for me.