Max Jones: The teenager who runs his own classic events

Max Jones has been organising classic car events since the age of 10, where he would gather his family into his parent’s garage to host mini shows. Now 17, Max has taken the reigns of an annual classic event that now attracts 150 vehicles, donating his profits to charity.

The event was previously run by Max’s grandfather, Clive. An enthusiast himself with several classics in his garage, Max caught the bug from his grandad and started helping at the events from the age of 10.

Speaking about her son’s achievement, Max’s mum Emma said, “Max has done fantastically well with the show. It’s always been something he was very passionate about, so it’s been amazing to watch him take the reins. His grandad collects classic cars. He’s done a couple of car rallies and has seven classic automobiles at home in his garage. That’s how it all started. Max was very taken with the cars as a kid and loved to help out with them. He started organising small family events, inviting his aunts and uncles to come and view the cars in the garage and asked for charity donations to fundraise for good causes.”

Emma added, “Max has been organising car shows with his grandad every year since he was 10 and they’ve got bigger and bigger. Each year Max is given a little more independence with them, but this is the first year that he’s taken charge of the event.”

As the event grew in popularity, in 2016 the owners of Lupin Farm in Staffordshire, who also run their own classic events, allowed them to move it there.

“It’s become such a big event for the community,” said Emma, “Local shops and businesses offer up donations for the tombola and raffle that we do. We also sell hot food, cakes, tea and coffee.”

The events now attract over 150 classic vehicles and around 300 people.

Max said, “The shows have always been a great chance for me to meet people, and for my family to get together. When I speak to people, they say they look forward to them, so that’s really motivated us to keep them going. Last year in particular we had a really nice range of cars, so I was keen to get everyone back. My grandad still gets involved. He works at the event as a car park attendant now and organises where the classic cars will be parked on the field. Now that we have the field, it’s ideal, so the plan is to just keep hosting the events and making them even bigger and better until we end up having to find a bigger location.”

Profits raised at the events go to The Not Forgotten, a charity providing events for wounded serving personnel and disabled veterans, to improve their physical and mental health. When talking about his choice in charity, Max said “The charity is important to me because it’s one that my grandad always supported when he ran the shows. I want to continue contributing to them and helping to raise more money for what they do. The whole point of the day is for people to have fun, enjoy seeing the cars and help out with a worthy cause.”

 Have you been to an event run by Max and his grandad before? Let us know in the comments.