The world’s most delightfully underwhelming car show is back — and bigger than ever. On Saturday, 26th July 2025, Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional returns to the rolling grounds of Grimsthorpe Castle, celebrating its 11th year as the UK’s premier event for the plain, the practical, and the positively average. Here, you won’t find supercars or race-tuned monsters. Instead, you’ll encounter a proud parade of once-forgotten motoring staples: base-model Vauxhalls, humble hatchbacks, and family runabouts that defined a generation.
But as the Festival’s curator of curiosities and Editor of the Hagerty Price Guide, John Mayhead, recently explored, the very notion of “unexceptional” is itself evolving. With today’s base models brimming with features once reserved for top-spec trims, are truly basic cars a thing of the past?
From Plastic Mirrors to Touchscreen Dreams
To understand the trajectory of unexceptional cars, Mayhead embarked on an ambitious review, tracking the entry-level models of Citroën, Ford, Toyota, and Vauxhall over a 55-year span. The results paint a vivid picture of a slow and steady ascent from frugality to functionality.
In 1970, ‘luxury’ meant a glove box lid and perhaps a passenger door mirror. Vauxhall’s HC 1100, for instance, proudly advertised door armrests — at no extra cost. Move forward to 1990, and the base model Toyota Starlet GL’s highlights included a fuel flap release and a radio cassette. Similarly, a Citroën AX E might not even come with reclining front seats.
But fast-forward to today, and the entry-level Toyota Aygo X Pure reads like a spec sheet from the future: 17” alloys, cruise control, lane assist, reversing camera, and a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay. Once considered luxuries, these features are now expected — even standard — on the most modest models.
Using 20 key spec indicators, Mayhead’s analysis revealed a seismic shift around the mid-1990s, when carmakers began to consistently deliver higher specification even in their most affordable offerings. By 2010, the line between base and mid-range blurred entirely, influenced by a host of factors — from customer expectations and emissions regulations to the rise of PCP finance and economic pressures on value-conscious buyers.
Are the 1990s the Golden Age of Unexceptional?
So where does that leave the FOTU movement? According to Mayhead, it may just be entering its golden age.
“Every year we add another year to the cars that are eligible for the Festival of the Unexceptional,” he explains. “For 2025, we’re including cars up to the year 2000, and that opens the gates to some truly iconic mediocrity — models that were ubiquitous, ignored, and are now delightfully rare.”
This shifting eligibility, combined with the slow extinction of genuinely basic models, may put a spotlight on 1990s-era cars as the peak of unexceptional. Under-specced, overworked, and often unloved, these vehicles represent a unique time in motoring history — before touchscreens were standard, before electric windows were guaranteed, and when “style” meant a colour-coded bumper.
A Day of Automotive Anti-Excess
The 2025 Festival promises all the things regular car shows can’t: nostalgia, relatability, and a healthy dose of ironic admiration. Alongside thousands of gloriously average display cars, the day features:
- A live recording of the Smith & Sniff podcast
- Family-friendly entertainment and food stalls
- Trade stands relevant to classic and enthusiast car owners
- Free entry for children under 15
All set against the stunning backdrop of Grimsthorpe Castle, the event is as much a celebration of community as it is a time warp into automotive ordinariness.
Book Your Tickets Now
Whether you once owned a Renault 19, borrowed your mum’s Proton Persona, or still nurse a soft spot for the Fiat Panda, the Festival of the Unexceptional is your spiritual home. And with the window of truly unexceptional cars slowly closing, 2025 may be your best chance yet to relive the glory of glorious mediocrity.
Tickets are on sale now — and going fast. Because, in a world of supercar saturation, nothing stands out quite like a lovingly preserved base model.
