The festival was founded in 1993 by Lord March with the aim of bringing motor racing back to the Goodwood Estate – a location steeped in British motor racing history. In the early 1990s, Lord March, who later became Duke of Richmond, wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. So, he hosted it on his own grounds with a small selection of entrants made up of invited historic vehicles. The first event  attracted a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. After the first event’s date clash, the Duke decided that would never happened again and made sure the event would not clash with  Le Mans or Formula One races.