Exceptionally unexceptional
Biggest ever Festival won by a Marina estate
The sixth, and biggest ever, Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional took place at Claydon House in Buckinghamshire on July 20. Fifty ‘unexceptional’ models were presented with a hugely diverse and eclectic selection, that has become FOTU’S calling card. Highlights included PC editor Danny Hopkins’ (who also lead the judges) former 1987 Rover 820E, now owned by Mark Galbraith, a Volvo 240 GL that cost owner Simon Martin £2.40 and the Chrysler Horizon of Guy Maylam; a car that was won in an Aer Lingus competition in 1979 and never used… it has only 300 miles on its clock!
The judging team of Danny, Jon Bentley, Tanya Field, Gary Axon and Andrew Frankel took hours to deliberate but eventually announced the 2019 FOTU winners. Best in Show was a 1977 Morris Marina 1.3 Deluxe Estate. A great example of base specification. The previous owner had part-restored the car
(losing three fingers in the process) before storing it for 15 years in a shed. The runner up was a 1978 Chevette E owned by Philip Hunt. The People’s Choice was a 1982 Peugeot 305 SR Estate owned by Simon Gaisford and the Junior Judges Choice a 1989 Citroën BX 19 DTR owned by Dan Goff. The ‘Anniversary Class’ was won by the 1982 Vauxhall Astra GL 1300 owned by David Loasby. The Feast of the Unexceptional/ Best Picnic was won by Mike and Judith Burkett and their superb 1979 Colt Sigma GLX.
Marcus Atkinson of Hagerty International, said. ‘You overhear guests saying, ‘my Dad had one of those’ or ‘we went on holiday in that’. Great cars and great memories, a meeting of like-minded people who appreciate that unexceptional is a term of endearment and not derogatory.’