A whopping 409 entries have been lodged for this weekend’s 33rd Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport, with practice, qualifying and racing set to be held over four days.

Looking for a headliner? Try 30 entries in the five-litre touring car class, which features a mixed bag of recent V8 Supercars, Group A and Group C machinery.

Need a Bathurst legend? What about Larry Perkins, who will be joined on track by his son, Jack Perkins, with the duo entered in Castrol Commodore PE41, Larry’s last Bathurst car, and the 2015 Gold Coast 600 winning HRT Commodore.

While largely the cars are the stars, some of the names behind the wheel have connections with touring car completion over the years, including Neil Schembri and Gary Quartly.

If last weekend’s Super3 entry from a lone AU Falcon got people excited, Phillip Island will feature six examples of the bubble-top Fords, including cars formerly campaigned by DJR, FTR and the famed Budweiser example.

The class will take to the circuit in a series of Super Sprint format hit-outs, which, if like last year, will quickly develop into races.

At the other end of the Ford power spectrum will be a field of 55 historic Formula Fords, with several notable names coming out to play.

Entered are Tim Blanchard, Tony Quinn, Nick McBride, and Ray Stubber, who will be mixing it with a highly competitive field that includes internationals, such as Richard Tarling (UK), Gislain Genecand (Switzerland) and Xavier Michel (France).

A total of 33 Group A and C entries have entered from all corners of the country, with the opening of state borders making this year’s event far more accessible.

From the best of the big bangers, to swift Sierras and a stack of class cars, the grid will include Holdens, Fords, BMWs, Jaguars, Nissans, Mazdas and Toyotas.

Jonathon Webb will no doubt be a frontrunner in his Caltex Sierra.

Are sports cars more your scene? The production-based Group S and invited field is 57 deep, featuring some great examples from Chevy Corvettes, Porsches, Shelbys, Ferraris, De Tomaso, through to the best of British from MG, Triumph, Austin Healey and Lotus, with others like Datsun, Alfa Romeo plus Alpine all adding to the competition.

A total of 65 Historic Group N machines will be split over two grids, along under and over two-litre lines.

Some of the name drivers include Darren Hossack, Darcy Russell, Scotty Taylor, and Keith Kassulke, although many of the other category stalwarts will be out to show their wares.

The 50th anniversary of Peter Brock’s breakthrough Bathurst 500 win will be celebrated by a fleet of Holden Torana XU-1s congregating on the Island, with Bev Brock on hand for trophy presentation duties.

The Groups J, K, Lb Sports & Racing plus invited Formula Vee & invited Group Sa, as the name suggests, will provide an absolute potpourri or mechanical action.

Featuring 38 entries, the oldest example is R. Harley Sprague’s 1932 Ford Roadster.

While the M Sports, O Sports, O Racing, Formula Junior & invited only has 27 entries, there is still plenty to froth over.

Represented is Brabham, McLaren, Lotus, Cooper, Elfin, Chevron, and several other period racers.

Forever crowd favourites are the Q & R Racing, F5000, F1 & Indycar class, with some classic pieces set to battle it out.

We have already featured Guido Belgiorno-Nettis’ Ferrari 156/85 pair here on The Race Torque, above, but there will also be Malcolm Oastler in a Ralt RT1 and Dean Camm in his Chevron F5000.

A growing number of Formula Holdens will also be on the grid, including Duncan MacKellar (Reynard 92D), Grant Doulman (Shrike, also featured previously here on TRT) and Rohan Carrig (Hocking).

Q & R Sports, P & invited cars cover the mild to wild in classic sports cars, from Can Am beasts to pocket rocket Sports 2000s, and everything in between.

Rounding out festivities is a bumper field of regularity competitors.

Looking for more info on the largest meet of its type in the Southern Hemisphere? Check out the VHRR’s website for all of the details.