To drive Bond-style classic cars into the future, Britain needs a new generation of Qs

Britain excels at heritage-as-spectacle affairs, and they rarely get better than the Goodwood Revival. The latest instalment of this classic motoring festival kicks off on Friday September 9, at a historic racing track in the heart of the Sussex countryside. Since its launch in 1998, it has become phenomenally successful. More than 100,000 visitors come through the gates over three days, the majority in meticulously curated vintage outfits. But the real magic is the dedication, skills and labour which underpin the nostalgia by getting the cars to the track in the first place. Goodwood might be the best event of its type in the world. Only vehicles that would have been eligible to race on the original circuit from 1948 to 1966 are allowed to do so now, and all other vehicles on the grounds have to be of the same period. Rare and beautiful beasts and gems arrive in “concours condition” while thousands more are found in the visitors’ parking. Beyond Goodwood, there are more than 850,000 “classic cars” being kept from the scrap heap in the UK. That is thanks in part to the financial commitment and dogged devotion of owners, but in reality, the show can only go on thanks to the largely invisible labour of mechanical specialists, panel beaters, painters, welders, coachwork specialists, trimmers and other craftspeople who nurture and heal the classics’ many aching joints. Behind every barn-find-to-auction star and heirloom car is the story of those who repair, restore and maintain these machines laden with tales and memories.