Wallingford Vehicle Rally 2019

The sleepy picture postcard Oxfordshire town of Wallingford is everything you’d expect of small town England. It’s a pretty little place in which the residents seem to beam with pride, and rightly so. Oxfordshire is not a bad place to live. It’s not, however, the sort of place you’d expect to find one of the finest car events of the year, yet every May that’s exactly what Wallingford plays host to, and it gets better every time.

The Wallingford Vehicle Rally sees hundreds of cars take to the town’s streets to form a parade of automotive goodness the likes of which are seldom seen. And what steals it for us is the fact there is no theme, no brand affinity, instead it’s a celebration of classic cars of all shapes, sizes and eras, and that means there is something for everyone. There aren’t many events you can go to where you’ll find a Ferrari 250GTE parked in the same field as Ford Fiesta. But that’s what happens here, and it’s great. If you like cars, there will be something for you here. It’s such a wonderfully eclectic mix. And variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

The rally itself meanders through the town at 10:30 am before arriving at The Kinecroft where everyone parks up to settle into a day of vehicular immersion. Of course, it’s not just cars. The beauty of the Wallingford Vehicle Rally is that it’s a true family event. There are stalls and games for the kids, more eateries than you can shake a stick at, traders selling car-related toys and parts and so much more. It’s the perfect little event for all the family. It’s not a car show with a bouncy castle that claims, on that basis, to be for families. Real time and effort has been put into making this fun for everyone, passion for cars or not. And what’s more, for the public attending on the day, the cost is zero. No high-priced admission, just come along and have a look. The only polite request is that you donate a few quid to one of the collection buckets, through which the organisers have raised over £100k from past events.

We’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. If you like what you see and you want to be involved next year, head over to the website. Though be warned, to get your car into the parade is a ticket-only affair, and this year they were all sold within 23 minutes! That’s how popular this little event is.