Petrol&Pride: we visit the UK’s most inclusive (and fabulous) car show

Car shows are usually united by the vehicles – model owners’ clubs, days out specifically for roadsters, French cars or track day warriors, for example. But the newest event on the UK motoring social calendar brings vehicles together by their owners instead.

The inaugural Petrol&Pride meet brought over 200 LGBTQ+ car enthusiasts and allies together at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon (pun unintended, but not shied away from). With support from major car manufacturers as well as the public, it confirmed what any queer petrolhead already knew – the gays have the best taste in cars.

The idea was born from the back of Attitude Magazine’s list of LGBTQ+ Trailblazers, published in February this year. That was where Attitude publisher Darren Styles and editor Cliff Joannu pitched the idea of an LGBTQ+ car show supported by the growing number of manufacturers making DE&I a priority. Bentley supports the Trailblazers event, and so it was comms director Wayne Bruce along with Bentley’s in-house events team who were responsible for bringing Petrol&Pride to life.

When I was asked for the colour of my car and very few other details on signup, I’d guessed a rainbow display would be in the offering – so I climbed into my plain white 1993 Peugeot 106 with a little sadness (albeit decorating it with some Pride flags beforehand). Still, the event promised to be ‘car inclusive – even electric ones’.

And what an array! As expected, an 18-strong rainbow display occupied the front row – an eclectic mixture including a Lotus Elise, Renaultsport Clio, BMW Z1 and an Audi RS6, among others. On the grass, there were show cars from various manufacturers – everything from a Dacia Duster to a specialised Lister LFT-666, all decked out in their Pride liveries.

But as ever at events like these, it was the car park that held the most interesting items. My little 106 shared a row with everything from a Nissan Juke to a magnificent Herbie-styled VW Beetle. I wasn’t the only one to have the idea to decorate my car, either – a Rolls-Royce parked at the back looked every bit decked out for a patriotic parade, except with pride flags instead of union flags.

The weather held out, too – the rainbow of vehicles and colourful decor made even more cheerful by the blazing sun. A quick spin around the British Motor Museum’s collection was a welcome air-conditioned diversion, where I found the staff there had very kindly opened up Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 – from the 2005 Thunderbirds movie – for photos. If you can think of a more suitable movie car, I’d love to hear it.

As with any car show, there were awards. ‘Best story’ honoured an old Vauxhall Frontera which had barely scraped through its MOT in time for the show – with runner-up going to a motorbike entirely covered in photos of Pedro Pascal. Valid. Butchest car was awarded to a Porsche 911 GT3, with runner-up going to a highly patinated and achingly cool Pontiac Catalina.

The award for the gayest car, meanwhile, went to a Mk 3.5 VW Golf Cabrio – because of course it did.

LGBTQ+ car enthusiasts aren’t in short supply – I visited another car show the next day and saw dozens of people I’d said hello to less than 24 hours prior. But Petrol&Pride felt like a different kind of event.

Not only was it a reassuring display from over a dozen car manufacturers, showing their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, but it felt like a really joyous way to connect with other LGBTQ+ car enthusiasts – united by a shared identity and not by the usual boxes car owners put themselves into.

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