Attending the Revival requires you to be part of the action, to get into character. You can’t just be an anonymous spectator
The Goodwood Revival is a motor racing festival like no other. Staged at Lord March’s estate near Chichester, Sussex, September 14-16, it celebrates the Goodwood race course that operated there from 1948-66.
The whole event is a step back in time, with the race cars of the period returning to do battle once again — often with the same drivers — while the crowd looks the part. Period clothes are de rigueur and the 2,000 cars that can park free were all built before 1966.
Out on the track, fans can watch racing luminaries like Sir Stirling Moss, American world champion Dan Gurney (this year’s honoree, along with many of the cars he drove, and the Eagle F1 and Indy car racers he built), Dickie Attwood and Derek Bell. The estimated value of the cars at the 2012 event is £600 million, but as they say, you can’t do a million pound’s damage to a million-pound car, (the limit is reckoned about £400,000) so they’ll be racing for blood, as in the old days.
The Ferrari GTO will bring 15 of the £20 million Ferraris out to play and there’ll be a race grid exclusively filled by Cobras. If you look up, you’ll see WWII fly-bys from Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs and Thunderbolts, in memory of the airfield that was here during the war. Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union will also bring 10 Silver Arrows from the late 1930s with an estimated value of £100 million, recreating their triumph in 1937 at the Donington Grand Prix.
After the cars and the planes, people-watching is great fun, and a top team of fashionistas, like Vogue photographer Matt Hind and designer Annika Caswell will be judging the Best Dressed Man and Lady awards. Judging will take place daily on the Richmond Lawn with prizes including the New Goodwood Style Guide, and even better, Veuve Cliquot Champagne, Singleton of Dufftown malt whiskey and spectacular flowers.
The Goodwood Guide to Fashion suggests 30 categories for men and women to choose from, everything from Land Girls to Jitterbug Jivers, Mechanics to members of the Armed Services. Copies of the guide can be bought at the Revival shop, or ordered on-line.
But where do you find suitable clothes? One outlet that’s tailored to the event is Greycar, a one-stop-shop for period motoring clothing, which can help you get the look for this year’s Revival. The Greycar collection consists of flying jackets, car coats, overalls, driving gloves, eyewear, scarves, headgear and glovebox accessories, all made to the highest standards and supported by excellent customer service. Check them out at www.greycar.com
