The Shetland Classic Motor Show and Visit to Orkney - June 3rd to the 12th
Every two years, the Shetland Classic Car Club hosts a major classic car show in Shetland. Based at the Clickimin Leisure Complex in Lerwick, this year’s 21st event took place over the weekend of 6–7th July and attracted a huge entry.
The first show, held in Gilbertson Park in Lerwick, featured 7 stationary engines, 8 cars and 28 motorcycles. Since then, it has grown enormously. This year, the organisers took the unprecedented step of closing entries early because the event was already full, with a reserve list in place. The final entry included 234 cars (plus Nigel!), 140 motorcycles, and numerous tractors, agricultural machines, stationary engines, commercial vehicles, 4x4s, cycles, models and memorabilia.
Long-standing club members have attended the show for many years, but my wife and I first visited in 2018, when former chairman Roger organised a club trip. We were really impressed, and since then we have only missed the event in 2024, when several of us attended the Isle of Man Festival of Motoring, which unfortunately clashed. That made us even more determined to go this year, so planning for the trip began as early as April 2025.
Accommodation can be difficult to secure during show week, so we made provisional hotel bookings and as soon as entries and ferry bookings opened, we confirmed our plans.
In the end, 8 cars and 14 people signed up for the trip, and we decided to extend it with a five-day stopover in Orkney.
The show is sponsored by NorthLink Ferries, which meant we received a welcome discount of around 30% on ferry travel. The organisers also did everything they could to make our stay in Shetland enjoyable. Residents of both Shetland and Orkney are extremely friendly and welcoming, and we all had a great time.
To start the adventure most of us caught the 19:00 ferry from a very cold and drizzly Aberdeen to Lerwick on Wednesday June 3rd, arriving at 07:30 the following morning. Some of the people who braved standing on the deck as we sailed were treated to the sight a pod of 3 Orca’s which were heading to Aberdeen.
John Chessor had secured accommodation for us at the Westings, a hotel recently taken over by two brothers who were working hard to modernise it. Unfortunately, it offered bed and breakfast only, so finding places to eat became a daily challenge because many restaurants were fully booked, though we managed in the end.
The Westings hotel featured in Series 5 of Shetland, in a storyline about people trafficking. Some scenes were filmed inside the hotel, including in the room where we stayed. The wooden bathroom door frame still had “I am alive - Zezi” allegedly scratched into it by the victim of the storyline as part of the story!
Every year the organisers run ‘Cruise in Company tours’, where groups of cars are guided by members of the Shetland Classic Car Club around key parts of the island with coffee and lunch stops along the way. This year was no exception, but rather than do the tour straight off the ferry as we have done in the past, we decided to do it on the Friday leaving us free on Thursday to explore on our own. On Friday, we assembled at the ferry terminal to join the organisers’ island tour in brilliant sunshine, with the roofs down all the way. One highlight was a visit to a local school, where all the children came out to cheer us on and look at the cars.
Saturday and Sunday were show days, with plenty to see and do. On Saturday, the ladies took the bus into Lerwick for a change of scenery, while the rest of us stayed at the show.
We checked out of the Westings on Monday morning so we had most of the day free for more exploring. Later, 5 cars and 9 people caught the 17:30 ferry to Kirkwall, while the remainder sadly had to head home for work.
We arrived in Orkney at 23:00 and found our hotel, the magnificent Foveran, which is described as a ‘restaurant with rooms’. It is not cheap, but both the restaurant and accommodation were outstanding and highly recommended.
At last year’s NEC show, Alastair Chisholm had met members of the Orkney Vintage Car Club and in conversation it was suggested that we should meet up during our stay and they would give us a guided tour of the island. Further contact was made and with many thanks to Orkney Vintage Car Club member Hayley Budge who co-ordinated everything, bright and early on the morning of Tuesday 9th we all met in Stromness.
We were joined by members of the TR Register and a Citroën-based three-wheeler car club and the assembled classics in the harbour car park drew quite a crowd! We all set off in convey on the tour of Orkney led by Bill Stevenson in his magnificent 1955 MG Magnette.
Sadly, one of the TRs suffered terminal clutch failure at the Ring of Brodgar, so that group had to withdraw. Dating from around 2500–2000 BC, the Ring of Brodgar is one of the largest and most iconic stone circles in the British Isles. It stands on a narrow isthmus between the lochs of Harray and Stenness. Originally made up of 60 stones, 27 remain today, ranging from 2.1 to 4.7 metres high and surrounded by a massive rock-cut ditch.
After lunch, we then visited the Italian Chapel and even though we have visited in the past, it is still outstanding. We then went across the Churchill Barriers and saw several other places of interest. It was a brilliant and informative day, so many thanks to Bill and Hayley of the Orkney Vintage Car Club for taking the time and trouble to look after us.
On Wednesday 10th, we headed out for a fascinating visit to Skara Brae, an exceptionally well-preserved Neolithic village on the west coast of Orkney. Older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Giza, this 5,000-year-old settlement lay hidden beneath sand dunes until a storm exposed it in 1850. Afterwards, a few of us drove to Stromness for a wander round the harbour and the narrow streets.
On Thursday 11th, a group of us visited Highland Park, described by Wikipedia as the northernmost single malt Scotch whisky distillery in the UK. With tours ranging from £30 to £1,600, and most of us having toured distilleries before, we decided to have a general look around and, of course, visit the shop.
We then headed to Scapa Beach, still in magnificent sunshine, for coffee and a visit to the Royal Oak memorial.
On our final day, we visited the Sheila Fleet jewellery factory and the adjoining Kirk Gallery & Café. From humble beginnings in a converted shed in 1993, Sheila Fleet Jewellery now employs a skilled team in a state-of-the-art Orkney workshop, where all its jewellery is designed, made and dispatched.
After lunch, a drive around a few other places of interest on the island brought us sadly to the queue for the ferry home.
It was a fantastic trip that everyone seemed to enjoy.
There were a couple of disappointments. We tried to take the ferry from Shetland to visit the SaxaVord Spaceport on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly inhabited Shetland island. Unfortunately, we had not booked and although they could get us there, they could not guarantee we would get back because the return ferry was full. Our fault for not booking in advance — maybe next time.
Another disappointment, also caused by not booking ahead, was missing the chance to take the world’s shortest scheduled flight between Westray and Papa Westray in Orkney. Operated by Loganair, this remarkable route covers just 1.7 miles and is officially scheduled to take 90 seconds, although the actual flight time is often closer to 60 seconds. Sadly, all flights were full. Again, maybe next time.
All in all, it was a brilliant trip in excellent company, with superb weather, excellent accommodation, wonderful driving roads and, fortunately, many miles of trouble-free roof down motoring.
As the next show is not until 2028, we began discussing where to go next year. Ireland proved a very popular suggestion, so we are already starting to think about putting a trip together. Watch this space…
