Silverstone Classic- is it worth it?

[200Plus Club]

a couple of yrs ago i went to the classic and had a great weekend. lovely cars, nice weather, great racing. food was pricey but good, crowds/parking well managed. wasnt too fussed about the evening concert , spent an hr there and went back to hotel.

got the urge today to go again and was gobsmacked to find that 2 adult gate tickets for sat and sunday in advance came to £176. ouch. that is a BASIC entry pass, no special stand passes/no food/drink included.

motorhome parking was an additional £40 per person for a non hook up pitch, which we declined.

the event programme is £6 advance or 8 quid on the day. if we pay on the gate its £190 for us for the 2 days.

i think this yr will probably be our last at this one.

what do others think, how much is too much for what is admittedly a good event, but where do you draw the line? i've had a box/food/drink before at other good events for the same money as this.

oh, and adam ant is apparently on stage one night.......... :-(

[SilverWraith]

My wife used to arrange for our car club to attend there for many years but stopped a couple of years ago because:

1. to get the club discount you had to batch up purchases to get the free tickets
2. they would charge us a booking fee each time we bought tickets even though it was for a club
3. they now charge clubs for a place to attend (a few hundred quid, I believe, which wipes out any discount we did get)

Basically, it just got too hard to deal with them and the prices just kept rising. It is such a shame because we loved the event. It is a great time but not at any cost.

[200Plus Club]

yes it looks likeits now "make money at any cost". i paid £2 or 3 quid per ticket booking fee despite paying once with one card. then £2 odd for postage, i could have also paid £5 per ticket for recorded type delivery (!)

i know we'll get stung for any hot food, so we'll be taking some of our own drinks and grub, but either way its over £200 for us for 2 days at a clasic car racing event with no cover if it rains, and still having to pay for petrol/accomm.

i think they need to take a look at what its costing them, and cut their cloth accordingly, in these times, or i can see it nose diving. may be wrong, will see how busy it is and how good it is and report back!

[Riley Blue]

According to a press release I received, "..tickets cost from as little as £35 (plus booking fee)."
That's for Friday. Saturday and Sunday are £45. On the day it's even higher, Friday £50 with Saturday and Sunday £60 each.

Is it worth it? No.

[OllieC]

Easily worth it IMHO as a straight spectator (cant comment on car club entry etc)

I cant see why anyone would pay on the day though, as the prices are steep (by comparison to getting them in advance)

Compared to other forms of entertainment its a bargain :

Match day ticket to a 2nd tier football match, that will be £25 - 35, god knows what it is to watch prem football.
1 adult to get into Alton Towers £45

I'm sure there are many more examples.

[Riley Blue]

I could get into some circuits three times for the cost of a day's entry to the Silverstone Classic.

[jpa]

Silverstone is too expensive, especially compared to events on the continent. The first time I went it was £35 for the weekend. In the following years it seemed to double or more and I have now not been for a couple of years.

I know they have added bands etc but I cant say I would miss them or am interested.

I would not mind, (unless it has changed since) if it were not for clubs and individuals bringing their own cars to display there would not be much left to look at off track as there are only ever a few traders and not much in the way of organised displays.

[OllieC]

Riley Blue said:

I could get into some circuits three times for the cost of a day's entry to the Silverstone Classic.

Would these meetings have a comparable number and diversity of races / cars entered ?

Goodwood is more expensive, do people feel that is poor value ? I haven't been yet so I can't compare the two.

I would love to still be payign £40 for the weekend or whatever it was a few years back but realistically I that would be silly cheap these days.

[Lotus 50]

Find someone in a car club to get one for you? If you book early you get two weekend tickets for the price of which worked out at £40 per ticket...

[200Plus Club]

i think they are trying to pitch it at the same level as goodwood and set it apart from the run of the mill events. however we had a cracking day earlier this season at donnington for about 12-15 quid per day. no dance bands or 80s has beens admittedly.
i shall be properly peed off if its not as good as last time tbh, i dont mind paying for a good day out but i just think they have taken the pricing a bit far. they want £500 for a tent (pitched for you) for 2 people for the weekend, £40 extra for a hook up for those camping, and as mentioned its £45 per person on the gate on the day.

[huwp]

It's these sorts of prices which have driven me to look harder at what's on. We are now regulars at Prescott for La Vie n Bleu and their VSCC weekend. Each a top day out for little money.

[Elderly]

Blame the high entrance prices on the owners of Silverstone and what they charge
the event's organisers for the license.

This event has AFAIK never made a profit for any of the organisers;
Christie's, Coys and then the conglomerate of people who had been running it
prior to last year - nobody has made a financial success from the event.
The new events company who started running it last year made a loss too.

[Riley Blue]

OllieC said:

Riley Blue said:

I could get into some circuits three times for the cost of a day's entry to the Silverstone Classic.

Would these meetings have a comparable number and diversity of races / cars entered ?

Goodwood is more expensive, do people feel that is poor value ? I haven't been yet so I can't compare the two.

I would love to still be payign £40 for the weekend or whatever it was a few years back but realistically I that would be silly cheap these days.

With Cadwell, Mallory, Oulton and Donington all within 70 miles and ticket prices considerably less, the answer to your first question would have to be yes.

I haven't been to Goodwood either as it's much further so difficult to justify additional travelling costs + accomodation + ticket but will probably go once one of my Rileys is restored, it's one of those events you have to do if you own a classic car, the Silverstone Classic isn't.

I also find Silverstone characterless compared with other circuits and not good to spectate at so that's another disincentive.

[EddyP]

I went to the Autosport show this year and the best bit of the show for me was seeing a small poster by the Silverstone Classic stand that said if you took out a 6 month subscription to Classic and Sports car, you got a free pair of tickets for a day of your choice to the Classic!!

So £25 later, i've had 6 months of classic and sports car mag, and have a pair of tickets for Sunday at the classic

So it's not always expensive!

[200Plus Club]

EddyP said:

I went to the Autosport show this year and the best bit of the show for me was seeing a small poster by the Silverstone Classic stand that said if you took out a 6 month subscription to Classic and Sports car, you got a free pair of tickets for a day of your choice to the Classic!!

So £25 later, i've had 6 months of classic and sports car mag, and have a pair of tickets for Sunday at the classic

So it's not always expensive!

that was a bargain!

[belleair302]

It is a very well run event, with open garages and paddocks, free seating and loads of stuff to see. Great value of you had booked up sometime in April but like anything else, last minute purchases are very expensive. A vast selection of cars, some classic on track action and possibly the best classic car event in the UK.

[iSore]

The Oldtimer GP at the 'Ring is rather better value - once you've got there of course. A fantastic drive there and the place is buzzing -however, the new complex they've builty across the road has spoiled it.

Silverstone is such a dreary place. I wouldn't pay a tenner to be honest.

[neutral 3]

I've allways fancied going the the Ring for the Oldtimer .

[vixen1700]

Went when Coys ran it, it was expensive but a fantastic day out with some of the greatest cars on show that I'd ever seen.

This was quite a few years ago and not been since. I now get Goodwood Revival tickets through work, and that does me these days.

[iSore]

neutral 3 said:

I've allways fancied going the the Ring for the Oldtimer .

It's next month!

I've not been for 5-6 years now but it was always very good. It's a pity they built that awful new complex because before, there were lovely big grassy parks where various marques would assemble. The BMW section was immense. It's also worth looking in the main car parks along the 258 (main road running past) because you can easily spend a day looking at what's parked in there. The exotica within the main 'Ring area is great of course (never seen so many Gullwings parked in one place), but you see stuff over there you never see in the UK such as sixties Opels and Fords etc.
You probably won't get any B&B's at this late stage (but don't let me stop you trying!) but book early for next year and do it. It's a great event without the slightly pretentious wkery of Goodwood.