2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 1 (part 1)
We’ll be reporting live from the vintage and classic car show 15-18th February
By Shahzad Sheikh
Motoring Middle East is just about to board a plane and will be relocating to Kuwait City for the rest of the week to cover this year’s edition of the magnificent Kuwait Concours d’Elegance, held by The Historical, Vintage and Classical Cars Museum.
This is the third time this event, widely regarded as the region’s leading classic car show, is taking place after hugely successful runs in 2010 and 2011.
With participants and cars being flown in from all over the world for the four-day Concours being held 15th-18th February, the quality of cars on show is expected to be mouth watering – as it was last year!
Celebrity Judges
And once again there’s an impressive lineup up of judges headed by Concours’ chief judge Leonardo Fioravanti, designer of the Ferrari Daytona 288 GTO, 308 GTB and F40, amongst others.
Other notable judges include Sandra Button from the United States who is the Chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance; Mark Richman Design Director at Aston Martin from the UK; FIA Vice President, car collector and multiple Middle East rally champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem from the United Arab Emirates; Andrea Zagato from Italy; Dr. Ulrich Bez CEO of Aston Martin, Horst Bruning from FIVA and Jurgen Lewandowski – Automotive Journalist from Germany.
Plus there’s Rony Karam and Fersan Haddad from Lebanon; Jacques Braneyre, Nicolas Marceau and Olivier Boulay from France; Shiro Nakamura – Chief Creative Officer of Nissan-Infiniti from Japan; Raja Gargour Head of the Royal Cars Museum in Jordan; Christian Philippsen – Head of Louis Vuitton Classic from Belgium; Manvendra Singh from India and last but not least the designer of Mercedez-Benz Olivier Boulay.
Star cars
Get ready to drool over this glittering line-up – this is just a small sample of what’s expected:
The Shah of Iran’s 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV
1964 Shelby Cobra USRRC
Jaguar D-Type
Ferrari GTO Breadvan
1969 Daytona
1970 Superbird
1972 Cuda Convertible
1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Cobra jet 428 – and about 20 classic muscle cars in total
Historic racing cars
And guest appearances by the stars of the animated Cars Movie
Schedule
15th Feb – Opening ceremony at 7pm, plus Ministerial Classic cars Show
16th Feb – Judging of muscle cars 10am-1pm. Lectures: 4pm Leonardo Fioravanti on the Silver Jubilee of the Ferrari F40 ‘the car that changed my life’; 5pm Bruce Myers on the Dune Buggy; 5.30pm Olivier Boulay, head of the Beijing Design Centre. Plus the Super cars show.
17th Feb – Concours judging and Kuwait Motorbikes show
18th Feb – 1pm Concours parade and presentations, plus Ferrari show
“This is one of the most famous car competitions in the world. The Kuwait edition is amongst the world’s greatest, because of its Middle Eastern unique features, reflecting Kuwait’s remarkable interest in classical and luxury cars”, says Paul Goldsmith one of the organisers behind the event.
For a full set of images from the 2012 Kuwait show, click here
2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 1 (part 1)
2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 1 (part 2)
2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 2 (part 1)
2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 2 (part 2)
2012 Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – day 3
Jinnah’s Rolls-Royce 1924 Silver Ghost wins in Kuwait Concours d’Elegance
Kuwait Concours d’Elegance – Results and videos
Kuwait Historical, Vintage and Classic Cars Museum
King Hussein’s Porsche 959 at Kuwait Concours d’Elegance
2012 Aston V12 Zagato Unveiled (with video)
Win Ferrari F40 scale model signed by the guy who designed it!
