Drive-It Day, the national UK celebration of classic cars and its impact on the industry
Within the British classic car community, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t familiar with Drive-It Day. This national celebration of all things classic cars happens every year in April, and in this month’s blog, we look at the impact it has on the industry in 2022 and beyond, and why it’s sure to be a continued tradition.
Originally created in 2005 by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) Drive-It Day was first intended as a celebration of a now-vintage car event from 1900, the One Thousand Mile Trial. Since then, Drive-It Day has encompassed everything to do with classic and vintage cars, meaning rallies, car club drives, meets and large-scale events are all arranged on the day around the country.
In fact, many enthusiasts in the classic car community take part in Drive-It Day to visit the famed Bicester Heritage site, which runs its incredible Spring Scramble event the same day. Formerly an RAF airbase during the Second World War, Bicester Heritage is now known as the definitive automotive hub for classic cars and enthusiasts of vintage vehicles in the UK. We could write an entire blog post just about this venue, due to its scale and effect on the community.
But how does Drive-It Day, a celebration in which you simply drive your classic vehicle, benefit the wider classic car industry?
By taking out and using their cherished classic cars and visiting these events, enthusiasts simply and effectively promote the culture and community behind these vehicles. In an age where hybrid and electric power dominates the conversation, the general public often forgets that these classic cars exist. By reinforcing the fact that classic automotive culture is still thriving, despite the many challenges it faces today, it helps to encourage younger generations to get involved, something we’ve focused on in previous blog posts.
Promoting awareness of classic cars and supporting the historic vehicle movement to keep these vehicles on the road is hugely important to us at Marc Brunel Recruitment. What better way to encourage and promote vintage cars than to just drive them?
As further steps are made toward the fully electric future, it makes us happy that not only is Drive-It Day so widespread, but it also gives us hope that classic cars will have a place in the incoming EV-dominated years, through not only their promotion but exciting new biofuels that result in zero emissions. We investigated this recently in our March blog post; click here to have a read.
It’s organisations and events like the FBHVC and Drive-It Day that help to uphold the culture and community behind classic cars. To read more about the other various organisations trying to uphold the very same, click here.
– Akash Cheeda
