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The three-day Goodwood Festival
of Speed, held in late June or early
July, attracts 150,000 spectators and
has grown to include several events in
addition to the hillclimb, in which all
types of historical as well as current
racing vehicles are timed as they
make their assaults up Lord March’s
driveway.
The “driveway” is more like a por-
tion of a race track, lined with large
hay bales and where spectators are al-
lowed very close to the road, making it
an especially popular event for photog-
raphers. Until a few years ago, For-
mula 1 cars were included in the
competition, but as their speeds in-
creased it was felt they were going too
fast to be safe. They are still invited,
but only to make exhibition runs. The
event is a racing museum come to life
with invitations going out to every
conceivable type of race car. The event
often reunites famous car and driver
combinations.
The event also hosts a high level
concours d’elegance called the Cartier
Style at Luxe, a manufacturer’s dis-
play area and the Supercar Run where
current road-going performance cars
make timed exhibition runs. One of
the highlights of every event is the
oversized Jerry Judah sculpture on
the lawn in front of the Goodwood
House. Each year it incorporates rare
race cars and is one of the highlights
of the weekend.
The “other” Goodwood event is the
Revival, a three-day vintage race
weekend held every September since
1988 at the Goodwood Circuit. It in-
cludes race cars and motorcycles that
competed between 1948 and 1966.
Lord March owns the track and most
spectators dress in period clothes. The
restored circuit is unchanged from the
1950s and 1960s when it hosted some
of England’s most famous racing
events. The Revival also hosts antique
military vehicles and aircraft which
add to the period look and feel. British
Spitfires flying overhead have a sound
all their own.
There are always a number of Co-
bras in attendance at Goodwood. They
are one of the more popular cars on
the track but they are also joined by
historic Jaguars, Aston Martins, Fer-
raris, Maseratis, Lotus and Porsches.
This year, however, they all took a
back seat to the six Cobra Daytona
Coupes. Adding to the time machine
quality of the event, a replica of the
1965 Sebring pits was constructed and
the Coupes promptly took up resi-
dence there for the weekend.
The Goodwood Revival is noted for
attracting a wide variety of historic
race cars, but this year there was no
question that the Cobra Coupes were
the center of attention. There were
probably several reasons for this. It
was the first time all six cars have
ever been together. Even at the factory
in 1965, some were racing in Europe
and some were held as back-up cars,
either in the U.S. or in Europe. Today,
all of the cars have been stunningly re-
stored to 1965 specifications, with the
exception of the first one, CSX2287.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2015 78