I have not been since the birth of my little girl, though last year I did go to Goodwood Revival. This year we decided to take advantage of a newspaper offer and got tickets to the ‘Moving Motor Show, a new event being run as a  prelude to the main event, and for which having made arrangements with the dealers, one could drive some of the new cars.  An ideal arrangement if one was lucky enough (and had the money), though as the stewards warned me when some of the cars driven by punters approached ‘ they aint a clue what they are doing, so  stay well clear, they don’t know which pedals to press half of them’. I duly took note.

For me the best part is cruising the paddock and the ‘lawn’ and gazing up close at  all these amazing cars (the highlight one year was getting close to a Lamborghini Countach) .  I would have said that up until this year (and I have not been for a while) FOS had  less of the innate snobbery and elitism that clings to Goodwood Revival. But this year, it would seem that there is slightly more onus on keeping the Hoi polloi away from the rich and shameless.

However, it was a fab day, even though many of the cars had not arrived yet. The jazz and swing being played live was excellent, it wasn’t too hot, it wasn’ too crowded and I got to see some fabulous cars.

Addendum:
After first writing this post, it transpired that one of the people who had been allowed to drive one of the new cars, crashed through the central stand, injuring people and crashed out the other side. Apparently he had succumbed to heat and exhaust fumes, and passed out at the wheel. We walked through there, and past the stand. It could have been us that was hit. It now begs the question whether to allow inexperienced drivers to drive such powerful cars, to which they are unused, amongst the general public is a sensible and safe thing to do. Whomsoever conceived of this idea, made a serious error of judgement. Read more.

Chevrolet

A few weeks ago whilst it was still sunny, myself, Luke and Orla went to see the Southern Classics car show that was taking place at Chichester College.

Unfortunately, the times on the website weren’t accurate. It stated that the show was ending at 4.00 pm,  and in fact ended at 3.00. So, by the time we got there, some cars were already leaving, including a Pontiac Transam, which I watched drive past me *boo*.

However, there were some beauties on show, and I got some good shots, plus which Orla got some new toy cars (and me too) to add to her collection from the stalls that were there too.

The owners were friendly and informative, and clearly had enormous passion for their cars and the club.  One owner told how his Armstrong Siddeley (see pic below)  had been in a barn for years and years on end, and showed me photographs of how it had looked when he got hold of it, which was little more than a wreck. The time (and money) he had invested in restoring the car to it’s former glory was immense.

I should at this point mention that my husband is a petrol head (mostly for old classic cars etc, and 70′s classics). There is no car that exists that he does not know something about, and even when looking at a small section of a car in a photo, he will be able to tell you what it is. So, over the years, I have gathered some knowledge myself from the subsequent fall out, and am able to recognise most classic cars. Our time together and trips to Festival of Speed, Revival etc, has given me an appreciation of the beauty and elegance of old cars.

Sunbeam

Riley

Last Sunday myself, Luke and Orla went to Goodwood Revival 2009 at Goodwood..naturally. Now, we don’t normally do the Revival because having been once before (we are locals), we didn’t really enjoy it as much as the Festival of Speed, reasons why will be explained later.

We were meeting our friends Nick and Rachel, to which I looked forward as I had not seen them since Orla’s Christening, and we had not been able to make their wedding two years ago, due to Orla being in hospital. Nick’s Uncle was there as an exhibitor and had given Nick free tickets for us.

We got there quite late in the morning, standard procedure for us, but at least I remembered to take my camera. Good.

We parked and made our way through the ‘pre 66′  field filled with the most amazing classic English and American cars.   I took a couple of pics, though decided to wait. We met Nick and Rachel, got our tickets and made our way into the event. The first thing that met our eyes was the steam Carousel. This was the third event this year at which this Carousel has been present, and to Orla’s joy, not only that..but a Helter Skelter. Naturally Orla was keen.  She did get to have a go later on with her Daddy, and it was a first for both of them.

As I expected fab vintage and retro costumes abounded, gorgeous cars and bikes, happy people and the sounds of powerful engines . I loved it, only marred by…the wealthy people.

Luke later tells me,  a Hooray Henry in plus fours with his two kids was walking along and saw this huge guy, big muscles sporting a vest (because it was hot) with his mates pushing his littelun along in a stroller. Hooray Henry starts shouting at his kids (Hoorays are generally quite loud)  “Look at the big muscle man…look at his huge muscles..children, look at the huge muscle man” over and over again. Now, apparently muscles man was Eastern European and him and his mates just stared, and Luke is thinking…’any moment he is going to eat you Hooray in front of your kids’. This was a theme all day.  Alas,  we prefer Festival of Speed, as it is less snobby, elitist and cliquey.  In as much as I deplore the rudeness, crudeness and unacceptable ignorance of the ‘Chav’ class, I have as much contempt for the ‘Upper’ classes and aristocracy.  I was witness many times that day to rudeness, ignorance, crassness and embarrassing ignorance on the part of the wealthy and elite. It does in fact make me at times ashamed to be English, as there there is no truer tosser than a wealthy English man abroad..or even at home.

Additionally, women in expensive though  poorly chosen and rather tasteless clothes abounded.  It is a sad fact, that just because you can afford ‘couture’, doesn’t mean you can ‘wear’ couture. I commented to Rachel on how many women I had seen that day with coffee brown faces. The truth is, a Mediterranean ‘tan’ really does not suit an English woman’s physiognomy.  But will they listen..no!

However, I don’t want it to appear as though I didn’t enjoy my day. I had a wonderful time, and loved all the gorgeous cars, clothes and the spirit of the event was palpable. Nick and Rachel are lovely, kind people to which my Orla warmed to, and Rachel is now a firm favourite. I was only sad I didn’t get to see as much of the racing as I would have liked, and missed Rowan Atkinson twice to my chagrin.   I took many, many pictures which I have uploaded to my Flickr account, and will no doubt be doing so for weeks. So, I wont write any more about the event, as the pictures I took speak for themselves. Anyone reading this who goes to look at the images on my Flickr album, I recommend you view them as a slide show, the link to which is at the top on the right…

However, here are one or two to wet your appetite.