The 2024 Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, a celebration of unassuming family cars from the 1970s to the 1990s, crowned a pristine 1982 Toyota Hilux as its champion. Held at Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire for the tenth year running, the event spotlights vehicles that would never grace the hallowed halls of events like the Hampton Court Concours d'Elegance.
This year's winning Hilux is the pride and joy of Mitch Lewis, who acquired it from an elderly lady who used it on a strawberry farm. The vehicle had a mere 10,000 miles on the clock when Lewis purchased it, and it has since clocked up another 10,000. Lewis noted that the Hilux still bears the marks of its farm life â small dents caused by strawberry punnets â but otherwise required only a wash to prepare it for the event.
âI was expecting one of the lower prizes at the very best,â Lewis said on his win. âI didnât expect first. It's a lovely car, my pride and joy. And I love it.â
Judge Jon Bentley echoed Lewis's sentiment: âMost Hiluxâs get used and abused and ultimately scrapped, but here is one which has actually been preserved during life on the farm. It did a lot of work but has been treated very gently. And so despite the fact all of its contemporaries have disappeared, here is one in all of its perfect, prestigious condition. Therefore the exceptional has survived and become unexceptional.â
The judges, including Autocar editor-in-chief Steve Cropley, deemed the Hilux âsurely the best one in the worldâ.
This year's festival attracted over 4,000 visitors and approximately 2,000 cars. The Hilux emerged victorious from a field of finalists that included a Zastava Yugo, a Volvo 145 and a Vauxhall Nova.
Amy Jaine's Renault Clio secured second place, while the Retro Repmobile prize was awarded to a Nissan Primera originally imported from Hanover, Germany. Other highly commended contenders included a Fiat Panda, Citroën Visa and an Austin Metro.
The Festival of the Unexceptional celebrates the ordinary, the unassuming, and the often overlooked vehicles that have played a vital role in British life. This year's crowning of the Toyota Hilux, a testament to its hard-working history and remarkable preservation, embodies the spirit of this unique event.
