Riding high on vintage fandom

The Gold Coast Motor Festival returns for a second run, beginning today. Neil Li shares a sneak preview of what to expect at the city's only classic and vintage cars show with a carnival feel.

Despite its relatively small size, Hong Kong is home to a large number of cars, ranging from standard sedans to luxurious super cars. The local community of classic car owners have some of the most sought-after vehicles in the world today in their stables, besides the odd Mercedes Benzs and Porsches. In recent years, a number of classic car events have taken place in Hong Kong, reflecting the city's growing interest in this field.

Owners get younger

According to Victor Ma, a consultant with the Collectors Car Club of Hong Kong, the classic car culture in Hong Kong began around the 1960s, when expats started importing cars from their home country to the city. And then the love of foreign-made cars caught on among the local Chinese. Since then the city's community of classic car admirers has grown to a reasonable size. "You can't say it's very big but then it's not that small either," Ma explains. The Collectors Car Club of Hong Kong has around 400 members while the Classic Car Club of Hong Kong has nearly 600. However, as Ma points out, certain members on these lists might have just one vehicle while one or two of them might own a fleet of over 100.

Nonetheless, the city's interest in classic and vintage cars is steadily on the rise. The UK-headquartered enterprise Frank Dale & Stepsons, specialists in maintenance and restoration of classic cars, primarily Rolls-Royce and Bentley, opened their first and only international branch in To Kwa Wan in 2013.

Today, in less than four years, they are unable to cope with the growing demand for their services, says the general manager Benjamin Ho.

"I've been working with super and classic cars for more than 15 years now. Back then the owners were older people from families with a history of owning classic cars. But nowadays the owners have become younger. Sometimes you wouldn't think someone that young would be interested in classic cars," he says.

The growing love of vintage automobiles among Hong Kong residents is also owed to the fact that unlike the Chinese mainland and Macao, Hong Kong is the only place in the region that allows for the import of used cars.

Besides, says Ho, Hong Kong collectors are increasingly taken by the charm and distinctive features of each vintage piece, harkening back to another time. No two classic cars are exactly alike even if they were of the same brand and model, manufactured the same year, as the assembling of parts would be done manually.

"When it comes to classic cars, it's not simply about just driving a vehicle. Many owners enjoy the sense of ownership as it comes with a lot of sentimental values. This is hard to explain sometimes," says Ho.

Ma certainly understands this. He owns a number of different vintage vehicles - from sports cars to pre-war and war-time automobiles to off-road vehicles. These include a number of rare German-made vehicles. Ma owns a model of which there are only about three known samples in the world, and a 1943 Willys MB jeep bought when he was 16. Ma's love of vintage automobiles grew from watching a lot of war movies, and getting drawn to the utility trucks featured in them, when he was young. "Classic cars are like toys," says Ma, reflecting on his early exposure to vintage vehicles. As a child he would play with the scaled-down replicas of famous vintage models. Now he owns some of these for real.

Rare gems

2016 was a special year for classic cars in Hong Kong. It saw the city's first ever classic car auction as well as the inaugural edition of the Gold Coast Motor Festival. Organized by the Sino Group, the second edition of the motor show kicks off today, carrying on over the weekend.

The show will feature more than 80 prized collectors' cars, from vintage classics to exotic super and hyper cars. About half of the cars displayed are owned by private collectors from around the world, while the other half are provided by manufacturers. "There is a lot of history around cars so we want to show a bit more about the heritage, especially to the younger generation. It'll be a good opportunity for people in their twenties and thirties to get to see that firsthand," says Eugene Leung, general manager of the Gold Coast Motor Festival.

Leung and Carl Yuen, curator of the festival, have been able to put together an impressive line-up of cars. Among them is a rare replica of the 1886 Benz Motorwagen from a private collector, widely considered as the world's first automobile. Another iconic classic car to be shown is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE - possibly the most-prized item on this year's show. "It's the 70th anniversary of Ferrari this year and we think the 1962 Ferrari is a great classic 2+2 coupe that is stylish even now," says Leung.

The past, present and future of luxury collectors' cars is well-represented. Visitors will have a chance to see an exquisite Pagani Zonda Fantasma Evo - the only one in existence in the world today. Almost as rare is the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, with only 20 of these ever produced. The festival will showcase the only one of these in the possession of a Hong Kong collector. Over the past few years, electric cars and hybrids have gained popularity and could well figure among collectibles in the near future. The sleekly-designed Volkswagen XL1, of which there are just 250 editions in the world, is up on display at the festival as well.

"With Carl's help, we've collected a lot of cars from different parts of the world. We curated a show the likes of which the general public here does not get a chance to see that easily. Thanks to the generosity of the collectors, we can share motoring knowledge and experience with a wide audience," says Leung.

Asia's car epicenter

Gold Coast Motor Festival 2017 will unveil the vintage beauties in a festive atmosphere. There will be live music and entertainment, a dedicated kids' zone with inflatable toys, a mini-train ride and a video game racing tournament.

With so much to do and see, Leung aims to attract more than 30,000 visitors, not only from Hong Kong but all around Asia. He hopes that in a few years the Gold Coast Motor Festival would become one of the best car shows in Asia and be mentioned in the same breath as the major car shows around the world like the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the United States and Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

Ho of Frank Dale & Stepsons has helped clients spruce up their cars for participation in shows, including the Gold Coast Motor Festival, which he believes is on the right track. The open-air exhibition space is quite huge and luxurious, giving the show a vibe similar to some of the world's finest, he contends. Yuen says Hong Kong is capable of making the world standards and more.

"Hong Kong is a small city but we have this huge passion for cars," says Yuen. "While Hong Kong might not be a car producing place, neither is Geneva and Geneva's motor show is one of the most celebrated in the world," he points out, adding, "We can make this place a very good epicenter for cars."

(HK Edition 11/10/2017 page10)