Goodwood Revival Is More Than Just Motorsport – It’s Time Travel

“Is it just me, or are those nuns playing cricket?”

Goodwood Revival isn’t your average historic motorsport event. We’re fortunate to live in an age in which the UK’s classic car racing calendar is pretty full. On any given weekend, you’ll find rallies, hill climbs, autotests and trials taking place all over the country. We are also seeing an increasing number of large-scale motorsport festivals of which Goodwood Revival is perhaps the most popular. It’s easy to see why.

Held each September at the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit on the south coast of England, Revival is more than just motorsport – it’s time travel.

For 2025’s edition, Car & Classic descended upon West Sussex en masse to soak up the atmosphere of one of the most immersive celebrations of all things vintage held anywhere in the world. Undeterred by the very British weather, we wend our way tweed-laden down to Goodwood.

On arrival, it crosses your mind that you could save yourself the ticket price and spend an entire day in the car park. Frankly, the fields outside Revival beat the majority of the UK’s car shows both on scale and eclecticism. There aren’t many places you can see a Trabant parked next to a 300 SL. Goodwood Revival offers priority parking for classics, split into pre-1966 and tax exempt (currently pre-1985). Step through the gates and you’ll enter the only classic car event that feels like a cross between a Wodehouse novel and a Monty Python sketch.

Goodwood-goers really enter into the spirit of things when it comes to dress code. Pre-War is the most common look, but Revival celebrates all vintage style ranging from the Edwardian through to the 1980s. The theme for 2025 was ‘Flower Power’, accompanied appropriately by a sizeable gathering of  Volkswagen T1 Splitscreen vans. The effort that goes into some of the outfits is quite astounding, culminating in an atmosphere that makes Goodwood Revival feel immensely glamorous. Arrive in a T-shirt and jeans and you’ll soon start to feel like the odd one out!

Revival’s displays are equally spectacular. 2025 saw the usual array of restoration specialists, many of which now create bespoke ‘restomods’. It seems owners are looking for ways to make their classics more usable, in keeping with the spirit of Goodwood, where multi-million-pound Ferraris are being thrashed around in the rain.

Crowds were also treated to an exquisite collection Alfa Romeos, as well as a concours lawn for pre-1966 aircraft. There was live music-aplenty, accompanied by spirited dancing, Mods, and Rockers, who appeared to be getting along a trifle better than they did in period! Near one of the aircraft hangars, I could have sworn I spied a convent of nuns playing cricket… See what I mean about a Monty Python sketch?

Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, there’s some racing as well.

While there’s plenty going on at Goodwood Revival to occupy even those without so much as a fleeting interest in the automotive, motor racing is ostensibly the focal point. If you do remember to go and find the track rather than merely enjoy the other entertainments on offer, you’ll bear witness to some of the finest wheel-to-wheel action you’ll find anywhere on Earth. Who needs Formula One when you’ve got a Bizzarrini sliding through Woodcote on full opposite lock ? I rest my case.

The action on track is impressively period-correct. What differentiates Goodwood from other historic events is that rather than merely watching classics battle it out on a modern race circuit, you genuinely feel as if you’ve stepped straight into the era of the cars you’re looking at. Leaning up against the picket fence opposite the pit lane, the sight of retro advertising, an analogue scoreboard, and mechanics draped in vintage overalls transports you back to a bygone age. The marshals too are adorned with vintage gear, and you hear an old-fashioned claxon sound each time a car heads in for a pitstop.

Jim Clark was the subject of this year’s celebrations, marked by a procession of notable cars from the the ‘Flying Scot’s’ illustrious racing career. When assembled all in once place, you gain an appreciation for how varied Clark’s talents were. You can hardly imagine today’s F1 stars heading off for a spot of touring car, rallying, and America’s Indy 500 mid-season. But, that’s exactly what Jim Clark did when he wasn’t tending the family farm in the Scottish Borders. Thirty cars took to the track in all, alongside fifty sheep. We’re back in that Monty Python sketch again.

One leaves Goodwood Revival in a bit of a daze. It’s utterly overwhelming in the best possible way, with surprises lurking around every corner.

Our advice to any first-timers? Embrace the spirit of the event. You may feel a bit silly at home as you don that baggy tweed suit in the front of the mirror, but you’ll match the zeitgeist the minute you arrive. We’d urge you to come by classic too. Not only can you park nearer the entrance, you’re also contributing to the spectacle of Revival, doing your bit to secure the future of historic motoring. Looking for a new motor to match that natty outfit? Start your search right here on Car & Classic.