Origins of Goodwood’s glorious racing heritage

One of the best and most famous events in the classic car world is the Goodwood Revival. A glorious festival of classic cars racing as they were designed around a period-correct track, it’s a must-see event for anyone with petrol flowing through their veins. From multi-million pound exotica to simple classics, there’s something for everyone. We look at how it all started. 

RAF-amiliar beginnings

Like many locations in the UK, motor-racing took advantage of the unwanted plethora of RAF airbases after World War II. In this case, Goodwood’s circuit evolved from RAF Westhampnett which, considering its location close to the South Coast, was a key airfield used in the Battle of Britain. 

The airfield was created on land donated by the 9th Duke of Richmond to help with the war effort, and once it was not required any longer, the family continued its fascination with motor racing by putting it to good use. 

By creating a track from the perimeter road, Goodwood created the first post-war professional motor racing event. Spectators flocked to the track, with more than 15,000 visitors watching 85 drivers take to the circuit. Over the years, greats such as Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Giuseppe Farina, Jackie Stewart, and Bruce McLaren would race in cars bearing names such as Maserati, BRM, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, and Cooper. 

Returning with style

Racing in contemporary machines continued for 18 years at the circuit, until the gates closed in August 1966. The track was still available for testing and as a track-day venue, but competitive racing was no longer held. 

It wasn’t until 18th September 1998 – exactly 50 years since the track first opened – that Lord March re-opened the circuit as a racing concern. He re-enacted the original event by driving the same Bristol 400 that his grandfather had used half a century earlier. 

Before the big event, the circuit and its buildings had been restored to their former glory, keeping in period, as much as possible, and racing at Goodwood Circuit was reborn. 

Now, the Goodwood Revival is one of two big dates on the motoring calendar at the Goodwood Estate – the Festival of Speed, using the hill-climb course the other – that celebrates all things motoring. While the latter covers every aspect of cars and bikes from classic to futuristic, the Revival is a special event in its own right, and celebrates the past. 

Hundreds of rare cars from a wide range of eras are raced – often with abandon – by some of the greatest drivers in the world, past and present. Everyone is encourage to come dressed in period, with spectators and machinery representing the best of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Add to that the air displays, and the heady mixture of petrol filling the air, and it all becomes rather intoxicating – once visited, few will never return to Goodwood. It’s Glorious, even if that moniker is usually reserved for equine racing further up the hill. There must be something about competition in the air in the Goodwood Estate.