Hagerty's FESTIVAL of the UNEXCEPTIONAL

Taking place at Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, the seventh Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional celebrated the ordinary, maligned and unloved cars of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Basically, anything with base specs, unloved trim levels and no-frills - not even radios!

Initially I was pondering driving down in Deux Smurf, our 1996 Toyota Surf, but she has air conditioning and electric windows, too many frills and most definitely not mundane enough for this event. Instead, free fuel from that week’s press car won out, and on arrival I was ushered to a side car park - out of sight, out of mind!

There was a record number of visitors at this year’s show, and it wasn’t long before the manicured lawns on either side of Grimsthorpe Castle’s long drive began filling up with marvellously mundane motors. There were quite a few interesting ones, too.

What was notable was that amongst all the like-minded enthusiasts and owners was a large contingency of younger people, which was delightful to see.

After meeting up with Andy from the Yorkshire Times, we casually meandered through the myriad of classics. Shows like this aren’t just about the metal, and the amount of wax and time that’s been lavished on them, no, for Andy and me it was about the memories these old cars evoked. We both shared some of the funny times we experienced in our old cars, and I quickly learnt that my car history is significantly lacking compared to other motoring writers!

The main event was of course the Concours de l’Ordinaire, and judges, including Paul Cowland (from ‘Turbo Pickers’ TV programme), checked originality - dealer stickers and number plates, whilst owners shared their stories, and the odd lighthearted bribe!

In the end, the winner was a 1989 Proton 1.5 GL Black Knight owned by Jon Coupland from Boston in Lincolnshire. The Black Knight is one of just 201 examples, this being the only one remaining. The previous owner put the Black Knight into a garage in 1993, with just 3600 miles recorded, and it didn’t surface again 2017. Now showing just over 13,000 miles, it is the star of Coupland’s three car Proton collection.

Runner up was the 1991 Peugeot 106 XN that owner Danny Wilson bought for just £500 via Facebook Marketplace. Danny, from Driffield, brought the peppermint-coloured Peugeot back to life himself, and the judges noted that it was fitted with a carburettor and choke found only on the very earliest examples, marking it out as a true survivor of the scrap heap.

There were a couple of other winners, that included Feast of the Unexceptional (Best Picnic) awarded to Matthew Long who along in his 1986 Volvo 340 DL, and Mark Pallatt who was the winner of the best dressed, Paul arrived in his 1979 Ford Escort and dressed accordingly.

There were quite a number of cars that if given the choice I’d want to drive home. An Opal Monza, Citroen CX, Fiat Strada, Lancia Trevi and a few Volvos, but my favourite had to be the Toyota Tercel of which two fine examples rocked up.

Seriously though, having a festival that focusses on the boring and bland cars of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s sounds, well, a bit dull - but it isn’t, it was a brilliant day out and I for one can’t wait for next year’s Festival of the Unexceptional.