The Goodwood Revival is one of the cornerstones of the British classic and historic motorsport season, attracting cars and drivers and spectators from all over the world. Also in 2026 this is well deserved.
The Revival is the third of a trio of major events (the other two being the Members Meeting in the Spring and the Festival of Speed in the Summer) held at the venue of the Goodwood Estate each year. The revival is probably well known to ViaRETRO readers – indeed, quite a few of you have been there, and many more will have watched the track action on the excellent live stream provided by the organisers, so I won’t go into the event’s background other than to say that despite having attended almost every year for the last dozen years it has lost none of its considerable appeal.
This year circumstances dictated that I could attend only on the first day, Friday, but there was still plenty of track action throughout the day, mostly in the form of qualifying and as usual there was a vast amount to see and do around the circuit and I shall do my best to give you all a general overview.
As usual, the range of competing cars was vast, dating from post-WW1 to 1966, including some of the most famous and most beautiful racing cars of all time, starting with those in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy. Who doesn’t love the lines of a Ferrari 250GT SWB or an Aston Martin DB4GT? There were plenty of both racing at Goodwood, including no fewer than five 250GT’s taking part in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, and what a sound they made!
Going further back, Grand Prix racers from before WW2 through to 1960 included magnificent machines from Maserati – about which more later – Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Bugatti. It’s a pity that the Auto Unions and Mercedes GP cars of the era were missing; they would really complete the picture.
Pre-war sports cars also featured strongly, with glorious cars such as Aston Martin Ulsters, Alfa Romeo 8C’s and various Bentleys and others taking to the track, competing for the Brooklands Trophy. It never ceases to amaze me that cars a century old in some cases are still being raced – they might not seem all that fast these days but their drivers have to practically wrestle them around the circuit, making quite a spectacle.
Touring cars of the 1960’s compete for the St. Mary’s trophy, with Mini’s sharing the tarmac with the likes of Ford Galaxie’s, Alfa Romeo Giulia’s and BMW 1800ti’s, and elsewhere, 50’s sports cars such as Jaguar C-and-D-types shared the track with gorgeous Aston Martin DB3S’s…the feast for the eyes was almost limitless, everywhere you looked, fabulous historic racing cars.
Away from the track, Bonham’s hosted the usual auction, with almost 100 lots were on offer, including a collection of micro-cars such as a humble 1966 Mazda P360 Carol kei car – one of a number of kei cars on sale, of which perhaps the most desirable was the Toyota Sports 800 Coupé, which went under for £18,400. I loved the superb 1973 Ferrari 246GTS Dino in my favourite Giallo Fly, taken home by its new owner for £310,500, while perhaps the star lot was a stunning 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Vantage Convertible, estimated at £500-700,000, but it didn’t sell.
Perhaps the most unusual car on offer was the 1982 Jaguar 4.2-Litre Owen Sedanca Coupé, one of only a handful of Jaguar XJ6-based hand-built specials originally commissioned by H.R.Owen and presented at the 1973 London Motor Show. The design was supposedly inspired in part by the Lamborghini Espada and for me is altogether a better-looking car than the XJ-S. Unfortunately, the fuel crisis caused by the Yom Kippur War killed it. This 1982 car was built on a 1972 XJ6 donor car, so while it would be wise to avoid a crash as body panels will be non-existent, mechanical spares should be OK to find. It looked in very good condition and sold for less than half its estimate, reaching just £18,400 – you’re very unlikely to park next to another one!
There was a major celebration of Maserati (a subject Claus addressed on the Weekend Matinee) with a nod to the marque’s battles with their Modena rivals Ferrari as part of an Italian theme of La Dolce Vita that ran through the weekend – I could have filled half this report with photos of marvellous Maserati’s, from pre-war Grand Prix cars through to 1950’s and ‘60s sports racers. I especially like the 250F and “Birdcage” Tipo 61, but there was one very striking looking sports car that was completely unknown to me – turns out it was a recreation of a Tipo 151, built by Maserati using the original factory tooling. Three were originally built to compete at Le Mans, in 1965, and only one of them is believed to survive.
Australia’s Jack Brabham is a key figure in motor racing history and his name and achievements were also celebrated with a display and demonstration of some of the cars he raced and built for others to race, marking 60 years since his 1966 World Championship – his third, and in a car bearing his own name, something only he has achieved.
One of the great delights of the event is the Revival Car Show, where I could happily spend half the day wandering among the classics driven to the circuit by visitors from all over Europe, with particularly strong contingents from The Netherlands and Germany, while there were also cars from Sweden, Spain, Italy, and even a Jaguar XK120 from Andorra. I think my favourite international visitor was the superb German-registered dark blue Maserati Ghibli, but there were many other cool cars driven over by European classic car fans.
I left the Members’ Meeting in April somewhat disappointed and have subsequently ended my membership of the GRRC, as my only reason for joining was to enable me to buy MM tickets, but the Revival was as good as ever – the wider variety of cars, the greater engagement with period fashion, and the general atmosphere, heavy of course with nostalgia, is always a delight. It helps when the weather is friendly, which it was on the Friday, and the Revival will remain a highlight of my classic calendar for some years to come.
Meanwhile, below is a random smorgasbord of just some of the additional items on the Revival menu available on and off the track on Friday – I took over 500 photos and editing them down to just over 100 for this piece was quite a challenge – I hope you enjoy them!
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