The real action, though, is on the track. Unlike Formula One, with its insistent class delineation, where access is entirely dependent on the colour of your wristband, anyone who buys a ticket to the Silverstone Classic can get up close and personal to the race cars, snapping each other in the cockpits of old F1 machines or standing by the bonnets of growling 50-year-old Buicks.
“That’s what makes us different and that’s what everyone loves about this,” says Nick Wigley, the event director, who has just enjoyed a spin out round the track himself in a 1953 Cooper T24. “We are access all areas.”
And there is a lot to see. Among its many superlatives, the Silverstone Classic announces itself as the world’s biggest motor racing event, with more than 1,000 cars in 20 races a day. And what races they turn out to be. Surprisingly, given the value of some of the motors spinning round the track, the racing is full-on and intense. According to the driver who gives me a lap in the safety car, even those at the wheel of a Ferrari worth millions cannot help themselves when they head out of the pits. Once the competitive instinct kicks in, shunts are commonplace. But at least when they do crash, this weekend at Silverstone every car looks absolutely immaculate.