This year the Hagerty events calendar was the busiest yet, with more opportunities for like-minded enthusiasts to get together and share their passion for preserving and driving classic cars.
Throughout 2025 the Hagerty Clubhouse at Bicester Motion has welcomed guests to regular themed evening Hangouts with great food, great cars and great company. Hagerty’s regular fixtures, the Hill Hillclimb at Shesley Walsh in May, the Festival of the Unexceptional in July and August’s RADwood continued to go from strength to strength, and members of the Hagerty Drivers Club also had the opportunity to take part in two amazing driving days.
Hagerty ambassadors Charlotte Vowden and Paul Cowland were along for the whole ride, as hosts and participants, so there’s nobody better to summarise a year of amazing automotive events.
“The best thing about the Hagerty shows this season, for me, has been the sheer diversity,” says Cowland. “We’re a broad church here, and that’s very much reflected in the Hagerty calendar.
“FOTU is always a season highlight, simply due to the massively eclectic nature of both the cars and guests – base model Metros rubbing shoulders with museum concepts and 17 year-old enthusiasts chatting to retired engineers. Just magical.
“Then we’ve had shows like RADwood. Pure excess. The best, the weirdest, car culture turned up to ’11’. Bodykitted cars with nylon-clad people. It’s my idea of the perfect day out.
“If neither of those events floated your boat, we’ve also had a plethora of Hagerty Hangouts and HDC runs, which fill in literally every kind of car in-between. From the unbelievable sights of rare competition cars at speed on the Hillclimb, to our 1903 Knox on the London to Brighton Run. We’ve ticked EVERY box this year. And for someone that can appreciate every genre of classic, that’s very much what it’s all about.”
For Charlotte Vowden it was the two driving days with Hagerty Drivers Club members that really stood out.
“It’s been an incredible year for the Hagerty Drivers Club,” she says. “We’ve had two flagship driving tours. The first was in the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales and we were blessed with absolutely stunning weather, blue skies and incredible scenery. We had some really fun stops along the one-day route, which included a distillery and even the highest pub in England. We had a really varied group of people and cars – everything from a Hummer to my humble Mazda MX-5.
“Then we went on from there to the hill climb event at Shelsely Walsh, which was absolutely fantastic. It’s really cool to see people up going up that hill for the first time. I got to interview a guy called Jake, who will be in the Hagerty Drivers Club magazine in the next edition, who had bought a BMW E30 back to life. It’s one of those events where you get to meet some incredible people because it’s all about inclusion and creating an opportunity for anyone to give it a go.
“Our second driving tour took place in North Wales” she continues. “It was the total opposite to the first tour. It’s a place that I know very, very well, but the tour was organised in a way that I was actually introduced to new routes and new roads, which for me was really, really nice.
“What wasn’t so nice was that we had lots of rain. When you are in something like that with a group of people, it sort of forces you together even more than you would do if you were just having a lovely, sunny day drive, because you have to work for a team, and you’re looking out for each other. I feel really lucky to have taken part in both these drives.
“We had RADwood and we also had FOTU which is my absolute favorite, not only because of the cars and the unsung hero element, but also it always draws a group of people who just want to have fun. No one takes themselves too seriously.”
As 2025 draws to a close Charlotte is eagerly awaiting an even more eventful 2026. “I’m really looking forward to next year,” she adds. “We’ve got the same events in the calendar with regards to the main events, but we’re also going to be doing a lot more with HDC, getting around the country and holding competitions and offers.”
Charlotte will also be introducing the Hagerty Drivers Club’s youngest member. “I’m due to give birth to my first baby in January,” she says. “Actually, the baby has already joined me on the two HDC road trips that we’ve done, because I was pregnant. Hopefully they’ll allow the baby a membership, because they’ll certainly be joining me on some of the events next year, which will add a completely different dynamic to the experience. But I do feel in very safe hands, and I know that they’ll do anything they can to accommodate the pair of us.”
If you’d like to join Charlotte, Paul and the Hagerty team in 2026 then check out the events page. Join the Hagerty Drivers Club and you’ll also gain access to exclusive experiences, as well as some great discounts from top brands and receive the quarterly Hagerty Drivers Club magazine.
See you next year!
