Vintage for all

Distinctive, elegant and old – vintage cars always manage to steal public attention when they hit the road, making jaws drop wherever they go.

If you are among these vintage cars enthusiasts, you need to prepare for the country’s biggest classic car exhibition. The 5th Otoblitz International Classic Car Show 2011 will run from Dec.16 to 18 at Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.

Around 500 vintage cars and 300 vintage motorcycles will be on display at the two-day event.

“Indonesia has the biggest collection of classic cars in Southeast Asia. Just like old buildings, we have to preserve vintage cars too,” said Azman Osman, the man behind the exhibition.

Dozens of journalists and photojournalists got the chance to closely observe two classic sports cars during a recent press conference: a gorgeous red 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 and a yellow 1971 Chevy Camaro Z28, parked next to a café in Kemang, South Jakarta. The photojournalists enthusiastically took pictures of the two car models as well as the two female models posing alongside.

Laurent Setjodiningrat, a young classic-car lover and entrepreneur, said he loved vintage cars because they taught him certain values.

“Having a classic car makes us learn about persistence and patience,” he said.

Azman said the committee decided to move the exhibition from Kartika Expo Center at Balai Kartini in South Jakarta to the new venue because of the growing number of visitors.

This year, the exhibition takes “Classics for all, all for classics” as its theme to encourage people to make classic cars a part of their lives. The exhibition, he said, would showcase a number of cars that will be the stars of the show.

Three Mercedes Benz models – a 220SE Cabriolet, a 1965 300D Adenauer and a 1956 190SL – will be the highlights along with a Porsche Carrera RS (1971), Pontiac Trans Am (1969) and a Ford Mustang Pony (1965). These rare vehicles were all in good condition, Azman said.

He said the exhibition would divide the cars into certain categories, such as American Classic All Stars, which includes a Chevy Nova II and a Ford Fairlane, Euro Classic All Stars, which would boast German, British and Swedish classic cars, and Japanese Samurai, which would display, among other things, a Suzuki Cultus Rally and a Toyota Soarer.

“We will also have a Future Classic category. In this part of the show, visitors can get a glimpse of modern cars that will be classics in some 30 years from now,” he said, adding that it would be an investment for car lovers.

Azman said tickets for the exhibition would be priced at Rp 50,000 (US$5.4), higher than the Indonesia International Motor Show, because the committee wanted to welcome visitors who were seriously enthusiastic about the development of classic cars.