Project Petrolhead

Here’s a weird fact for you, I have seen more McLaren F1s in the metal than Vauxhall Senators. The reason for that is simple; F1s are now worth at least £10 Million and therefore must be preserved at all costs, whereas Vauxhall’s flagship 90s saloon is a fairly unexceptional car, so nobody ever bothered to keep an immaculate example tucked away. If only there was some kind of… festival where these cars could be celebrated. On an unrelated note, foreshadowing is a very useful literary device.

Step forward Hagerty’s “Festival of The Unexceptional” who, for the last 10 years have taken over the grounds of a beautiful stately home (this year was the return of Grimsthorpe Castle) to showcase hundreds of examples of normal family cars from 1966-1996 with the same level of loving care and fastidious attention to detail as any other concours event. This was my first year of attending the show and I can safely say it will certainly be going into rotation as a “must attend”.

The word “Festival” does conjure up certain images. Middle-class twenty-somethings stood in a muddy field telling each other about how they liked a band before it was cool whilst spending approximately £200 on a pint and a portion of chips. Not so with FOTU, entry cost under £40 and tickets are assigned per car, not per person, so you could load up with four of your friends and it wouldn’t cost you any extra. Food is similarly reasonable. Naturally, the vendors were operating at a mark-up but there was nothing too silly. Unsurprisingly then, the whole event was absolutely packed.

The best part about the show for me is the passion that people show for these cars. It is heartwarming to see a Rover 100 Kensington (in exactly the same colour as the one my Mum had when I was younger) treated with the same reverence and respect as a 6-figure Ferrari or Lamborghini. The entire show accurately reflects the fact that the cars we grew up with turned us into the people we are today. Yes, you may have had a supercar poster on your bedroom wall (Jaguar XJ220 for me), but unless your dad was Alan Sugar, you probably spent your formative years either behind the wheel, under the bonnet or in the passenger seat of much less exotic machines. These are the cars that you love deeply but you couldn’t really explain why. These are the cars that inspired us to love driving.

Needless to say, if I can, I’ll be back next year (feel free to stop me and say hello!) It feels as though this is the show I’ve been looking for my entire adult life so far, I mean, where else are you going to see FIVE Proton Sagas in the same place?