Pre-war monsters at the 2023 Revival | Goodwood Trophy

09th September 2023

Adam Wilkins

It's always a magical moment when the pre-war monsters of the Goodwood Revival come out to play. You can't help but get a tad emotional as the earliest days of the Motor Circuit come back to life with the roar of 1930s Alfa Romeos, ERAs, Maseratis and more, not to mention the howl of that V16 BRM.

Their first appearance of the weekend on Friday was the perfect balance to the sleek and berautiful sportscars of a different generation, as we got to experience once again the visceral nature of these pioneering racing cars.

The race itself on Saturday morning was an absolute nail-biter from start to finish, as Rob Hall's V16 BRM suffered mechanical gremlins after a fast start. The leading group ran within a second of each other for much of the race, and the battle for the lead was decided on the very last lap. Extraordinary action from the Revival's pre-war heroes.

Racing first began at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in the wake of World War Two, and as a consequence there were no new racing cars available. Instead, racers would bring pre-war machines back to the fore, so the first cars to race at Goodwood dated from the late 1930s and early ’40s.

The Goodwood Trophy, a fixture of the Goodwood Revival since the very first event in 1998, celebrates those early days with a grid chock full of voiturette cars from the likes of Alfa Romeo, ERA, Dalage, Maserati and Talbot-Lago.

For 2023’s Goodwood Trophy, the oldest car on the grid is a 1931 ERA A-Type R3A while the newest pre-war car is a Maserati 4CL from 1939. A Talbot-Lago T26C is the sole post-war car, built in 1948 – the year the circuit opened.