Mega fields of the best historic race cars from around the region converge at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit this weekend for the Classic Festival of Motorsport, with four huge days of on and off-track entertainment set to wow fans.

With over 400 cars on track and over 1,000 displayed in the outfield, there will be something for everyone, with marques represented in the 11 competition categories set to include Elfin, Matich, Maserati, Chevrolet, Porsche, McLaren, Brabham, Chevron, Lotus, March, Reynard, Jaguar, Ralt, Rennmax, Ferrari, Dodge, Alpine, Van Diemen, Cheetah, BMW, Valiant, Shelby, Mazda, Ford, Holden, Kaditcha, De Tomaso, amongst many more.

Numerous star drivers will be thrown into the mix, too, including Steven Richards, Jonathon Webb, Andrew and George Miedecke, Tim and John Blanchard, Malcolm Oastler, and event patron Spencer Martin.

Click here for the full program and entry list

For lovers of all things tin top, there will be a mix from the classic to the contemporary, covering Historic Group Ns, with over 70 cars split over a pair of fields, through to newer 5 Litre Tourers, which will participate in spirited super sprints.

Expect the Group N races to feature Paul Stubber, Aldo de Paoli, plus Brad and Jamie Tilley at the front of the pack.

The ever-popular Group C&A tourers will be thrown into the mix, covering the periods from 1972 to 1984, and 1985 through 1992, plus invited two-litre Super Tourers.

For open wheeler fans, the beastly Q&R Racing field is forever a highlight, which extends to a raft of imported F5000 machinery, plus classic F1 examples, Indycars, Formula Holdens and more.

The Q&R Sports class similarly covers booming Le Mans racers, Can Am rarities and more.

A highlight will be the multiple McLarens heading our way, as previously reported on these pages.

At the other end of the open-wheel scale, a mega field of Formula Fords will no doubt turn on a big show.

Also, expect a field of over 50 Group S historic production sports cars, with American iron going head-to-head with the best of European engineering.

Elsewhere, the program also includes the M&O Sports and Racing Cars, J, K and Lb Sports & Racing and Invited Formula Vee, plus an eclectic mix in the regularities.

Aside from the car club gatherings around the picturesque circuit, Saturday’s program includes the Shannons Phillip Island Parade for Charity, supporting LifeLine Gippsland.

The festivities kick off with 24 practice sessions on Thursday, followed by qualifying and the first round of four-lap races on Friday.

Friday evening will see a selection of machinery head to downtown Cowes for the Cowes Car Show, with the main street set to be overtaken by a selection of machinery, including a celebration of 50 years of the L34 Torana, with the 1976 Bathurst 1000 from the National Motor Racing Museum set to star.

Presented by Bowden’s Own, the show is slated to run from 4pm to 8pm.

Saturday, meanwhile, will see two full rounds of racing contested over 5 and 7 laps, respectively, with the big banging Q & R Sports having a lone 11-lap heat at around 1:20pm

The Sunday program will feature many of the key events, including the standalone Phillip Island Formula 5000 Historic GP, the Formula Ford Larry Perkins Cup and the Formula Ford International Challenge, plus more.

Tickets are available at the gate, with single day passes $30 for Friday, $40 for Saturday and $50 for Sunday, with discounts applicable for multi-day passes, while those aged 17 and under are admitted for free.