Festival of the Unexceptional: ordinary old cars

I really liked this article, and I think it's a great idea.

Classic cars: celebrating the unexceptional - Telegraph

Most drivers have a pretty clear idea of what constitutes a classic car. Something with style, speed, groundbreaking engineering, quite possibly an exotic badge or racing pedigree. Something that stands out, even when surrounded by other mouthwatering cars on the lawn at Goodwood House during the annual Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’élégance during the Festival of Speed.

But what about all those older cars that haven’t been caught up in the classic car boom, particularly those produced by volume manufacturers during the 1970s and ’80s?

A new event next month aims to highlight the mainstream products that are an all too rare sight on our roads. While high-performance derivatives of cars have always had enduring appeal, the more prosaic “cooking” versions on which they were based are often in short supply – or have even become extinct. We still revere the 176mph Vauxhall Lotus Carlton from 1989, for instance, but when was the last time you saw a regular Carlton saloon?

Billed as “a celebration of the best cars from an unexceptional era”, a new event called the Festival of the Unexceptional takes place on July 26. According to the organiser, the classic car insurer Hagerty, it will be the country’s first ever concours de l’ordinaire, a unique car show concept in the UK that showcases the best examples of some of the most mundane cars ever built. ​

A concours de l'ordinaire sounds like an excellent thing. I've had several cars that would qualify. In fact, I even had the car at the top of the article, although mine was the Daewoo-branded version rather than the Vauxhall-branded one.



I have fond memories of cars my parents had that would never make it on to a classic car show, so something like this would really be fun.

I do get a bit of a frisson when I see an old car that isn't something special (an E-type or an old Ferrari or something), because there are so few still around - I think Australian cars are sent to New Zealand to live out their final years. I saw a Renault 30 the other day in Canberra: I hadn't seen one in more than 20 years, and it was nice to see it, even though it is a terribly ordinary car.



Which cars don't you see any more that you'd love to see on the street or at a concours de l'ordinaire?

 

Oooh, lovely.



I always thought they looked kind of angry.

My German teacher had either an STI or a GTI: he drove us to Manchester to watch a Brecht play once (there were only three people in class - it wasn't like he squeezed a class of 30 in there). It was incredibly comfortable.

 

Unless it was being driven by an old person in a hat. They keep their Belmonts clean.

I see something that's kind of a Maestro and kind of a Montego whenever I go to China. I think China National Tobacco Company was responsible for them, bizarrely. They bought all the equipment to make the Maestro, but decided they didn't like the nose, so they put a Montego nose on it.

Here you go.

Maestro


Montego:


Chinese abomination Frankenmontestro (CAC6430)

[/QUOTE]

 

Peugeot diesels were great: my brother-in-law's just got rid of his diesel 306 after about 300,000 miles. He doesn't like his new Hyundai anything like as much.

And the 205 was just a clever, well-thought-out car. It's a shame Peugeot has lost all sense of direction.

 

I think my sister's 207 put me off. It always looked nice on the back of an AA truck (a breakdown truck for our American friends).

But I do like those PSA diesel hybrids. I think they're an excellent idea.

 

It was indeed a petrol. It was a terrible car. Although nothing will come close in rubbishness to Dad's Citroen BX. Apart from maybe Dad's Marina (the roof rusted through and fell off after six weeks).

 

Did the Americans see the original British version of Life on Mars? That was a fantastic source of ordinary cars, from Gene's Cortina to the Police Allegros.





Being in charge of sourcing the cars for that programme would have been a fantastic job.

 

It was the rare and coveted GXL luxury sports version. It was available in Britain, but it was only for the privileged few. I don't think you or I would have seen any, as the privileged few all lived in the South back then.

That's a nice Cortina. But given my history, I'm more excited by the two Rover P4s behind it.

We certainly got Heartbeat here. I'd have thought it would have appealed to a certain sector of the US market; I don't know whether they got it.

We had all-aggro police cars in Lytham.

That Escort was my Mum's first car.

I remember when I was about 6, and there was a huge snowfall in January. We went to see Herbie Goes Bananas (or maybe another Herbie film) in the cinema. Afterwards, the car park was empty, and covered in snow, and Dad did doughnuts in Mum's Escort (his car was FWD; hers was RWD, so that was why he chose hers for this).

And that Hillman Imp..... Same engine and drive layout as a 911. And ... umm..... Can you imagine the humiliation of being a policeman chasing baddies in one of those?

Weirdly, there are three of these within a mile of my house. There are very few other old cars, but these are very popular. I have no idea why.