Hagerty’s 11th Festival of the Unexceptional (FOTU) attracted thousands of guests and cars from around the world to Grimsthorpe Castle in the UK.
Not only was the concours filled with automotive rarities, but the show parking area was also crammed with amazing cars that were once commonplace and now seldom seen.
Among the Maxis, Novas and Allegros could be found Trabants, Ladas and Datsuns — cars others choose not to save.
Take the Ford Granada, many of which are still around, but only at this unique event could you find a showroom condition, base model Granada Mk1 2.0 L with a manual gearbox.
What about the Talbot Solara? One young owner has three of them, all immaculate and all in the same trim and engine specification.
Hagerty created the first Festival of the Unexceptional in 2014 as a celebration of long-forgotten everyday family cars, particularly those in base trim.
For most it is a labour of love, with many owners telling stories of the thousands of hours and pounds they have spent on their beloved vehicles, often way more than the cars are worth.
The very best cars were presented in the Concours de L’Ordinaire on the lawn in front of Grimsthorpe Castle, cars chosen to represent the finest mundane motors.
This year, these special cars were judged by experts Steve Cropley, Andrew Frankel, Richard Bremner, Jesse Billington, Sarah Crabtree, Gary Axon, and Jon Bentley.
Third place was awarded to a bright yellow 1979 Citroen Visa Club.
One of only three still surviving, the immaculate Citroen and owner Andy Smith attracted attention throughout the show.
A 1999 Ford Mondeo took second place. Owned by Callum Bailey, he spotted the red base model Ford being transported on a truck and about to be made into a banger racer.
He bought it on the spot and £6000 later it caught the eye of judges and became a FOTU star.
But it was Simon Packowski’s showroom standard 1992 Skoda Favorit Forum that united judges — a car so basic it doesn’t have a radio.
Simon, 22, rescued the car, which was about to be scrapped because of a blown head gasket, and brought it back to its former glory, once driving 1000 miles to buy a set of original headrests.
So special was this Skoda, it also won the People’s Choice Award, voted by guests of the show.
The judges also gave special mentions to Lucas Split for his Talbot Solara, not least for his 1000-mile road trip to get to the 2025 Festival of the Unexceptional.
Glyn Hayler was commended for his Fiat Multipla, Paul Frost for his Bedford Rascal, Matthew Coleman for his Rover 214si and Jason Crawley for his immaculate Citroen Berlingo van.
A host of special guest cars appeared at the event too, including a selection of British Leyland prototypes, kindly supplied by the British Motor Museum.
A 1969 Mini 9X hatchback prototype was joined by a model that was definitely ahead of its time, the British Leyland ECV3 from 1981 and there was a 1975 Triumph SD2 prototype.
They all provided a glimpse of the FOTU stars we might have seen had they made production.
The British Motor Museum team also presented their own award for their choice of car of the show.
Stephen Tearle took that trophy for his beautiful, family owned from new, Micra 1.0 Celebration.
Away from the cars, motoring podcast duo Smith and Sniff kept crowds entertained on the main stage with live game shows and podcast recordings.
Jonny Smith and Richard Porter, true fans of unexceptional cars, brought crowd interaction and fun to FOTU with their automotive ramblings and infectious conversation.
From left: Callum Bailey with his 1999 Ford Mondeo, Simon Packowski with his showroom standard 1992 Skoda Favorit Forum and Andy Smith and his 1979 Citroen Visa Club.
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