COMING UP…
From a depressing year of starvation rations to a feast of motoring festivals, things are properly looking up for 2021
25-27 June
London Classic Car Show In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the show will now be held outdoors at Syon Park, where exhibits will include tributes to the Jaguar E-type and the Bugatti Brescia. theclassiccarshowuk.com 26 June
Aston Martin Heritage Festival This event at Dallas Burston Polo Club in Warwickshire is set to be the largest ever gathering of Aston Martins. In attendance will be A3, the oldest surviving Aston, which has been fettled into fine shape just in time for its 100th birthday. amht.org.uk 27 June
The GT Memorial Tour Pre-1996 classics canter along the country roads of Hampshire and Wiltshire in memory of keen rallyist Graham Thornton, and in aid of Mesothelioma UK. bognor-regis-mc.co.uk 2-4 July
Poltu Quatu Classic Concorso d’Eleganza
A parade and concours on Sardinia’s chic Costa Smeralda, featuring everything from classic racers to coachbuilt beach cars. poltuquatu.between.be
2-4 July
Old but Gold
This event, timed to coincide with Motor Valley Fest (1-4 July, in and around Modena), is for post-1979 cars. Entrants will drive the Motor Valley’s best roads and cut loose at the Autodromo di Modena and the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti. gold.canossa.com
3-4 July
Historic Racing by Peter Auto
The postponement of the Le Mans Classic was inevitable, but this smaller event on the Circuit Bugatti will help ease the pain of those who had planned to race at the Classic in July. peterauto.fr 4 July
The Vintage Meeting
Pre-war beasts blast up the 1000-yard course at Shelsley Walsh, some of them almost as old as the hillclimb itself, which has now been active for 116 years. shelsleywalsh.com
4 July
Stonor Supercar Sunday
The genteel grounds of Stonor Park in the Chiltern Hills will be filled with high-performance machines new and old – 400 in total, including a number of beautiful Alfa Romeo 8Cs gathered together to mark the model’s 90th birthday. stonorsupercarsunday.co.uk
4-9 July
Classic Marathon
This 2000km rally begins and ends in Las Caldas, Spain, but runs across northern Portugal as well as northwest Spain, and includes a diversion to Museu do Caramulo. heroevents.eu 8-11 July
Goodwood Festival of Speed Keep your eyes and ears open this year for the McLarens that carried Ayrton Senna to three F1 titles: his MP4/4, MP4/5 and MP4/6 will all be in action on the hill, with current McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris at the controls in place of the great man. goodwood.com 9-11 July Dragstalgia
Santa Pod’s annual weekend of nostalgia will again serve up the sights (astonishing), sounds (bone-rattling) and smells (potent) of drag racing in years gone by. santapod.co.uk 10 July
Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm
This concours in South Bend, Indiana, is organised by the Studebaker National Museum, but you wouldn’t know it: there are dedicated classes this year for Cadillac and Buick, and other American marques abound in classes such as ‘Fabulous Fins’. concoursatcopshaholm.org
10 July VSCC Oulton Park Race Meeting
Members of the VSCC tackle the historic, picturesque and undulating Cheshire circuit, and there will be time for a concours and an AutoSolo, too. vscc.co.uk 10-11 July
VHRA Pendine Sands
Hot Rod Races
The Vintage Hot Rod Association heads to that famous strip of sand in Wales to race for as long as the tide will allow. vhra.co.uk
13-14 July E-type Celebration
Bowcliffe Hall in West Yorkshire hosts a 60th birthday party for the Jaguar E-type, beginning with a driving tour and a dinner and culminating with a 60-car concours. The concours is open to 300 guests only, so don’t hang about if you want to buy a ticket. thefastlaneclub.com
16-18 July
Auto Royale
Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire is the venue for this new concours. Among the special classes for 2021 is one for Scaglietti-bodied beauties, and another for cars of the Maharajas. autoroyale.org
16-18 July Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance
Ford and BMW are featured marques, but the 200 cars at Crystal Springs Golf Course, just outside San Francisco, will include everything from pre-war Rolls-Royces to youngtimers. hillsboroughconcours.org
16-18 July Misselwood Concours d’Elegance
British classics, Woodies, microcars and more on Boston’s North Shore, and specifically at Endicott College, which uses the proceeds from ticket sales to help fund scholarships.
16-18 July
Oldtimer Meeting Baden-Baden
The German spa town of Baden-Baden gets even prettier with the arrival of 350 classics from all over Europe. oldtimer-meeting.de
17-18 July
Classic Nostalgia
Group A, Group B, WRC, Formula 5000 cars and more run the hill at Shelsley Walsh. There will be a pre-1990 concours, too. shelsleywalsh.com
19-22 July
West Highland Cloverleaf
Open to a small number of crews (part of the attraction of Rally the Globe’s Cloverleaf events) in pre-1977 cars, this regularity will be based at the Laudale Estate on Scotland’s Morvern Peninsula. rallytheglobe.com
21-24 July
Ennstal Classic
‘Driving in the last paradise’: two days of regularities based around Gröbming in the mountainous Austrian province of Styria. ennstal-classic.at
23-25 July
Concours d’Elegance of America
The main event takes place on the Sunday at the Inn at St John’s in Plymouth, Michigan, but there’s also a tour, an art exhibition and a Concours d’Lemons. concoursusa.org
30 July – 1 August Silverstone Classic
This huge meeting – hundreds of cars will line up on the track over the course of the weekend – allows visitors to watch cars racing into dusk as bands play. The headliners this year are The Brand New Heavies and Aswad. silverstone.co.uk
31 July – 1 August Gaydon Land Rover Show Land Rovers and Range Rovers gather at the British Motor Museum, home to HUE 166, the oldest surviving Land Rover. There will be trade stands and live music as well. britishmotormuseum.co.uk