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 an expensive, fun, crowded, colorful, anachronistic dress-up party, with a very wide latitude on the suggested ‘period’ attire (1940s-60s), with a very 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.  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 also incorporates some fun racing, although they’re about as selective regarding period correctness of the machinery present as they are the guests’ costumes.   At least with the racing motorcycles, there are as many contemporary machines – replicas – as genuine vintage motorcycles, which is unfortunate if you’re a fan of two-wheeled exotica.  Frankly, the automotive side 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. 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.

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