Goodwood Revival

[Photos: Laurent Nivalle]

Disneyland for revivalist gearheads.  That pretty much sums up the Goodwood Revival, the enormously popular retro-themed event held on the expansive grounds of Lord Charles March’s estate in the south of England.  However you feel about mixing those 3 words will probably determine your feelings about Goodwood, as it’s the best summary we can provide, having attended the event occasionally since 2004.  It’s a fun, expensive, crowded, colorful, anachronistic dress-up party, with a very wide latitude on the suggested ‘period’ attire (1940s-60s), and a surprisingly large percentage of participants playing along with the game.

The remarkable effect of 90% period attire at a vintage motorsports/aviation carnival is amazing photography.  Not that acclaimed French photographer Laurent Nivalle needed the costumes to boost his work; he was hired by Sebastien Chirpaz of A Piece of Chic to cover the event.  But, since vintage suits and dresses are omnipresent at Goodwood, his photos gorgeously capture the eerie simulacra of contemporary mechanical and human subject matter merging into a slot in our collective memory.  Since we learn the history of the period in question through photographs, Goodwood can really bend the mind!

Goodwood is centered around the history of this private racing circuit, which was active on the European Formula One and club racing circuit from 1948-1966. The vehicles (and outfits) are nominally expected to fall within this timeline, and the best of the era comes out to play on the race track.  Videos of the auto racing in particular show drivers really trying, whether they’re in a Ford Cortina or a Ferrari GTO; the circuit is narrow, with a wide (but not very wide) grass verge, and spins are common.  As the grass makes an even more slick surface than the track, over-exuberant drifting can lead to body-damaging shunts into the boundary walls.  And everyone likes to see a multi-$Million getting used, and dented!

Goodwood also incorporates some fun motorcycle racing, although there are as many contemporary racing bikes – replicas – as genuine vintage motorcycles. Granted, the replicas are raced hard in the Lansdowne Series, and certainly fit with the reenactment vibe; there are also genuine Aermacchis, Nortons, and BMW Rennsports on the track.  But there isn’t the depth of exotica to match the automotive side, which is far more impressive, with rows of amazing GP and circuit-racing cars, their curvaceous bodywork tugging at some part of our hearts as Desire.

The aviation component is simply remarkable, and perhaps the most moving of all the activities, with a slew of old warbirds (Mustangs, Corsairs, Spitfires, Lightnings) taking off and flying in formation throughout the weekend event. Great sightlines of the parked planes, and the ability to inspect some up close, is a pure thrill, without the envy generated by some of the cars.  Nobody expects to own a Spitfire except in a fantasy, but we all drive cars, and can’t help but compare ourselves with the rich sods able to whack a mighty dent in their 250GTO Ferrari while the racing. That’s burning thousand-dollar bills by the second!

If you’ve never been, you really must. We’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions, but there’s plenty of fun to be had, and lots of interesting people to chat with.  If you’re not a VIP, you might get annoyed at the ‘velvet ropes’ around the most interesting machinery – the GP cars, the champagne tents, etc.  The keen-eyed will spot the ‘helicopter crowd’ who fly in wearing bespoke vintage outfits from French couture houses – as spectacular as the cars in some cases, and sometimes just as expensive!  The rest of us can enjoy the scene from the sidelines.