The Volvo Owners’ Club National Meet & BKV returned on Sunday 5th July 2026, this year at an exciting new venue – Shuttleworth at Old Warden, near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire.
The event coincided with Shuttleworth’s Summer Fete weekend and also shared the venue with the Triumph Stag Owners Club’s annual event, making for a superb day of classic vehicles, aviation heritage and family entertainment.
Shuttleworth proved to be an excellent setting for the Club’s flagship event. Old Warden Aerodrome is a working grass airfield and home to the world-famous Shuttleworth Collection, the Swiss Garden and Shuttleworth House.
The Collection celebrates the remarkable legacy of Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, an enthusiastic aviator, racing driver and motor sport competitor. Visitors can explore an extraordinary collection of airworthy vintage aircraft dating from 1909 to 1950, alongside veteran and classic vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, buses, agricultural machinery and steam exhibits. Its engineering workshops and historic aircraft hangars also provide a fascinating insight into the preservation and restoration work carried out on site.
Club directors arrived bright and early to prepare the event arena and ensure that the cars were arranged into their respective judging classes ready for the day ahead.
The event was extremely well supported, with 108 Volvos entered into the arena, representing an impressive cross-section of models from across the years.
We were also delighted to welcome Volvo Cars Heritage, who brought six cars from their collection to the meet. Our sincere thanks go to Roger Collins and his colleagues for their support and for bringing such a special selection of vehicles for members and visitors to enjoy. Roger also kindly presented the trophies at the end of the day.
The standard of cars entered into the BKV competition was exceptionally high, making the judging no easy task. Congratulations go to everyone who entered, and particularly to our trophy winners.
The Volvo Owners’ Club’s chosen charity for 2026 is Legend on the Bench, a suicide-prevention charity working to provide easily accessible mental-health and crisis support within local communities.
The charity installs specially designed benches in public spaces, each providing immediate access to support information and services for anyone who may be struggling, 24 hours a day. Its long-term ambition is to see these benches installed in parks and public spaces throughout the UK.
The generosity shown by members at the National Rally was tremendous.
