The 2013 Wilton Classic and Supercar (WCS) event has been launched at a preview hosted by the show's co-founder, Lord Pembroke. The fifth running of WCS, which expects to attract 10,000 visitors, will take place on Sunday 4 August in the grounds of Lord Pembroke's Wilton House estate in south Wiltshire where several show stars were displayed ahead of the main event.
The taster selection included several cars belonging to Lord Pembroke, who races in the Fun Cup endurance series, including the 1956 Jaguar D-type in which he contested the 'Legends' curtain-raiser before last month's Le Mans 24 Hours, the Porsche 956 that took second at Circuit de la Sarthe in 1984, and the Gulf-inspired Bugatti Veyron art car he commissioned for last year's WCS. Additional classics on show included an Aston Martin DB5 and Ferrari 308 GTB, while other present-day exotica consisted of a Ferrari F12, Lamborghini Aventador Roadster and Bentley Continental GT V8.
Though WCS is much smaller than the likes of Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lord Pembroke cites accessibility and flexibility as strengths of his event:
"We've tried to keep ticket prices to an affordable level, and to retain a fun, club-type atmosphere. We've built the show around what people love – we spent weeks on forums after last year’s event reading what people liked and what they didn't. Because we're such a small team, we can be really dynamic; we're always looking for as much feedback as possible."
Around 200 supercars are planned to appear at WCS alongside 30-40 concours-standard classics of road and track, 100 Aston Martins to help celebrate the company's centenary, custom projects from McLaren and several car club displays.
Forming part of Aston's official calendar of centenary events, the 100-car display will exhibit racers from the company's own collection and cars supplied by the Aston Martin Owners Club to illustrate the marque's timeline. Meanwhile, McLaren's half-century will be marked with one of the 100 limited-edition McLaren 12C '50' cars produced by McLaren Special Operations, which is also expected to supply a heavily customised MP4-12C.
Two years after the iconic model's own half-century, the Jaguar E-type will additionally be represented by the 1961 Geneva Motor Show car and the unique Low Drag Coupé racer that was finally restored in 2011, 47 years after a heavy crash at Montlhéry.
Though WCS is largely a static event, crowds will have the chance to see and hear the supercar contingent in action with a lunchtime parade and a loudest-wins 'rev off' that was won by a Ferrari Enzo in 2012.
Stunt bikes, steam engines, Segways, simulators, a helicopter acrobatic display and a children's area will supplement the automotive attractions.
WCS was co-founded by Lord Pembroke and Jay Broom in 2009 following several of Broom's morning supercar meets, which also initiated the 'Wilton Wake Up' events that now take place on the fourth Sunday of every month.
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Eh....yes!
Oldies were the best, my fav..?,why, the Pantera of course!, reall medallion man car from way back,all big wing and HUGE rear tyres, making up for what i wonder....?