Goodwood revival 2009

With huge gratitude to friends that snagged us complimentary passes for the Sunday of the 2009 Goodwood Classic Revival, we were anticipating a great event. The excitment grew when we discovered that my sons official best friend in the whole wide world and his family were joining us for the day trip.

At £48.00 per entry pass and £5.00 for a thimble full of Pims (a Spritzer with vegetables in it), the Revival is not exactly the most economical family day out but you sure do get a lot for your large pile of money.

Obviously, visitors are fully entitled to expect some of the finest racing cars from the best era of motor racing but how many events impart the feeling that you would be welcome to stroll the pits and approach any car owner, technician or driver you wish and bother them with your petty questions.

Setting the scene for an authentic period feel is an obvious bolt on to any historic event but if not done well, or particularly if over engineered, it’s just not going to look or seem right.

I bet there are few classic car owners that would decline a chance to park their precious jewel amidst the many walkways and display areas around the historic circuit but just one of the many extras was the vast car park outside the event full of some fine classics that would constitute a marvellous car show itself on any other day.

Wheel to wheel racing, tractor rides, Hot rods, minis. Laurel and hardy, Buzz Aldren, Sir Stirling Moss, Mr Bean. Static aircraft, flying displays, podium dancers, singing nurses. Rank and file dressed as toffs, toffs dressed as toffs, mods, rockers, rockabilles, hippies. There’s just so much to see and do that one mere day will never be remotely enough. Yes, we got a glimpse of most things but we would have needed the full three days to fully savour them.

And then there was the appearance of the Vulcan bomber. When you have a gathering of something like ninety thousand engineering enthusiasts and this thing roars overhead, the crowds just have to grind to a halt so that everybody can gaze skyward.

The cameras are pointed momentarily away from the circuit and people find themselves compelled to applaud. Mind you, any machine that’s capable of drowning out the sound of twenty unsilenced classic racing cars, to the point where it shudders the ground beneath your feet is going to get some attention.

It’s a huge event, so of course there’s going to be plenty of tented shops, concessions and fairground rides. The thing that doesn’t strike you until you reflect on the day is just how well oiled the Revival machine is but the fact that you don’t notice the perfection, proves how well run the weekend really is.


I kind of wish we hadn’t been our usual reserved selves and perhaps made an effort to dress in period attire, but I suppose that gives something more to do next year. Oh yes, we’re definitely going, no matter what the cost.