Being unexceptional has traditionally never been a good thing, just ask my year 9 P.E. teacher about my performance and he’d roll his eyes and mutter that exact word. But luckily times have changed and although I’m no more athletic, being unexceptional has fallen into vogue. The Festival of the Unexceptional celebrated its 10th running this year, so I went along for a dose of nostalgia and to appreciate the preservation of cars that have been forgotten.

For those of you who aren’t deep in car nerdery (what are you doing here?), FOTU is billed as “A celebration of long-forgotten everyday family cars from 1969-1999, now fondly known as the Unexceptional Era”. If you are the sort of person who is left cold by the sight of a Ferrari, but will fall over yourself to see an immaculate G-reg Vauxhall Cavalier then this is the show for you.

Held in the grounds of Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, the event invites people to bring along their “Unexceptional” cars. The highlight of the show is the Concours de l’Ordinaire where prizes are given to the best examples, with entries this year including a Lada Riva, Renault Clio and a Triumph Acclaim. A stage hosts guests throughout the day including the Smith and Sniff podcast, Sustain fuels and live music. 

The fun of this event is just walking around and riding the waves of reminiscence; never will you have seen so many cars that you and society in general have just cast aside. There is something joyous about the enthusiasm and passion owners have for cars which traditionally would have been destined for the scrapheap.

I couldn’t cover every car in the event in this article as there were far too many good ones to choose from. Instead, I’ll give you a rundown of some of my favourites whilst trying to give you just a small taste of the nostalgia.

I’ll start with a plethora of what I’m calling the “oh I/my friend had one of those as a first car” category. Miraculously, not all Corsas were left littering hedgerows and adorning trees after some exuberant late teens driving. This Vauxhall Corsa looked stunning in its Aquamarine over plastic bumper colour scheme, as did the more affluent red LS model with its classic 3 spokes.

Aquamarine too Jazzy? How about this slightly more reserved CVT-equipped Fiat Punto Selecta. Not a Craig David special edition but rather one of the wacky naming schemes that often cropped up in the 90s. The owner inherited it from his grandmother, and now uses it as his daily.