Photo Gallery: A Day at Goodwood Revival 2019 - Part 1

Explore one of the biggest car events on the international calendar today...

Goodwood Revival is quite simply, a must-go for anyone interested in anything remotely old school. Three days of action, atmosphere and reminiscing. From the drive-through cinema showing classic films, to the traditional fairground rides, beauty salon, endless vintage-themed shops, period-correct actors dotted around and of course the cars. The Revival is a step back in time to the 1940s, 50s and 60s. It’s also encouraged people who attend all turn up styled from that time period to really add to the authenticity of the weekend. The event is internationally renowned and it didn’t take long for Ben, Damon and myself to realise why.

 

The three of us popped along last Friday for the first day of the weekend each with a camera in hand. The outcome was quite literally thousands of images taken, each with a slightly different take on the show. So for this Photo Gallery, I thought it would be a nice idea to make it a little three-parter between Ben, Damon and myself to best represent just how much there is to see.

Think of this mini-series as not just a look at the show but a little guide of what you can expect to see.

As I’m already here writing this, we might as well start with my images so I’ll let the shots do the talking below (With a little bit of added commentary where appropriate, enjoy!)

Bonhams Auction at Goodwood Revival

If you’re in the mood for buying, Bonhams have quite a large plot with a huge tent showing some incredible cars. There was a pretty expansive range available here and this is only the outside of the tent.

Personal favourites of mine included a 1952 Bentley Mark VI, a 1960 Lamborghini Tractor (because where else are you going to see a Lambo tractor?) and a 1976 Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 Group 1 Rally Car.

The paddocks and cars on show.

Now, this is what most people come for, and rightly so. The paddocks are a special place to be with little touches really adding to that authentic charm. Most noticeably is when the cars need to be moved away or towards the track. Stewards in old school overalls begin to blow whistles ushering people aside to make way for classic track toys. In our health and safety filled lives I enjoy how refreshingly relaxed this approach is. Nothing like a guy with a whistle and a short burst of a V8 to get people moving.

A Jaguar E Type before...

And after Jaguar Land Rover's Heritage have worked their magic!

Oh, and there is a healthy selection of Ferrari 250s on show. If I could only take one thing away from Goodwood Revival it would be how much it has cemented in my mind how incredibly stunning, charmful and beautiful those cars are. When you stick a handful of them together on a track, it turns out they're also pretty loud, more on that later.

Shops, displays and the people of Goodwood.

Simply put, the three things in this sub-heading make Goodwood not just a place to see incredible cars being thrown around a track but a real destination for vintage fans. I’d confidently say 9/10 people who attend Goodwood dress up for the show which adds some authentic genuineness to the whole event. Combine this with people pushing cars around, mechanics endlessly tinkering with vehicles and all manner of discussions about specific models of cars and you're left with a very special place to be.

Anyone for an ice cream from a Rolls Royce?

The Kinrara Trophy begins

 

As the day drew to a close and the evening took over, the Kinrara Trophy began and boy was this worth waiting around for. Ferrari 250’s (yes, including a GTO) Jaguar E Types and Aston Martin DB4 GTs took to the track on the very first race of the weekend as the sunset on a gorgeous September Friday. A few things to note here. Firstly, I don’t think we could have been in a better position for watching the cars as we managed to see the tail end of a long sweeping corner where the drivers could carry plenty of speed, a nice straight and a tricky, tight chicane right at the end of the lap.

 

The result was a position where we were able to see many angles of the cars as the flew past us.

Those brakes are putting in some work!

This Ferrari 250 was easily my favourite from the show, give me one of these and I'll be happy.

The grandstand acted as the backdrop to the shots complimented by the evening light and a Rolex branded smaller stand. Take a look at the resulting shots here...

As beautiful and stunning the cars and backdrop were, the one thing we cannot get across is the sheer volume of these engines screaming around the track. You really cannot beat a roaring Ferrari engine (well, maybe if you have 4 other Ferrari engines and a few Jag and Aston ones…)

The Ferrari 250 GTO that won the Kinrara Trophy (above). It's worth pointing out that I believe this is a real 250 GTO which when you consider only around 36 were made in the 50s and 60s and one sold at auction last year for £52 million, then this is a pretty special sighting. It's not every day you get to see a 250 GTO being thrown around a track as it was born to.

The not so standard car park of Goodwood

Okay so this normally wouldn’t be something we’d pick up on but this really wasn’t your standard car park. Where we parked there were 2 clear areas, the back for more modern ‘standard’ cars (that’s where we parked…) and then a little fence separating modern for vintage. There was a serious amount of truly insane cars here.

I’d be amazed if there was less than 200 cars just parked up with their owners enjoying the Goodwood evening. Name an incredible classic car and chances are there was at least one in this car park. We easily spent the best part of 1 hour and 30 mins just walking between car after car taking as many pictures as we could to make the most of the evening light.

Take a look for yourself…

The Goodwood Revival car park really is a Where's Wally of E-Type Jags.

This has to be one of the most expensive car parks I’ve seen in a long time, easily into the double-figure millions of pounds.

 

So there it is Goodwood Revival from my point of view. I really cannot recommend the event enough. If you have even the slightest appreciation for all things vintage it’s worth your time. Not a huge car person? No worries, you’ll still have a great day soaking up at the atmosphere, doing some shopping eating great food and immersing yourself in days gone.

 

Find out more about Goodwood Revival, and book your tickets for next year here.

Stay tuned to the Online Mag for both Ben's and Damon's Revival which will be live within the next few weeks. If you want to stay updated with all thing WatchGecko Magazine, be sure to head over to our Instagram @watchgeckomag.