From Unexceptional beginnings

Hagerty Insurance's annual Festival of the Unexceptional has already become one of my unmissable highlights of the car show season in its short existence, and I reported on the 2015 and 2016 events at the time. Its history goes back one more year though, as the very first Festival took place in 2014 before I started this blog, so here I'm going to look back at that inaugural 'Concours de l'Ordinaire'. Held at Whittlebury Park on Saturday 26th July 2014, the same weekend as the nearby Silverstone Classic, it appears to have originated from a realisation that there are so many shows for valuable and exotic classic cars but nothing for the bread-and-butter cars of yesterday that in many cases are actually now much rarer than the exotica.

A rare and exotic classic car. And a Porsche.

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...

An Unexceptional day? Far from it

Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional

Saturday 25th July saw the second running of the Festival of the Unexceptional at Whittlebury Park golf club, following the success of the inaugural event last year. You may not have heard of it but this was a highlight of the show season for me so I was delighted to hear it would be returning and was very much looking forward to attending. The organisers were very lucky to be blessed with fine weather: the rain poured down throughout Friday and Sunday, but Saturday fortunately stayed dry and bright apart from a bit of drizzle during the prize giving, which no doubt helped make the event such a success.

Unexceptional, eh? That doesn't sound very interesting

Quite the opposite actually. These cars may have been unexceptional in their day but have now become exceptional simply by surviving when so many of their contemporaries have bitten the dust. Organised by Hagerty Insurance, based in nearby Towcester, and dubbed a 'Concours de l'Ordinaire', this is a car show with a difference: the usual classic fodder such as MGBs, E-types and vintage sports cars are not welcome and instead it celebrates everyday family cars between thirty and fifty years old, although the age limit wasn't strictly enforced as both a 1950s Hillman Minx and a 1989 Volvo were accepted for display. These are the sort of cars that used to be common street furniture, could be seen everywhere and were taken for granted, but have now become rare thanks to attention being focused on preserving more exotic vehicles. This show was right up my street as I can't get nostalgic about the majority of traditional classics but things like Montegos, Cavaliers and Fiestas were the cars of my childhood.

I remember when most car parks looked like this. Yes that is an Isuzu Piazza in the foreground.