Stand at the top of Steep Hill on the afternoon of Saturday 3 October and you’ll hear them before you see them. A line of cars built before 1976 will climb into Castle Hill Square, park up between the Cathedral and the Castle, and sit there for an hour while the photographers get to work. Although Lincoln is no stranger to car events, from supercars taking over the Cathedral Quarter, modified motors making some noise at the Lincolnshire Showground, or wartime vehicles transporting the Castle grounds back in time, the Loxley 500 will be a classic car event like no other, transforming Lincoln’s historic Bailgate area into a sea of immaculate classic cars.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
On any normal Saturday afternoon, Lincoln’s medieval Bailgate is a popular spot for both locals, and visitors. Filled with people looking to enjoy a quiet drink with friends, take in the magnificent sights of the Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle, or do some shopping at one of the many boutique independent shops, the Bailgate is a popular weekend spot. However, come Saturday 3rd October, the Bailgate will become the setting of something much more special. Lined with dozens of gleaming classic cars showing off meticulously maintained chrome bodywork and leather interiors, and replacing the usual sounds of Lincoln’s Bailgate with the soundtrack of rumbling engines idling on the cobbled streets, the Loxley Collection 500 will be an event that transforms the Bailgate into a fantastic display of automotive history.
What is the Loxley Collection 500?
It’s an inaugural coast-to-coast tour for cars at least 50 years old, running from Friday 2 to Friday 9 October 2026 and following Roman roads for most of its 500 miles. It starts at Robin Hood’s Bay, comes down Ermine Street to Lincoln, then takes the Fosse Way south-west through the Cotswolds and Somerset before the final run into Cornwall.
There’s no entry fee. Instead, everyone taking part is asked to raise money for a charity of their choice, so the convoy arriving on Castle Hill is also a rolling fundraiser. Andrew Long, who owns the Wider Loxley Collection of hotels and created the tour, is a keen historian as well as a classic car enthusiast. The route highlights this. The point is to spend time in the historic towns along the way, rather than to cover the distance quickly.
We hope the event will encourage participants and visitors to spend time exploring Lincoln and experiencing the independent businesses and attractions that make the city such a special destination.
— Andrew Long
”Which cars can take part?
Anything built before 1976 qualifies. The organisers will also consider exceptional sports cars and other interesting vehicles that are at least 25 years old, so expect the odd 1990s surprise among the chrome. The tour runs in association with Classic Cars Magazine, whose team will be following it.
.
When and where can you see the classic cars in Lincoln?
Saturday 3 October, from around 4pm, on Castle Hill Square between Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle. The cars are there for roughly an hour for professional photographs, and the organisers have said the stop is specifically so enthusiasts can see the vehicles up close and take their own photos. You don’t need a ticket and there’s nothing to book. Just turn up.
If you want a second look, the convoy leaves via Castle Hill Square on Sunday morning, though that’s a ten-minute rolling departure rather than a display. The Saturday afternoon is the one to plan around.
Where can you watch the convoy on the move?
The cars leave Hotel Victoria in Robin Hood’s Bay at 11am on Saturday and cover about 100 miles to reach us. They head through Pickering and Malton, over the Humber Bridge and then down the A15. That road follows Ermine Street almost dead straight from the bridge to Lincoln, so anywhere along it gives you the convoy at speed with 2,000 years of history under the tyres.
Is it a classic car show?
Not in the usual sense. There are no stands, no judging and no programme. Think of it as a rolling display that pauses in Lincoln for an hour. That’s rarer than a classic car show and, in our view, better, because the cars are being driven the way they were built to be.
Why is Bailgate the perfect backdrop for classic cars?
Because the street was here first. Bailgate follows the line of Ermine Street through what was the Roman upper city of Lindum. Newport Arch, at its northern end, is the only Roman arch in Britain that still has traffic passing through it. When Andrew Long says the White Hart “sits directly on the route of Ermine Street”, he means it literally. The cars will drive in on a Roman road and park outside a hotel that stands on it.
Then there’s the skyline. Lincoln Cathedral, built in 1072, was reputedly the tallest building in the world for over two centuries. Then its central spire came down in a storm in 1548. Lincoln Castle, built by William the Conqueror in 1068, still holds one of the four surviving 1215 copies of Magna Carta. A 1960s Jaguar looks small parked between them, which is rather the effect.
As for the White Hart itself, this beautiful hotel dates back to the 1380’s, originally built as a lodging house for the visit of King Richard II, whose personal badge was a white hart. Today, the building you see is mostly 18th century, with date stones from 1710 to 1722. However, the hotel’s proudest motoring moment was back in 1915, where our magnificent Tank Room was used to conceive the prototype plans for the world’s first military tank.
Why do old cars suit old streets?
The Bailgate, which a car from the 1950s or 1960s would have driven through, looks much the same today as it did back then. The Georgian and medieval frontages were already old, the independent shops were already independent and the cobbles were already cobbles. Put a modern car on Castle Hill and it looks parked. Put a 1965 MGB there and it looks like it’s come home.
Where should you stay to see the cars arrive?
With us here at the White Hart, and we’d say that even if we weren’t the host hotel, because the arrival point is at the end of the street. Book the Saturday night and you can watch the cars come in, walk to dinner and be back on Castle Hill for the Sunday departure before the Cathedral bells have finished. The Loxley 500 participants are dining with us in the King Richard Room at 7pm that evening, with live music from the Bad Habit band afterwards.
Rooms for the weekend from 2 to 4 October are available to book on our rooms accommodation page now, and they’ll go quickly once the tour is announced more widely.
Where does the tour start and finish?
At two sister hotels within the Loxley Collection, which is the small group of independent, heritage-led hotels the White Hart belongs to. If you’re the kind of person who’d rather follow the whole thing than watch one stop, both ends are worth a night.
What else can you do in Lincoln that weekend?
Plenty, and most of it is within five minutes’ walk of the cars. Here’s a shape for the day:
- Saturday morning: the Castle Wall Walk and the Magna Carta vault, both inside Lincoln Castle and both a short stroll from Castle Hill
- Lunchtime: Steep Hill’s independent shops and tearooms on the way back up
- 4pm: Castle Hill Square for the cars
- Evening: dinner on Bailgate, or in our 2AA rosette Antler’s restaurant.
- Sunday: the ten-minute departure, then a Cathedral tower tour or a walk down to the Brayford Waterfront
If you’re planning a longer stay, our guide to things to do in Lincoln covers the rest of the city.
What other classic car events in Lincolnshire are worth a look?
Three, if the Loxley 500 gives you the taste:
- Lincolnshire Classic Motor Show, Lincolnshire Showground. A new one-day show whose first outing was 19 July 2026, with a live rally stage for Group B cars and the Mathewson family from Bangers & Cash. Expect a 2027 date to follow.
- Classic Cars at Lincoln Castle. The Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society’s annual rally inside the Castle grounds, usually on the late May bank holiday, with free entry to the display.
- Cars and Coffee at the Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum. Regular morning meets at the museum in North Hykeham, a few miles south of the city.
The difference with the Loxley 500 is that none of these events above brings the cars into the medieval city itself. This one does, once, on a Saturday afternoon in October.
Will you be there?
If you’re not sure whether it’s worth the trip for an hour of cars, our answer is yes, and the cars are only half of it. Andrew Long’s hope is that the tour “will encourage participants and visitors to spend time exploring Lincoln and experiencing the independent businesses and attractions that make the city such a special destination”. Castle Hill at four o’clock on 3 October will make that case better than we can.
If you’d like to stay with us that weekend, or you’re not sure which night to book to catch the most of it, get in touch with the team at the White Hart and we’ll point you in the right direction.
