Handsome classics gather in the summer sun

While it doesn't have the largesse (or driveway) of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, it makes up for it in sheer enthusiasm, with more than 100 cars and motorbikes on display spanning for than a century of motoring and including highlights from a Bristol Zagato and one of only six Audi Sport Quattros officially sold in the UK.

Here's a selection of our favourites:

As synonymous with the British car show as bangers and mash is with the British diet, the Ford Cortina was built in various guises across five generations from 1962 - 1982, and for much of the 1970s was the UK's best-selling car. 

The Ford F-Series of trucks went on sale in 1948, with the F standing for 'full-size' and the range today slotting in above the Ranger. The F100 was the entry-level model, although it still has plenty of presence on a UK road; this is an example of the seventh generation, built between 1979 and 1986.

The Nash Metropolitan was powered by a 1500cc engine; this example is from 1957. It was originally created for the American market, but was assembled in England by Austin to be sold from as a slice of Americana from 1953 until 1961.

The Volvo 1800E (right) arrived in 1970, carrying the E designation for Einspritzung - the German word for fuel injection. 0-62mph took about 9.5secs. To the left you see some of Giorgetto Giugiaro's finest styling on the Volkswagen Scirocco, which sat on the Golf platform but which was almost entirely re-engineered.

Imagine rolling up your country estate lane in this Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow back in 1970. Built to purr rather than roar, it is powered by a 6745cc engine. It remains the highest-volume Rolls-Royce produced to date.

The Bristol Zagato Grand Touring model was designed to be a faster version of the 406 saloon, featuring a tuned engine and lower weight. The 2216cc engine produced about 130bhp at 5750rpm.

The Vauxhall Cresta was introduced in 1954 as an upmarket version of the Vauxhall Velox. This is a PA model from the year it was introduced; factory models were all-four door saloons, although estates were produced by Friary of Basingstoke, Hampshire.

The joys of the village car show in one picture: here a BMW 325i resplendent with its M division badge sits alongside a Citroen AX (resplendent with an L-plate on the rear). Powered by a 2494 cc engine, the BMW is a 1990 model. The 1995 Citroen has just 954cc.

A full 25 years after the original Range Rover was introduced, the second was launched, bearing the model designation P38A. Power came from a version of the Rover V8 or, as here, a 2.5-litre BMW six-cylinder diesel engine.

If you think this Cadillac Coupe De Ville is big, consider too the size of its 6390cc engine. Over 53,000 De Villes were sold in their first year on sale in 1959, accounting for roughly 37% of all Cadillacs sold; this is a 1960 model year example.

The Chevy 3100 pick-up truck range was part of the  Chevrolet Advance Design Series that was created from 1947 to 1955. This half-tonner is a later series model, having been built in 1953.

One of the joys of lower key village car shows are that cars of all shapes and sizes can sit alongside each other. This rather fetching Mitsubishi Pajero may not have had many fans when new, but today the rugged off-roader, built from 1981 to 2021 is widely admired as a pioneering SUV.

If you are powered by a 5.7-litre Dodge engine and called Challenger then you'd better be ready to rumble; this third generation model is from 2009 and was developed as a rival to the fifth generation Ford Mustang.

The Nova kit car was styled by Richard Oakes and engineered by Phil Sayers. It combined a fibreglass shell on a VW Beetle chassis and mechanicals. A two-seater, it's remembered today mostly for its spectacular opening canopy that combined roof and doors into one.

Launched in January 1976, the Ford Escort RS2000 was based on the two-door MKII Escort. It's powered by a 2.0-litre engine mounted longitudinally, with the gearbox bolted to the rear of the engine.

If grand touring is meant to be about whiling the day away in a laid back but stylish fashion, then the owner of this Mercedes-Benz 350 SL has clearly caught the vibe - as well as a late afternoon nap. SL stands for Sports Light.

Another Jaguar, this time an XK120, won the overall Best in Show award at Hampton's Classics on the Green event, with the victory voted for by the public. This example was built in 1954 and is powered by a 3.8-litre engine.

The Jaguar SS 100 was built between 1936 and 1939 by SS Cars of Coventry - with SS used by Jaguar as a nod to former company owner Swallow Sidecar. The 100 denomination references its theoretical top speed.