With Pebble Beach week getting under way, a recent British event provided the perfect antidote for those tired of the glitzy end of the classic car world.
The Hagerty-backed Festival of the Unexceptional took place at Whittlebury Park at the end of last month and set out to honour the less celebrated (or pricey) classics that the vast majority of enthusiasts own and run.
Many, unsurprisingly, came from British Leyland, including Metros, Marinas, Maxis and Allegros, sharing space with Ford, Rootes and a wealth of French, Italian and Czech cars.
Threatening to defy the event title was the ex-Princess Diana 1980 Austin Mini Metro, on loan from the Coventry Motor Museum for the day.
Period dress was encouraged as well as some good-natured bribery.
Best of all, in a bizarre twist on the usual situation, anyone who turned up in a classic deemed too fancy – such as the genuine 1973 Porsche Carrera RS 2.7 and Ford GT40 – was directed to the common or garden parking rather than the showfield.
The winner of the concours was Ed Rattley from Lincolnshire, who described his 1985 Silver Nissan Cherry Europe as "a curious piece of Japanese and Italian automotive history."
