An Unexceptional weekend

It's already been a month since the unique spectacle of Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional so it's about time I did a proper report on the event to supplement my top ten choices from the concours and classic parking. After three years at Whittlebury and two at Stowe, the FOTU moved to another nearby National Trust property this time: Claydon House, between Buckingham and Winslow. Tickets for the classic parking area quickly sold out and a high-quality selection of cars were entered for consideration in the Concours de l'Ordinaire, so once again it promised to be an amazing event and certainly delivered on that promise. Without further ado, here's my round up of the weekend's activities...

What other show would give prizes to cars like these?

FOTU 2019: Classic Parking Top Ten

Last time I looked at the cars in the Concours de l'Ordinaire, which may be the centrepiece of the Festival of the Unexceptional but the classic parking area is even more of a treasure trove and an incredible show in its own right. With several hundred cars here and things that would make you go 'wow' at any other show almost seeming unremarkable in this company it was even more difficult to choose only ten favourites, but here are my final selections...  

FOTU 2019: Concours Top Ten

Regular readers will know by now that the Festival of the Unexceptional is undoubtedly my favourite event of the year and there is nothing else that compares to its celebration of the mundane everyday transport of yesterday. A couple of weeks ago it returned for a sixth year at another new venue, still near Buckingham but now at Claydon House, and the 50-odd hand-picked cars in the Concours de l'Ordinaire maintained the usual high standards. New this year in addition was an Anniversary Class for vehicles celebrating significant milestones that was also included in the judging. After a lot of difficult deliberation I've finally managed to select my top ten cars from the judged classes... 

Festival of the Unexceptional: Concours Top Ten

As promised last time, here's the second of my top tens from the brilliant Festival of the Unexceptional. This one is a run down of my favourites in the Concours de l'Ordinaire and, new to celebrate the Festival's fifth birthday, the Invitational Class consisting of past winners, cars from manufacturers' heritage fleets and others specifically invited by Hagerty. As ever, the standard of entries was extremely high and they're all deserving winners so it proved very difficult to select only ten, but here after a lot of deliberation are my final choices...  

Festival of the Unexceptional: Classic Parking Top Ten

Saturday 14th July marked the fifth birthday of Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional, a celebration of mundane and ordinary motoring held for the second year running in the glamorous surroundings of Stowe House and Gardens. The Concours de l'Ordinaire and its hand-selected entrants may be the centrepiece of the event, but there were plenty more equally remarkable vehicles to be found quietly lurking in the classic car parking alongside. After much deliberation and hard decision making over what would make the final cut, here's a round up of my top ten favourites from that area. How many of these do you remember?