**** Historic Silverstone - Part 1 ****

[Colin]

At the core of the Historic Silverstone event, there are 21 races, spread over a 3 day period, for a wide variety of sporting cars, ranging from Formula 1 machines from the 1980s, the Group C cars of even more recent pedigree, though saloon cars from the 1960s, one make events for Aston-Martin and Porsche and all the way back to racing cars from the 1920s. Most of the races are for 20 minutes, but a few are for a full 90 minutes, with the added interest of a driver change during the proceedings. Drivers vary, too, from very accomplished former professionals, through to pure amateurs. We came across Rowan Atkinson, fully kitted out and ready to race, yesterday, and doubtless there were other celebrities taking part, too. There were a few thrills and spills, though nothing too serious beyond some bent metal and a fresh trail of oil on the circuit. However, Historic Silverstone is more than just a wallow in nostalgia - and make no mistake, it certainly hits the mark in that regard - as there are huge display areas given over to a wide variety of owners clubs, who delight in bringing out all sorts of rarities for the race-goers to enjoy. Last year, I concluded that there was too much to see in one day, and so I planned to make a whole weekend of the event, and I am glad I did, as even then, I sure there are things I missed. As well as seeing different cars out on the track, the cars on display were quite different, with many cars attending only on one day.

PORSCHE

It seems appropriate to start with Porsche, as without doubt they had the largest one make display, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Porsche company. At a guess, there were probably over 300 Porsches in their main area on Saturday, and with some rows not complete, I would presume that Sunday when the rows were filled up, they could have mustered 500 cars. A truly incredible sight, which would probably best be appreciated from the air! Cars were neatly arranged by model type.

Porsche Silverstone were clearly hoping to sell cars, as they had representatives of the latest models on show, including the new DRL-equipped 911s:





At one end of the display were these gorgeous Porsche tractors. The smaller one, dating from 1963, designed for vineyards and the larger from 1958.



The first Porsche car, the 356 was well represented.









914 and 916 - often forgotten in the UK, but sold in surprising numbers in the US, with over 10,000 cars made between 1970 and 1976.





911s from every era were of course the dominant car.































The Speedster



An amazing array of 911 Club Sports

   



The little liked 964 model 911RS, in some very period colours









924





944 and 968









928






Even a couple of Cayennes made it into the



The "ultimate" Porsche, perhaps: the Carrera GT.





Later, we came across a second Carerra GT. The first one I had ever seen in red, which I thought perhaps not its most flattering colour, but what a car! This one was parked at the Hospitality Suites where last year we saw a McLaren GTR. 







A third example was to be found in the paddock area:

[FoMoJo]

I love the 356s .  No Speedsters?

[hotrodalex]

That red one is exactly what I want.

[CALL_911]

That red one is exactly what I want.

The white one is orgasmic.

Yum. Yum. These pictures are unspeakably cool.