EGYPT: Vintage car owners in Egypt parade their vehicles through the capital as part of a road safety campaign organised by the Cairo Automobile Club

Some of the glamour of bygone days came to life in Cairo on sunday (January 14), with the city's finest classic cars gathering at a famous colonial palace and then parading through the city early this morning. For those lucky enough to witness it, it was an unusual sight to say the least - dozens of perfectly preserved antique cars, from Alpha Romeos to Mercedes and Cadillac Coupe De Villes, rolling into the grounds of the fabled Baron Empain palace in Heliopolis before rolling out in procession to the blaring sirens of a police escort on the way to Egypt's National Exhibition Centre The event, organized by the Automobile Club and Touring Company of Egypt and Bespoke International, a supplier of chemical cleaners for cars, was officially organized to both celebrate the Club's 80th anniversary and also to publicize its new road safety campaign. The Egyptian Automobile Club is a member of the Federation Internationale de 'Automobile (FIA). The head of the cars and races committee of the Automobile Club, Ramzy F. Zaklama, said that today's event was a chance for the club to raise its venerated profile even further. "We are celebrating today the establishment of the Automobile Club of Egypt, which was founded 80 years ago, and fifty years since we joined the International Automobile Club. This is an occasion for us to put our club on an international level," he said. This morning, the car owners arrived dressed in the elegance of days gone by, with their prized automobiles gleaming in the morning sunshine. In an era of overcrowded streets chock full of tiny, dilapidated taxis competing with minibuses and any other kind of vehicle known to man, the gathering at the 19th century, Hindu themed Baron palace, and the subsequent parade brought back memories of a more glamourous era - at least for any observer able to close their eyes to the crowded metropolis in the background. Frederik Faidhi, the British-Iraqi CEO of Bespoke International, said that one of the organizers' aims was to insure the cars could be properly preserved. "Our hope is to establish a museum, a museum for vintage cars. Because all of the Arab countries have such a museum except for Egypt. We have been told that within two years an Arab car museum will be established in Egypt," he said. Mahmoud Ezz El Din, the technical coordinator of Bespoke, said that the carefully preserved cars had sentimental value for the older generation in particular. "Of course we feel as if it's the good old days when the streets were empty, and these cars make you feel like you've gone back to those years. When a vintage car passes in front of you -- and someone older than me would feel this even more, he would feel a special moment with this car, driving to the club or driving home from work for example. All these cars give us memories of the places we've been, and the places we've visited with the car. All the efforts and every screw put into it has its own memories," he said. The oldest car at Sunday's event was a 1949 two-door Cadillac Coupe De Ville, which has been fully renovated and had power steering and air conditioning installed. The white Cadillac is owned by Sobhi Al-Khodari. Another classic car enthusiast who attended today's event was Mounir al-Zahid, who had three cars in the parade. al-Zahid said he had been collecting cars for many years and that the classic car committee of the Automobile Club, had gradually developed during that time. "It's a very old hobby that goes back 20 years, and I should say that my father encouraged me at the beginning. And this hobby continued until we met with all this group of people and we went through the administration of the Automobile Club to establish this classic committee, and we began to celebrate and have events and have prizes and parades. Today we are very happy that we are cooperating with the Automobile Club for its 50 year anniversary," he said. al-Zahid had some of the finest cars on display at today's event, bringing with him a Studabaker Champion, model 55, which he believes to be the only one in Egypt, as well as a Ford Thunderbird 56 and a Mercedes 300 SE Cabriolet. While many of the cars at today's event were classic, al-Zahid's Cabriolet was one of the finest collector's items on display. al-Zahid says that the 1968 Cabriolet was one of only 700 produced in the world. It is believed that the only two others are owned in the Middle East, having belonged to the late King Hussein of Jordan. The 68 Cabriolet, which has a 3.5 V8, 8 Cylinder Engine, sometimes goes for prices of up to $500,000 dollars at auction. After the cars gathered on the front lawn of the Baron palace, with several driving up to the terrace that overlooks Heliopolis, the city Belgian-born industrialist, Baron-General Edouard Louis Joseph Empain founded in 1907, they revved up their engines once more to begin the 15 kilometre trek to the Exhibition hall near Cairo's Nasr City. They exited the Baron's ghostly palace to find the streets of Cairo empty, having been cordoned off by police so that the royalty of Egyptian automobiles could pass in the style that was their due. For shocked onlookers it was a surreal sight, and though some of them, still caught up in the everyday rush honked impatiently, many stared in wonder as the clock was turned back to a simpler time, for a few minutes at least.

ITN Source | January 14, 2007

Tags:. .hussein. .colonial. .lawn. .coordinator. .collectors