COMING UP
June offers an embarrassment of good events – here are a few of the best
26-28 May Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este
No other concours can boast a prettier location, and the cars that gather on the shore of Lake Como aren’t half bad, either. Classes will include Playboys’ Toys, for ‘wholly impractical’ road-legal racing cars. concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com
27-28 May Grand Prix de Pau Historique
Pau is not especially easy to get to, but visitors in late May will be rewarded with brilliantly varied racing on a fabulous street circuit. grandprixdepau.fr
27-28 May Masters Historic Festival
Masters’ flagship event always brings a first-class field to Brands Hatch, and this year’s Festival will also celebrate 50 years of the Cosworth DFV engine. mastershistoricracing.com
27-28 May La Vie en Bleu
… ‘incorporating La Vita Rossa’, so visitors can expect to enjoy the sights and sounds of both French and Italian treasures charging up the hill at Prescott. The new Bugatti Chiron is set to join the party. prescott-hillclimb.com
28 May – 10 June The Baltic Classic Rally
This two-week adventure will take crews through Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. It’s not all hard work, though: the hospitality promises to be as good as the scenery. endurorally.com
1-4 June Jersey International Motoring Festival
A great celebration of Jersey’s motoring heritage and the island’s famous post-war road race. endurorally.com
3 June Cultra Hillclimb
This year’s theme at the historic Irish event is ‘Fast & Furious Racing Fords’, celebrating in particular 50 years of Formula Ford and 60 years of local manufacturer Crosslé. tsccni.info
3-4 June Coventry Motofest
Ever-growing, enthusiastically supported, and featuring all manner of machinery – and, best of all, free to attend. coventrymotofest.com
3-4 June Greenwich Concours d’Elegance
As usual, the Connecticut concours will feature separate days for USbuilt and international cars, as well as a Bonhams auction. greenwichconcours.com
6-11 June Modena Cento Ore Classic
Rimini to Modena via three of Italy’s best race tracks: Misano, Magione and Mugello. Several closed-road hillclimbs are thrown in for good measure. modenacentooreclassic.it
9 June Three Castles Trophy
Open to classics built as early as 1921 and as late as 1985, this new event starts and finishes in Llandudno, like the familiar Three Castles Trial with a dozen driving tests (and a very fine lunch) in between. three-castles.co.uk
9-11 June Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or
Everything from pre-’61 singleseaters to Group C monsters at the fast and flowing Circuit DijonPrenois in the French countryside. peterauto.peter.fr
9-11 June The Elegance at Hershey
One of Pennsylvania’s best classic car events returns, again raising money for several worthy causes. The ‘Grand Ascent’ hillclimb, run in association with the VSCCA, is a particular highlight. theeleganceathershey.com
10-11 June The Race of Gentlemen
The beach at Wildwood in New Jersey is churned up by the wheels of all-American classic hot rods and motorcycles. theraceofgentlemen.com
10-11 June Dunsfold Collection Land Rover Show
A biennial event that we’d happily see take place every year, featuring rare and prototype Land Rovers from the Dunsfold Collection. dunsfoldcollection.co.uk
11-17 June Paris–Prague Rally
A 1333-mile route takes crews from the French capital through Nancy, St Gallen, Kitzbuhel, Linz and Brno on the way to Prague. rallyround.co.uk
16-18 June Vernasca Silver Flag
Always among the most keenly anticipated historic hillclimbs on the calendar, with 200 handpicked, top-notch cars. vernascasilverflag.it
17-18 June 24 Hours of Le Mans
All these years later, Le Mans still represents the ultimate test for endurance racers, and still ranks among the most impressive spectacles in all of motor sport. lemans.org
18 June Vintage Motor Cycle Club Banbury Run
Five hundred pre-1931 motorcycles set out from the British Motor Museum in Gaydon for their annual jaunt around the local lanes. banbury-run.co.uk
21-25 June Passione Caracciola
The regularity rally dedicated to German racing giant Rudolf Caracciola runs from Milan to Lugano via Monza, St Moritz and Arosa on some breathtaking mountain roads. passione-caracciola.com
22-25 June La Leggenda di Bassano
A field to rival that of the Mille Miglia, but with a programme that allows crews to enjoy their enviable surroundings as well as their cars. The 600km route is driven in very manageable chunks, without time pressure, and the hospitality is first-rate throughout. laleggendadibassano.com
24-25 June VHRA Pendine Sands Races
The Vintage Hot Rod Assoctiation heads to that storied strip of sand in Wales to race for as long as the tides will allow. vhra.co.uk
24-25 June Flywheel Festival
Offering lots to see on the ground and in the air, Flywheel returns to Bicester Heritage with displays of classic cars and bikes, flypasts from historic aircraft, plus music and vintage rides. flywheelfestival.com
29 June – 2 July Goodwood Festival of Speed
There is no shortage of events this year paying tribute to Ferrari, but the daddy of motoring festivals will inevitably do a more spectacular job than most. grrc.goodwood.com
30 June – 2 July Schloss Bensberg Supersports Classics
As the name suggests, this year’s event at the impressive Schloss Bensberg is for (road-legal) sports cars only, and is open to cars built between 1945 and 1997. schlossbensbergsupersportsclassics.com
1-2 July The Ellis Journey
The De Dion Bouton Club has organised a re-enactment of the first journey made by motor car in the UK. A train of pre-1905 machines will retrace the 43-mile route from Micheldever Station to Datchet. dedionboutonclub.co.uk