The Silverstone Classic bills itself as "the world’s biggest classic racing festival." With more than 7,000 cars spanning the history of motorsports, we're not about to argue.

Anything and everything worth seeing or driving descended on Britain's storied Silverstone circuit on July 22 for a glorious weekend of racing. These cars aren't trailer queens. They're driven, and often driven hard. More than 1,000 competed in the weekend's racing as everything from Bugattis to McLarens lapped the famous track.

British photographer Rowan Horncastle filled a few SD cards with photos of what our good friends at Jalopnik called a "retrogasm." We've picked 12 of our favorites. You can see 225 photos from the Silverstone Classic 2011 on Horncastle's Flickr page.

Above: A Jaguar E-Type pokes its gorgeous nose out of the garage. Jag was especially well-represented at Silverstone, with more than 1,000 on hand to celebrate the E-Type's 50th anniversary.