About the GCCG
The Gay Classic Car Group is a UK based classic car group with over 1000 members. Members’ cars are incredibly diverse both in marques and age, which adds to the enjoyment of coming on GCCG events. Some members' have veteran vehicles old enough to compete in the London to Brighton run with others nearly new 'modern classics'.
Even if you don’t own a classic car, you are welcome to join and come along to events and social meets. Above all the GCCG is a social group for LGBTQ+ individuals to meet like minded people with an interest in classic cars in a safe and understanding environment.
We have a strong set of regional area groups each organising their own events and social activities. More information about our different areas.
Many of our members are also very active members of national one make car clubs but the GCCG offers an alternative, or a parallel, to single-marque club membership. The opportunity to enjoy a LGBTQ+ social experience in the context of a shared, and often very knowledgeable, interest in all classic cars has proved to be very attractive over the past thirty plus years.
Even though the GCCG is a primarily a UK based club we have very strong international links with our sister organisations in France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, USA, and Australia. At least twice a year we meet up with at least 100 people from the other European groups for weekend events such as Sweet Trip and Eurotour.
Benefits of Membership
- Quarterly editions of 'Big End Journal' (with archive available online) - see an example here
- Monthly 'All Torque' national and local emails that give you updates on everything happening in the group.
- Attendance and discounted entry to many classic car events across the country with specific GCCG stands, including large events like the NEC Classic Motor Show.
- Monthly social meets at various locations across the country (currently being held virtually).
- Organised GCCG weekends away at home and abroad. Previous events have included Northumberland, the Isle of White, the Lake District and Wales.
- Access to the Members Area of the website to access resources for members.
- Discounts with various classic car insurers and suppliers including Hagerty and Disklok.
Membership starts at just £17.50 a year and includes a lead member plus a partner member free if you have one.
Awards
In December 2020 The GCCG won 'Best Virtual Club Event' at the Classic & Sports Car Club Awards 2020 for our 'Fix-It Weekend'.
Mark Wells, our Yorkshire Area Organiser was also Highly Commended as part of the 'Lockdown Award'.
Full details of all the award can be found at: www.classicandsportscar.com or watch the virtual ceremony on Youtube
Events
The GCCG organises over 100 events a year ranging from monthly pub nights across our regions to multi-day international rallies. A lot of our events are one day visits to local attractions, usually involving a scenic drive and an eating opportunity. We also have club stands at an ever increasing number of public car shows as well as an annual GCCG Members Car Show.
There's a regularly updated full list of events available to Members in the Members Area and members also receive a monthly e-newsletter called All Torque with latest news of events.
History of the GCCG
Why the GCCG exists
The GCCG was founded back in 1988 when the classic car and LGBTQ+ world was a very different place. Since those early days and gentle growth in the 1990s the GCCG has expanded to over 1000 members. The GCCG offers a home to enjoy a friendly diverse mix of people and cars in a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere.
The GCCG windscreen sticker can be seen on many cars at classic car shows, which shows how increasingly relaxed attitudes are to our existence. Indeed many of the classic car press often contact us to find rare or unusual cars to review as they know someone in the club will own one and our members tend to love to share their passion.
Our humble beginnings started informally in 1988 when a few friends met up at a pub in London. After a few more ad hoc meetings the first event was a 12 car London to Brighton run.
In 1989 the GCCG displayed five cars at London Pride in Kennington Park, where more than 20 people enrolled as new members. By 1990 over 40 people attended a meeting in Surrey. The 1990s saw a few events per year and a photocopied newsletter. Our Big End Journal today is a multi page full-colour professionally printed A4 magazine.
GCCG membership has grown steadily, going on to exceed 1000 in 2015.
In 2018 we celebrated our 30th Anniversary with a very large stand at the NEC Classic Motor Show.
For 2021 we hope to keep building on our previous success though events are likely to be rather different for the foreseeable future due to social distancing rules.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about GCCG - please feel free to contact us if your question isn't answered here: