Classic Car Sunday of Harrogate - James Skaith - My Car Event

It’s a freezing cold Sunday morning in very early January. -2°C, 9am. Most sane people are still at home, but West Park, Harrogate, is abuzz.

Porsches, vintage Alfa Romeos, a 1967 Fiat 500 and some other similarly exciting cars line the road, while people in thick coats and hats clutch coffees on the pavement and chat. They’re all here for the latest meeting of Classic Car Sunday - a car event set up and organised by James Skaith.

“In the last couple of years I started doing car photography,” James tells us. “I got really into it, and then I learned that I had some contacts and started doing car events at Grantley Hall, Goldsborough Hall, Bowcliffe Hall. 

“[I started] building it into a bit of a gathering on social media, and thought that West Park in Harrogate is where people go to spot cars, so why not make it semi-planned and organised.”

The ethos is simple - come along and chat cars. While “classic car” is in the name, the event is open (and free) for everyone, whether you’re coming in a 1 of 1 classic, a Ford Fiesta, or don’t even have a car.

“It’s a reason to get out, meet people, and take your car out, because a lot of these cars will sit in a garage for months without turning a wheel, and the idea is that someone can have somewhere they’re going to go, they know they’re going to meet people they might not know, they’re going to get a coffee, and they’re going to get some really cool pictures taken of their car as well.”

This is only the second time that CCS has run, but it’s already gaining a following. In just a few hours everything from an RWB Porsche to a vintage Rolls Royce came along for the chance to see interesting cars and chat with their owners.

It provides a much more social aspect to car spotting, and it’s this community that James is keen to share.

“It’s just great, and I really enjoy it,” James tells us. “It’s talking cars, it’s getting out of the house, and if it wasn’t for this I’d probably be sat on the sofa drinking coffee and watching Match of the Day or something, but I’d rather do this. I love cars and getting people together.”

It’s cold enough that you can see your breath and can’t feel your fingers as he says this, but he’s right - seeing these cars and sharing the passion is better than being sat at home, cold or not.

“It shows that people are interested, and [everyone’s] here because [they’ve] got that link - cars,” James says.

“So straight away, everyone’s got a common ground. Everyone here either has come in a car, loves cars, is saving for a car, got a car collection, got one car, loves taking photos of cars, whatever it may be.”

The link between cars and Harrogate is also an interesting one.

Despite having a relatively small population of around 77,000, it’s an affluent area of North Yorkshire. Harrogate was named the third-poshest town in Britain in 2025, only behind Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and Bruton in Somerset, meaning that there’s a higher population of exotic cars if you know the right people.

Indeed, the CarsOfHarrogate Instagram account, which has almost 11,000 followers, showcases cars of all vintages on Harrogate’s streets - with everything from pre-war cars through to a Rimac in 2025 alone.

“We know of people who’ve got collections,” James says, “and [with some of the cars that attend] you think ‘I wonder if I’m going to see that again’.”

James is hoping to turn it into a monthly event and, if the attendance today is anything to go by, it shouldn’t be a problem. For so many to come out and face not just the cold, but the ice and the salt on the roads in cars that are sometimes older than most people there, it shows there’s an appetite - something echoed by James.

“It shows that there’s a drive for this - pardon the pun - but people want to do this. I’m going to try and make it monthly for sure, with maybe some bigger events in the summer.”

So for car fans around Harrogate, there’s more of you - and there’s a growing community to meet.

The next Classic Car Sunday meet is going to be on 8th February 2026 on Princes Square in Harrogate, starting at 9am. Find out more on the Classic Car Sunday Instagram page, and find more of James’ photography on Instagram @hgt_cars.