Team Adventure
The PC team heads on an unexceptional day out.
Put simply, in this magazine, all cars are equal. If you love your classic, so do we – and that hasn’t changed in the 41 years since we first hit the shelves. When Hagerty launched the Festival of the Unexceptional eight years ago, we were at the heart of it. Editor Danny has led the judges at every Fotu since the first, with the entire team rocking up on every occasion. If the PC Resto Show demonstrates the mag’s hands-on remit, then the Fotu is all about the pride we feel for our cars, whatever their value. So, join us on this road trip in six ‘people’s cars’. Unpretentious, unexceptional and under the radar they might be… but as social documents on four wheels, working cars that have touched people’s lives, they have had far more impact than any Ferrari or Lambo. Unexceptional? Maybe. Unimportant? No way.
MATT TOMKINS 1973 Morris Marina 1.8 DL PURCHASE PRICE (IN 2004): £350
Glance at the tired Damask Red paint of this Marina Estate, on loan to me for the day from friend and fellow Morris Minor nut Sandy Hamilton, and you could easily dismiss it, mock it even, falling into the trap of lazy cliché and objective ridicule. But get behind the wheel, as I did to drive it from Sandy’s barn to Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, our meeting point for the day, and you’ll soon discover that what is concealed is a very good car..
This shabby looking Marina estate had just one owner before Sandy and shows a mere 52,000 miles on the clock. Grimsthorpe, the other estate in our unexceptional adventure, has been in the same family for five hundred years and will play host to Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional on July 31, where the vast grounds and stunning gardens of this Lincolnshire landmark will provide a fitting location for the Concours de l’ordinaire. Fotu celebrates unappreciated classics such as our motley group here – so we are giving the stately home a bit of practice.
As the 16th century castle shrinks in the rear-view mirror, I consider my steed for the day. OK, so the Marina might be unexceptional in terms of aesthetic, it may have been a tad old fashioned when it launched and it didn’t exactly have the same cute factor of the Minors the model replaced, yet there’s a cavernous interior with a load bay big enough to be truly practical, a comfortable ride, responsive steering and plenty of torque from the beautifully smooth B-series up front. That ‘big block’ totally changes the dynamic compared to A-series cars I’ve driven. Where the revvy A-series feels frenetic, this feels steadfast. The tiny exhaust and single carburettor mean that acceleration is dealt with far more sedately than an MGB with the same engine, but the character of the car really doesn’t call for any more grunt. What it’s got is perfectly.
The Marina estate, then, has plenty to offer. It fulfils its role as a car, a workhorse, and a load-lugger very well indeed. And yet it manages to do all this in a completely unexceptional fashion. I like it a lot, but I’m afraid that I could never love it.
SPECIFICATION Engine 1798cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 82.5bhp@5100rpm Torque 99.4lb ft@2900rpm Gearbox 4-speed manual Top speed 96mph 0-60mph 13.5sec Fuel economy 25.2mpg
DANNY HOPKINS 1982 Allegro 3 HL 1.3 PURCHASED FOR £500 (+£1K RESTO COST)
Like anyone who owns and truly loves their ‘unexceptional’ classic, my vehicle is anything but… its story is as full of drama, excitement and colour as any exotic. I would dare say it has been as well loved, in its time, as any other car that I have owned. It is a classic with a story to tell.
Earlier this year I put ‘Charlie’ (named by a previous owner, who has been in touch!) back on the road after eight years in a friend’s garage and, just like previous examples of the breed I have owned, it’s been a hoot. Not everyone shares that view, but despite some online trolling, and disbelief in the eyes of several modern motoring journos, I have been using and enjoying my Hydragas chariot for three months and every journey is a pleasure.
Today is no exception. We head north through rural Lincolnshire, a county which, to some, is as unexceptional as the cars, but one that reveals itself to be gorgeously unspoilt with empty driving roads. We are heading for Langrick and the Bubble Car museum, with huge skies and excellent roads the journey is as much fun as the destination.
The Allegro is not blessed with superstar looks but it is a clever design. Spacious, practical and,
‘The Allegro is the car here that feels most at home at the museum’
with the possible exception of the BX, best of today’s bunch at flattening out road surfaces thanks to its silky Hydragas suspension (recently revived by Dawn and Ian Kennedy). It gets the looks too, some of sympathy, but most of recognition… everyone has one in their family back catalogue, it seems – smiles all round.
Charlie is a very late, 1982 registered, Belgian built, car with an A+ 1275cc engine (Maestro spec), so it is efficient (37mpg today), but not exactly fast. However, on B-roads with the sea as our destination it is the perfect ride. Yes, later in the day Charlie fails to proceed thanks to a stuck float chamber – cured with the tap of Matt Tomkins mighty hammer of justice – but for a 40-year-old (build date October 6 1981) he acquits himself with style. Charlie has been a concours winner, a barn find and now he is a magazine star. That’s pretty exceptional.
Stopping for petrol at Langrick Bridge, the attendant (yes, no self-service here!) tells me she thinks Charlie is ‘cute’. One in the eye for those who mock the Aggro’s looks… has to be said though, at the Bubble Car Museum, it is the one car in our convoy that feels most at home. Charlie doesn’t care though, and neither do I.
SPECIFICATION Engine 1275cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 60bhp/5250rpm Torque 68lb ft@3000rpm Gearbox 4-speed manual 0-60mph 16sec Top speed 90mph Fuel economy 36mpg
PAM AND LISA 1999 Rover 420is PURCHASE PRICE £250
PAM: I’ve been driving for 36 years but I have never driven a car this big. I know it’s only a Rover 400, but most of my cars have been tiny, the last one being a Smart Fortwo. Being a mere 5ft 2in tall, I felt like a child sitting in a parent’s car, pretending to drive with the big boys! So, you can imagine I approached this beast with caution.
I need not have worried (much to my passenger Lisamarie’s relief), the Rover is easy to drive and grips the roads well, which allows me to feel secure and well looked after while navigating the many bends on through the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds. Perhaps that is why so many are still on the road, well-loved by their owners.
After leaving Grimsthorpe we find our way to the Bubble Car museum. It is past Boston and just before New York! I have no idea what to expect behind the doors of this old hangar type building. Lisamarie and I giggle our way through it with sheer delight. Quirky nostalgia surrounds us with a plethora of the oddest looking, interesting, historic vehicles. A tiny Pink Panther car soon becomes my
‘Despite being a forty-year-old, Charlie acquits himself with style’
fantasy everyday drive! I feel like I had shrunk and found myself wandering through Toyland!
Then a vast collection of 2CV models catches my eye. Memories of my time owning a Charleston in the early Nineties return, reminding me once again of the fun and frolics I experienced with that brilliant little vehicle.
Upon leaving the museum, and now comfortable with the ease of the solid and stable Rover 400, I follow my PC family towards Skegness via an airplane museum and a race track (boys!). Being half term and with fine weather, the place is busy with holiday makers, making it a slow crawl through the main drag. I comment to Lisamarie: ‘We are in second gear, crawling through Fantasy Island, in an old Rover 400!’ We laugh our way to Miami beach in the Rover 400… Lisamarie, very much the Thelma to my Louise! That film is 30 years-old this year – we are all classics really!
SPECIFICATION Engine 1994cc/4-cyl/dohc Power 134bhp@6000rpm Torque 136lb ft@2500rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 124mph 0-60mph 9.6sec Fuel economy 33mpg ➽
Matt says ‘The Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional is on Saturday July 31 at Grimsthorpe Castle. Tickets at hagerty.co.uk.’
JAMES WALSHE Citroën BX 14 TGE PURCHASE PRICE GIFTED TO OWNER
I’m a bit short of unexceptional classics, so I turned to friends Neil and Janice, whose old Citroën was given to them by Neil’s Uncle Bill in 2017. It’s a boggo BX – a frugal 1360cc version of the firm’s mid-range family hatch. With Eighties Lego-like styling and hydropneumatic suspension, almost two-and-a-half million BXS were sold from 1982 until 1994. With few survivors, it’s the perfect candidate for the Fotu and for my bum on our trip to the seaside, given the BX’S supremely comfy seats and an extremely airy cabin. This is partly down to the period optional electric sunroof, through which I was looking forward to settling back and watching some RAF fighter action above Coningsby. Having pulled up in a dusty lane on the perimeter of the airfield, we’re left disappointed at the silence and leave. Sod’s law, seconds later and with the runway now in our rear-view mirrors, we hear the roar of a Typhoon…
There’s further disappointment when we drop by the nearby Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, having failed to predict the crowds waiting to watch the Lancaster taxiing. We pledge to return one day soon – taking a fancy to the idea of a Spitfire vs ME109 dogfight. Onwards to Skegness and a brief stop at Skegness Raceway, which is in preparation for the next throng of banger racing fans to arrive. We shudder collectively, given that many a car like ours has met its end here. However, we are extremely confident in our noble fleet of survivors, all of which have plenty of life left in them. The BX feels far more user-friendly than my hefty CX.
Its lightweight body (the bonnet and tailgate are plastic) mean that despite just 71bhp, the car zips along at a very agreeable pace. It stops effortlessly too, with those power brakes and discs all-round and the car simply ignores the bumps and undulations of Lincolnshire’s roads. Uh oh… I can feel my wallet twitching. Anybody got one for sale?
SPECIFICATION Engine 1360cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 72bhp@5600rpm Torque 82lb ft@3400rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 104mph 0-60mph 12.1sec Fuel economy 51.4mpg
CRAIG CHEETHAM 1995 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 GLS 16v BOUGHT FOR £100 CHARITABLE DONATION
Fantasy Island? It sounds like a random reality TV show, doesn’t it? And in a sense it is, for on the day of our adventure all life is here, enjoying newly refound freedom among its whirling tea cups and flashing lights.
But it’s the twisted backbones of the rollercoasters that really stand out. Since 1995, the very year my Astra was first registered, their curves have been a feature of the Skegness skyline, stamping their mark on Britain’s east coast like a varicose Vegas. Among them is The Odyssey, which is Britain’s third tallest coaster, behind the Big One in Blackpool and Stealth at Thorpe Park. Apparently, it generates lateral forces of 4.8G and does 0-60mph in 1.4 seconds.
The Astra can’t quite match that, but being a late example of the MKIII that (like Thelma and Louise), celebrates its 30th this year, it’s not exactly lagging behind in the performance stakes. It has Vauxhall’s later 16v Ecotec engine, which develops a creditable 99bhp and allows it to reach speeds of up to 118mph, apparently. That’s not how you behave on the A158, though, so we never found out.
Serving Fantasy Island with its punters is Butlins – the UK’S first ever holiday camp and home to the nation’s first ever set of dodgems. Set-up by Canadian immigrant Billy Butlin in 1927, it remains a thriving hub for the town in high season.
According to photographer Matt, it was also the venue of a particularly lairy Max Power weekender back in the early Nineties, but I stop listening when he starts to describe the extent of the nudity. It doesn’t escape my thoughts that this wasn’t necessarily the first time that Mr Howell had snapped an Astra MKIII at this location, but I keep my clothes well and truly on.
Leaving Skegness in pursuit of fish and chips before Art Director Lisamarie becomes too ‘hangry’, our convoy makes a quick stop at Huttoft Beach – one of the few beaches in Britain that you can still park a car alongside. Danny, meanwhile, reveals his inner Reggie Perrin by removing shoes and socks and heading off into the sea. We try our best to leave him behind, not least because the allure of Waldo’s fish restaurant (aka: chippy) in nearby Sandilands is too great. And good it is, too, At least until I drop my sausage!
SPECIFICATION Engine 1598cc/4-cyl/dohc Power 99bhp@6000rpm Torque 99lb ft@3400rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 118mph 0-60mph 11.8sec Fuel economy 32mpg
MATT GEORGE 1990 Nissan Bluebird 1.8 GS PURCHASE PRICE £700
Having passed through New York earlier in the day, Miami Beach (just south of Mablethorpe) could be the only place to end our journey. Once we leave Crockett and Tubbs behind, it’s time to make our way home after what has been an epic day out.
Some of us decide to take the scenic route back, which takes us out into the sticks and allows us to enjoy the beauty of the Lincolnshire Wolds again. I must admit, I hadn’t realised that Lincolnshire was so big, so rolling… and so green.
After being largely stuck indoors for more than a year, it’s wonderful to be able to just enjoy being out and about again. As for the Bluebird? It is a perfectly amiable companion for such an endeavour. Not blessed with huge power, but plenty enough for our gentle cruise, while I am more than comfortable inside thanks to the extras offered in this particular British-built example (owned by Cheetham), a GS model no less. Plus, when was the last time you saw one in the wild? Perfect ‘Unexceptional’ fodder for the perfect unexceptional day out.
SPECIFICATION Engine 1809cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 90bhp@5200rpm Torque 110lb ft@2800rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 106mph 0-60mph 12.6sec Fuel economy 31mpg