Retro Rides at Goodwood: the greatest hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s

And because anything from before the new millennium is welcome, it means there's a wonderful variety of machinery to see, from 1960s Italian exotica to heavily modified 90s hot hatchbacks – there is a car for everyone here.

These are some of our picks from the show, although we could have featured a whole lot more.

Mainly because of rust, and because they were treated as disposable cheap runarounds, Rivas are very thin on the ground in the UK, despite having been sold here for over a decade from 1983 and selling 30,000 units in their best year.

This one is an even rarer estate model and has been extensively modified. We wonder what it is hiding under the bonnet on top of the more obvious changes.

Even more intriguingly, we spotted a Riva saloon that had been turned into a lowrider, with hydraulics allowing it to jump up and down on the spot.

A very different car to the Riva is this immaculate and unmolested first-generation RX-7 in a suitably 80s colour scheme of golden brown over a brown interior.

Dating from 1983 (making it a Series 2 car) it boasts more than 100bhp per tonne from a twin-rotor Wankel engine, a 5-speed manual and a 0-62mph time in the eight-second range. Impressive for the time, and the first RX-7 was rewarded with sales of nearly half a million.

To our eyes the Pantera is as beautiful as any supercar to come out of Italy, or indeed the world, in the 1970s. And while this one is a delightfully pure early car from the second year of production (1972), the factory in Modena continued pumping out cars until 1992, when it still looked awesome with a late-Countach-esque body kit.

Instead of being powered by a bespoke high-revving V8 or V12 like its rivals, De Tomaso brought in Ford pushrod V8 power which was reliable, torquey and allowed the Pantera to be sold and serviced through Ford’s extensive dealer network.  

It feels like a different world when either Vauxhall or Opel would sell you a big car with a big engine. Sold alongside the Vauxhall Royale Coupe, this Monza is a top-dog 3.0-litre model, and with 178bhp it had the grunt to take on the BMW 6 Series. 

38 years since production ceased, the Monza is still big enough and looks imposing enough to sit in the outside lane of the motorway and scare puny modern-day Vauxhalls out of the way. 

This ’64 T-bird drew eyes from miles away – it’s the size you’d expect of an American car, yet it has the grace, lines and low-slung body of something straight out of Europe – helped by this very classy and pristine burgundy paint. 

Despite the nameplate only launching in 1954, this is already a fourth-generation car, such was the turnover in designs American customers demanded in this period. 

The one that killed the British sports car? The 240Z packed a 2.4-litre inline-six that, with 128bhp, outgunned the 1.8-litre four-pot MG B by 30%, yet it was barely any more expensive, arguably looked even prettier, and as time would tell, was far more dependable. 

We think this one has been very tastefully modified, everything that has been done only leads your eyes to look at the simple but timeless lines. 

Most people’s attention to classic Golfs is with the Giugiaro-designed Mk1, but the Mk2 is quite rightly gaining interest. While Mk1 GTIs drift out of reach for the average enthusiast, Mk2 GTIs can be picked up for a lot less, even when they’re in such a lovely shade of green as this one is. 

Through this 1988 car's generous sunroof we spied some fantastic original bucket seats and a characterfully blocky dashboard, which still manages to be interesting in 50 shades of grey. 

Retro Rides is all about the appreciation of, well, anything that takes your fancy really. For example, the humble Honda-based Rover 416 Tourer wouldn’t be the obvious base for a modified car for many people, but we think this one looks great. 

It’s probably fair to say that the owner of this one wasn’t in Rover’s original target demographic…

While we’re all bemoaning the loss of cylinders and capacity in modern cars, we should remember stuff like the first M3, a homologation special built to satisfy German Touring Car (DTM) rules, and as such was powered by a seemingly humble 2.3-litre four-cylinder.

With a 7250rpm redline it is admittedly sweeter to enjoy driving in than many modern four-bangers, and with 192bhp it still makes more power than a 2024 turbocharged 320i. It’s also half a tonne lighter than a new M3 and packs an engaging 5-speed manual.

Living up to its name, the Carry is a surprisingly useful workhorse – just ask those who still use them as micro-campers or the owner of this one who uses it to lug about a scooter.

At first glance, with its cutesy round headlights, this Carry could date from the 60s (production started in 1961) but actually it’s a ninth-generation 1996 example.

They don’t come much lower than this. It might not be the most comfortable riding at this height, but as a V8-powered 540i automatic this practical wagon was born to cruise the autobahn, or at least the 70mph dictated motorways we have over here.

Dating from 1995 it's one of the last E34 5ers before it was replaced by the curvier E39. It’s got to be one of the most immaculate ones out there too.

Retro Rides was festooned with cool fast Renaults, the mid-engined 5 Turbo, the later GT Turbo and a Holy Grail Clio in the form of a Williams. This isn’t one of those though, it’s a much humbler Oasis special edition.

As one of 18 left on our roads, it is surely rarer than any of the aforementioned, especially in such pristine condition. We’re grateful to the enthusiast keeping this humble, fun and oh-so-90s supermini on the road.

Another unlikely enthusiast's favourite was this brown turbodiesel Peugeot saloon. Its clean Pininfarina-designed lines allow it to look more modern than its 1987 year of manufacture suggests, and people wondered where they had all gone considering they were famed for their reliability.

Turns out that many were exported to Africa to be put to use as workhorses after they had finished trundling up and down British motorways with middle management types behind the wheel.

Because so many W124-generation E-Class’ exist pretending to be AMGs with Monoblock alloys, we were initially skeptical of this one's legitimacy. Take a closer look, though, and its Affalterbach origins become obvious – note the square exhaust pipes.

It might not be a full-bore 6.0-litre AMG monster, but packing 272bhp and 284lb ft of torque from a 3.6-litre straight six, it's no slouch.

The current owner found this wonderful Flavia in a rather sorry state, its engine not even in the car. It had been six colours in its life, but as a rare right-hand drive UK car it was worth saving and was restored to the lovely condition you see here, back in its original colour.

It was treated to a 1.8-litre flat-four from a newer car (1.5-litres would have been the original capacity for this one) and as such it can make good use of that very cool horizontal speedometer.

Built in 1998, this Elise is from the third year of production and just qualified for Retro Rides’ criteria. Even if it hadn’t gone down in history as one of the best-handling small cars ever, those pint-sized supercar looks would have allowed it a place on this list of stand-out automobiles.

Weighing in at a scant 725kg, its modest 118bhp from a 1.8-litre Rover K-series inline-four will allow a 0-62mph time of 5.8secs, which is more than adequate for a blast down your favourite twisty road.

Looking more like a child's toy than anything else it's easy to imagine why Sir Clive Sinclair’s idea of an adequate vehicle to replace a second car didn’t catch on – just look how small it is next to a Mazda MX-5’s door.

14,000 were made in a year of production, and despite their limitations, scarcity has made them more valuable than 30kg of plastic should really be. After all, £1000-5000 could easily net you a proper car…

Another modified 5er that caught the eye in the Spring sunshine was this 1987 E28 525i which would have made quite the statement when new with its metallic green paint and tan interior.

You can decide whether you’d rather have it on the original wheels and suspension, but it's clearly loved and taken good care of, and has had the unique off-centre positioning of the exhaust kept.

Who said all Passats were boring? A B3 car with the distinctive blanked-off grille, this Passat has had thousands spent on it making it stand out, from the wheels to the period-correct decals on the side.

Inside, the wooden wheel and gear knob contrast nicely with the original blue fabric and plastic interior, completed by an in-car phone.

As you can see, this isn’t just any run-of-the-mill 850, but the full-fat T-5R making 236bhp from its heavily turbocharged 2.3-litre five-cylinder. In its day, the performance (top speed was 155mph) would have been brutal, and today the sub-1500kg weight seems like nothing.

Owned by Volvo UK’s heritage division it is obviously well taken care of, and drew a crowd even when surrounded by BMW M cars – helped by the striking Cream Yellow paint.