Expect the Unexceptional

Last year was the 10th Anniversary of the UK’s Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional celebrating long-forgotten everyday family cars.  With each year, the event has become bigger as its reputation has spread around the world, attracting many entries from overseas.  2024 saw a record attendance with over 2000 cars and more than 4000 visitors, with cars lining the grounds at Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire for as far as the eye could see.  The public display had an eclectic mix ranging from a perfectly unexceptional Vauxhall Belmont to a base-spec, hubcap-shod W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and everything in-between.  A completely unrestored 1982 Toyota Hilux won the Concours de L’Ordinare in 2024 to be crowned the Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional Champion.

Hagerty sends us news that, for 2025 entries have been expanded and are now open to cars from 1970 to 2000, opening up a world of unexceptional 90s models, including the Fiat Multipla, Peugeot 406, Chrysler PT Cruiser and even early versions of the Audi A2, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.  Behind this light-hearted event is the serious purpose of helping to keep these more ordinary cars road that would otherwise be scrapped and lost forever.  It all happens on 26 July with a full day of events, displays and entertainment.  See www.hagerty.co.uk for details.