What makes an unexceptional car?
This year marks 11 years of the Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, the only event to celebrate basic when it comes to mundane motors. This unique festival continues to grow in popularity, with owners and visitors from all over the world, but what is an ‘Unexceptional’ car?
Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire has pristine heritage lawns and gardens, beautiful woodland and of course, a wonderful stately home that is steeped in history. It’s where you might expect to see a display of highly collectible classics. The Festival of the Unexceptional is about the cars you won’t find in glossy auction catalogues, it’s about the cars we can all relate to, because we owned them, or our parents owned them.
To the untrained eye these are the mass-produced cars of the motor industry that have long been left behind, but thanks to the Festival of the Unexceptional the unexceptional movement is growing, celebrating the ordinary automobiles of the 70s, 80s and 90s. Like any prestigious classic car show, it even has its own concours, where 50 much-loved models will be judged in front of the castle as part of the Concours de l’Ordinaire.
What makes cars like this the stars of the Festival of the Unexceptional is the fact they have been preserved despite their ordinariness. Their owners’ enthusiasm goes far beyond investment potential, 0-60 mph times or Instagram aura. Consider this – a quick Google search will likely find the part needed for a 60s Italian sportscar, but try the same exercise for a part for a Talbot Solara, now that’s not so easy. These cars are a labour of love, not built for profit or collectability and keeping them in concours condition is an exceptional feat in itself.
Then there’s the memories. Perhaps your parents had an Austin Maxi you remember well, or you lusted after the new Fiesta Popular of your neighbour. Maybe it was the Skoda Rapide Coupe that always caught your eye in the local showroom or the Yugo 45 you saw in one of the many motoring magazines of the era. Whatever the reason, the cars of the Festival of the Unexceptional all have a story to tell.
Words by Mark Slack
