Back in late July we made our annual visit to the Festival of the Unexceptional at Grimshtorpe Castle, in Lincolnshire. This unusual classic car show features the more mundane side of automotive history, showing off the ordinary cars we grew up with rather than expensive exotica.
The concours is open to cars of a particular vintage - this year only vehicles from 1969 to 1999 were eligible. However, my Dad’s 2002 Citroen Xsara is getting close to being eligible (the dates shift forward each year) and we’re hoping to enter it in a few years time. For this year we contented ourselves with taking it along to be part of the ‘classic and unexceptional’ parking area. There was a time when Xsaras were a common sight on British roads, but today they’re a rarity - so much so that it was the only one on display that day!
Another attraction of this year’s FOTU was a live recording of the Smith and Sniff podcast, with Jonny Smith and Richard Porter. We’re both enthusiastic listeners to the podcast, and I was lucky enough to catch the two of them for a photo, standing by the Vauxhall Eagle Quest limousine they’ve recently bought together.
Podcasting in progress…
We spent most of the day wandering among the cars, marvelling at wonderfully restored examples of mundane cars we knew in our youth and I simply snapped whatever caught my eye - as usual a fairly eclectic mix of subjects.
A trio of steering wheels…
Car noses and tails.
A sunny Hillman Avenger
Photos taken 27 July 2024
