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‘The Ageless’ will bring cars from the 1920s-60s from all over the world to our roads this year

By Shahzad Sheikh

The Ageless Mythical Cars Tour UAE is set to be a new event modelled on a European ‘Mille Miglia’ style classic car road rallies that will take place across all Seven Emirates of the UAE, this December 9-13.

The 1000km regularity race will see 150 highly cherished vintage and collectable classic cars take part in a five-day event starting and finishing in Abu Dhabi taking in Al Ain, Fujairah and running back down through the Northern Emirates to Abu Dhabi.

Participation will be by invitation only, but the organisers are contemplating opening up a registration process and you can find out more about getting involved at www.theagelesstour.com.

Up to 70% of the cars will be flown in from around the world and will be run in category groupings depending on what decade they fit into. Cars from the 1920s to 1960s can take part (anything manufactured before 31st December 1970) but will have to be genuine classics with provenance and certification to prove their authenticity.

Lucio De Mori, a clerk for the renowned Mille Miglia race, and his team will perform technical checks of the cars including car shake down and time trial tests to ensure that all cars meet the required specifications to participate in the event before the race.

They’re expecting high-profile drivers including ‘celebrities, prominent international jetsetters, reputable businessmen and passionate collectors of classic cars’.

Regularity racing, also known as Time Speed Distance rallying essentially challenges drivers to get from point A to B within a certain amount of time, it’s dependent on the legal average speed, so if you’re too slow, or too fast, you’ll be penalised. Theoretically then it’s not a race. In reality, cars and people experience problems and delays and then often have to speed up to stick the schedule!

The competition will be run in compliance with the International Automobile Federation FIA – that adopts and implements common regulations for all forms of motor sports across the world, and FIVA – the International Federation of Ancient Vehicles – an international assembly that defines, preserves and maintains road vehicles that are at least 30 years old. The Automobile and Touring Club in the UAE will ensure the success of the event by handling all regulation procedures, sporting and technical.

After the road rally a ‘committee of key figures in motor sports’ will elect a winner in each age group, not for the beauty of the car but for the intrinsic technical innovations exhibited in the model (Concourse Technique). Finally, the official The Ageless trophy will go to the winner of the ultimate race. Plus there’ll be an auction on 13th December at Emirates Palace with 70 classic cars up for sale.

The event is being run by DM Cube – a UAE-based events company that has previously staged sporting events in the GCC like the Nazionale Piloti Charity Football Event in Abu Dhabi during the F1 DP.

Patrizia Azzariti, Founder and Managing Director of DM Cube comments: “There are a large number of classic car owners and enthusiasts in the region and we want to give them the chance to experience driving these cars in a professional race set-up.

“These owners have taken meticulous care of these ‘ageless’ cars, preserving their glory for decades later. As these classics wind their way through the race – making their way from private collections, people have a chance to admire them like art on display at a museum. And, there’s no better setup than the UAE, with its great roads and breath-taking skylines; the country serves as a beautiful backdrop for their premier.”