When a helicopter came into land in a field adjacent to the Warren Classic concours fields on Saturday, most people looked to the skies sagely and noted that the star guest, F1 driver Max Chilton, must have arrived.
How wrong they were. Chilton had already been on-site for hours having unassumingly driven to the event with girlfriend Chloe Roberts in his dad's Old English White MGB, which was entered in the concours.
According to Chilton it lacked it a little power up hills compared to his usual steeds, but he was rather taken with the overdrive and thought it should be fitted to all cars.
In fact, as attention focused on the helicopter touching down, the modest motoring celebrity (on left) was actually anonymously helping to push a stranger's struggling-for-traction Merc on to the concours field.
For the record, he later fell in love with a class-winning XK120 and wandered around enjoying the day without the mobs of autograph hunting F1 drones that blight so many other festivals.
It all brought into perspective the fact that the most crucial element of any event is atmosphere. And the atmosphere is usually best in the early years before they become so successful that mammon and necessity threaten to gobble up the passion that spawned them.
The Warren Classic epitomised this. Even putting aside the achievements of establishing the concours in so little time and persuading 120-odd owners to bring their cars for display at a completely unknown quantity, the public clearly warmed to the picturesque venue and the event.
