There’s lots to look forward to in the year ahead
Go West and multiply
When Alan Drake and Gary Hawkins weren't happy with the cost and politics of their clubs, they set up their own called the South West Classic Car Club. Alan told us: ‘In 2020 I started a Facebook group that's free to join and covers the whole of the south west of the UK. I wanted to welcome everyone whatever they drive, and we had our first meeting at Hanley Farm in Chepstow, when 65 cars turned up. That became 250 by the start of lockdown, during which time we grew the Facebook page to 3000 members. When we restarted in 2021, our meets in Chepstow welcomed over 500 cars. Our aim in 2023 is to find new venues in Devon and Cornwall. swclassiccarclub. co.uk
BEAULIEU ALL SET TO BUSTLE AGAIN
Beaulieu has announced its 2023 calendar. The two key events for us are the Spring Autojumble on May 13-14 and the International Autojumble on September 2-3, but there's a raft of other events including Simply Italian on April 23, Simply Ford (May 21), National Mini Day (June 11) and Simply Jaguar (June 25). Other highlights include Simply Japanese (July 23), Simply VW (August 13), Simply French (September 10) and Simply British Classics (September 24). There are also more talks at the start of the season. These include Steph Jeavons on motorcycling (January 21), Maurice Hamilton on 45 years of working in Formula One (February 18) and Richard Skinner on the Bugatti dynasty (March 18). More info at nationalmotormuseum.org.uk.
Every month we bring you diary dates for gatherings large and small all around the UK, and now that lots of this year's big events have been officially announced, it's time to grab your diary and start planning.
Next month we'll fill you in on the London Classic Car Show (theclassiccarshow uk.com) and Race Retro (raceretro. com), both of which will be taking place on February 24-26. Drive It Day (driveitday. co.uk) is scheduled for April 23 and after a series of cancellations, Motofest Coventry (coventrymotofest. com) will run in 2023, on June 3-4, then on July 29 it's the one that we're especially excited about: Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional (hagerty.co.uk) returns to Grimsthorpe Castle and the PC team will be there.
If historic motorsport is your thing, there's plenty in 2023 to look forward to. The Donington Historic Festival (doningtonhistoric. com) is set to take place on April 29-30, then the Le Mans Classic is happening on June 29 to July 2; it is the famous circuit's centenary this year, so expect something extra special. It's all at lemansclassic.com. The UK equivalent of the Le Mans Classic is the Silverstone Festival (silverstone. co.uk/events/silverstone-festival), which this year will be unfolding over the weekend of August 25-27. Two other c
