An even more Unexceptional day

Today saw the return to Whittlebury Park of Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional, which I first blogged about last year. Now in its third year, it is an event that just keeps getting better and I can honestly say this was probably the best car show I have ever been to in terms of the type and variety of exhibits (and it's completely free of charge too). This year the date had been moved to avoid clashing with the nearby Silverstone Classic, having established itself as being strong enough to stand alone, and this seemed to do wonders for visitor numbers, as of course did the fine weather.

Allegro points the way to the field of wonders...

I had thought last year's event was well-supported, but that was nothing compared with this time and simply huge numbers of unexceptional cars turned up to vastly outnumber the moderns in the car park. I got there shortly after the show opened and thanks to a near-constant stream of arrivals, over two hours later I was still looking around the car park and hadn't even got to the main show arena! The encouragement for visitors to bring their own unexceptional transport was certainly heeded, and the car park here looked better than many show fields. There were some real rarities, including a Mitsubishi Starion, an early Datsun Bluebird, a Lancia Dedra, a Yugo van and many many more. The latter was for sale, having covered a mere 15,000 miles, as were a Metro and a Humber Sceptre, and all were very tempting but I managed to resist.

I didn't even know Yugo had made vans. This one could be yours for the right offer.

The holy grey grille was in attendance, now looking slightly less scruffy as the wheelarch has been painted and sporting a set of roof bars of the same style as those fitted by previous owner Leroy, and it attracted a great deal of interest. It was in the car park, although I did suggest it should have been entered as it is the best condition grey-grilled Sierra in existence (and simultaneously also the worst). Several members of Autoshite had turned out, including Chris (host of Shitefest) in one of his Citroen Visas that I hadn't seen before, and I was able to put a few more faces to forum usernames.

Unexceptional Saabs on parade.

The Saab Owners' Club had obviously organised a day trip to the Festival as a large convoy ranging from a 99 to the last 'Dame Edna' 9-5s arrived and parked up together. Swedish cars were well represented as there were numerous old Volvos in the car park too, along with a very bright orange 144 in the show itself. There was even much of interest among the newer cars dating from the 1990s and 2000s, which will hopefully become the next generation of entrants and in a decade or two they will themselves be eligible for the concours. One that caught my eye was a Fiat Sedici, less than ten years old but already forgotten and surely destined for classic status.

Could this be the star of the 2036 Festival of the Unexceptional?

Eventually moving on to the 'Concours de l'Ordinaire' itself, entry numbers were up this year with 45 vehicles presented for judging, and quality was very high so the judges must have had a hard time choosing their winners. A few were repeat entries from previous years but there were many newcomers, including four Talbots, a marque not previously represented. One in particular was a real nostalgia trip for me as the first of my dad's cars I remember from my childhood was a gold Talbot Alpine Rapier, and there was a Solara (the saloon version) here in exactly the same colour and spec. Even that was upstaged by the Matra Rancho, a 'soft-roader' that was way ahead of its time - I had never seen one of these before and wasn't even convinced any still existed.

An actual real-life Matra Rancho! It made me all hot and bothered...

 

One entrant single-handedly brought three unexceptional vehicles and did it in style: an old Leyland-DAF beavertail with a Mini estate on the back and a beige Allegro towed on an A-frame behind. British Leyland cars were naturally present in healthy numbers, this being a place where they are celebrated rather than derided, but there was a surprising absence of any Montegos this year. At one point, I found myself chatting about Morris Marinas with Jon Bentley of Gadget Show fame, who seems a very nice down-to-earth chap with a genuine interest in cars like these, this being the second time he has attended.

This chap is living the dream with this combo.

British cars may have been in the majority but the Europeans weren't forgotten. The French were represented by two Citroens (GS and Dyane) and a Renault 5, the Italians by the Fiat 127, Panda and Uno, and even the small Dutch motor industry made an appearance in the form of a DAF Marathon coupe. An Opel Ascona made a fascinating comparison with its UK-built equivalent, the Vauxhall Cavalier, while a Mazda 626 was the sole Japanese entry (although an Isuzu Piazza had been entered but failed to attend). One of the oldest entries that attracted a lot of attention wasn't actually a car at all (or even a car-derived commercial), but a lovely and beautifully-finished Austin J2 Paralanian motorhome.

Forget Volkswagen campers. This is a proper motorhome.

Without exception, the owners are all clearly very proud of their vehicles and happy to talk about them, and the stories behind them just add to the interest as these aren't trailer queens that only come out for shows, but get regular use. It was pleasing to see so many enthusiasts of the younger generation: children of the eighties and nineties are now old enough to own hobby cars and those that are nostalgic for them are exactly the sort of cars that fit right in at the Festival. As with last year, dressing up in period costume was encouraged, the owner of the orange Volvo taking it to the extreme with a matching orange suit, but a new feature was the 'Feast of the Unexceptional', inspiring people to bring their lunch in picnic form and eat it off tartan rugs like the good old days!

That's very orange and so was its owner!

The second prize winner was a Volkswagen Golf, which may not seem that unexceptional as Golfs are fairly common at mainstream shows, but those are usually either sought-after GTIs or customised with chopped springs, rat look and the like. Although it had been extensively restored this one is a basic 'L' model in absolutely bog-standard condition as it would have left the factory and is thus a rarity. A well-deserved first place went to the Morris Marina pickup that isn't even a show car: bought new by the current owner's uncle, it had spent its whole life working on a farm in the Fens until a friend persuaded him to enter it, and this was the longest journey it had ever made. Both were utterly gobsmacked to receive top honours, but the prizewinning vehicle will be back at work on the farm on Monday!

Jon Bentley admires the eventual prizewinner. Not bad for a farm hack!

All too soon, the Festival came to an end and the unexceptional cars quickly started to leave. I consider myself extremely fortunate to live so close to the venue for such a fantastic event, and the sheer volume and quality of the exhibits was quite honestly overwhelming. Any one of these would be a welcome sight at a mainstream show so to see so many all together was an amazing spectacle that I would happily have paid good money for, yet thanks to the generosity of Hagerty Insurance it was completely free of charge for exhibitors and visitors alike. The Festival of the Unexceptional really seems to have come of age and I'm already looking forward to next year's event.

Memories are made of...this? My dad had one like it and I guess that's the point - these are the everyday cars people actually owned rather than those they dreamed about.

Prize winners

1st: Jonathan Papworth, Morris Marina pickup
2nd: David Wilson, Volkswagen Golf
People's Choice: James Cook, Hillman Minx estate
Best Picnic: Marc Wilmot, Austin J2 Paralanian
Best Dressed: Tony Hudson, Volvo 144
Honorable Mentions: Jamie Field, Austin Metro Vanden Plas; Dennis Haynes, Mini Clubman; Gavin Bushby, Talbot Solara