Goodwood Revival 2021

from Straight Six November 2021

From Surtees to Grenfell

Words: Will Beaumont Images: Chaydon Ford

We don’t want to get into a discussion about which car show is the best. We all have different criteria, different expectations and different views. But, whether it’s the ultimate or not, I think we can all agree that the Goodwood Revival is one of the best car shows in England. Possibly one of the best on the planet. And after a year off, with just a smattering of events in between, it was a pleasure to pull on the tweed, yank on the braces and breathe in that heady mixture of race fuel, overpriced coffee, musty vintage clothes and burning rubber that is unique to Goodwood.

As luck would have it, we were there for two days this year. Luck because the tickets for the first day were kindly donated to us, my girlfriend and me, as we diligently collected our Sunday tickets a day early. You see, we left the ticket office and disappeared back towards the car park. A generous couple saw us make this unusual move and gifted their spare passes to us for the Saturday.

With free entry, we decided to try out all the aspects of the show we usually avoid. Who wants to pay a fortune, which the cost of going to the Revival can be, and watch a film, go shopping or view some races on a screen when it is playing out live just over the road or fence?

But we weren’t dressed up. We weren’t prepared to enter the circuit, so why would we be? Walking around Goodwood Revival in jeans and a t-shirt just doesn’t cut it. That sounds elitist,

snobby even. But one of the joys of the Revival is the sense that you’ve stepped back in time. The cars, the clothes, the music and the buildings all combine to create an atmosphere that’s not only rather exceptional but really quite dignified. The smarter clothes make people more polite too, I am sure of it.

Seeing a flash of Gortex or a branded t-shirt shocks you back to reality and erodes away at that time travel experience. We didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, because that’s how it feels if you don’t enter into the spirit of the show. And I’m not one for dressing up, I don’t need a dress code or an excuse to wear something out of the ordinary.

Without our old-style garb, we stuck to the fringes of the event. Mostly the ‘over the road’ section, which used to be open to the public but you need to ticket to access it now. We shopped, and could easily have found ourselves a pair of outfits for the day in the shops, but all I could afford was a hat. We ate, we scoured the car park full of classics and finished the day watching Back To The Future on some deck chairs. A lovely day, that’s for sure. Not one you’d want to pay £80-or-so for the privilege, though.

Sunday, and it was time to do Goodwood properly. And, to make it truly traditional, it rained a little bit too. It does it every year. Togged up in our best ye olde outfits, a double-breasted suit for me (plus my new hat), a tea dress for Colleen and macintoshes for us both, we got stuck into the paddock to stare down carbs, let the bellow of engines being warmed reverberate in our chests and see if we could spot some famous drivers. Or, failing that, a TV chef.

As we were prepared, the rain made no difference to our mood. I am not sure the same could be said for the drivers of the day. The wet weather made the really old cars look very slow on the fast Goodwood circuit. Slow but spectacular, as their skinny race rubber kicked up rooster tails of water as the cars slipped around.

By the time the RAC TT – the race with the Cobras, E-Types and Corvettes

– started, the track was drying out. Not enough, however, for the big V8-powered cars to get all their power down. You could hear the engines blip and the revs flare as the wheels spun all the way down the straight.

Watching these overpowered and under-tyred cars being hustled around the fast corners is impressive enough, but we were treated to some fine racing too.

As impressive as it was, watching Oliver Bryant and Romain Dumas snaking around one another in vicious sounding Cobras, the next race, the early 1960s Touring cars in the second round of the St Mary’s Trophy, put on an even better show. On-the-edge Jaguars being hassled by little Austin, screaming Alfas nibbling on the bumpers of big American brutes. It was a template for just how to create engaging, thrilling motorsport. Almost, anyway. The only downside is that, as Goodwood is such a fast circuit, the big hot rod American saloons, with their colossal power and equally large size, often win the touring car races. You can almost guess the eventual winner based on engine capacity, and Bill Shepherd in the Ford Thunderbird proved the theory. Still, it didn’t stop it from being spectacular to watch.

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