Concours: Parade of vintage and classic cars awaits you

Gursharan Singh and his father work on a 1980 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. PHOTO| JOHN FOX

What you need to know:

  • John’s place in Karen is a museum of classic cars. Well, museum is not the word, because it is also a workshop – busy with restoration work on an amazing collection of vehicles.
  • One shed he calls his Aladdin’s Cave is lined with shelves of nuts and bolts and all manner of spare parts for old Fords, Chevrolets, Dodges, Internationals, and many more.

If you’re reading this at breakfast or brunch, there’s a fun event waiting for you at the Racecourse down the Ngong Road. It’s the CBA Africa Concours d’Elegance: a car show, but much more than a car show – a great day out for the family and not only for petrolheads.

Organised by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club and sponsored by the Commercial Bank of Africa, this will be the 46th running of the Concours. Over the years, it has grown in its number of competitors, attracted more and more spectators, and firmly established itself in the calendar as one of Kenya’s most popular annual events.

Bob Dewar has been the event director since its founding and, when some time in August his phone call comes, it is like the first call of the cuckoo in England, a reminder that another year has passed – or, better, is beginning.

This year’s programme will follow the tried and trusted formula: the judging of 70 classic and vintage cars and 40 motorcycles, 28 motor trade stands, a sale of classic cars, a children’s entertainment centre, music from a live band, fly pasts, and a very grand finale. And there will be plenty of places for food and drinks.

To remind myself about the pull of the Concours, I sought out two of this year’s competitors: the old hand, John Wroe, and the young newcomer, Gursharan Singh.        

John Wroe has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Concours for many years, and this year he is exhibiting three cars in the Veteran, Vintage and Post-Vintage Class: two 1930 Model A Fords and a 1936 Bentley. He is committed to the restoration of old cars and he sees them as a fascinating part of Kenya’s history.

He believes that it is important that the veteran and vintage cars should be at the strong core of the event – otherwise it will be just a car show.

“Look at the name,” he says, ‘“Concours d’Elegance”. You can call an old lady elegant – but not a young one!’

John’s place in Karen is a museum of classic cars. Well, museum is not the word, because it is also a workshop – busy with restoration work on an amazing collection of vehicles. One shed he calls his Aladdin’s Cave is lined with shelves of nuts and bolts and all manner of spare parts for old Fords, Chevrolets, Dodges, Internationals, and many more.

And when John and his mechanics have done their work, the cars become once again things of beauty – sorry, elegance. When I told John that I have only 800 words for these Going Places pieces, he said, “But that’s only enough for one of these cars!” True. Almost. So let me just tell you about a couple of his cars that featured in the film, Out of Africa. First, there’s the magnificent 1928 International SS Motor Truck, driven in the film by Robert Redford. There is also a Hotchkiss Coupe (a name more commonly associated with World War 1 machine guns) also from the 1930s, which is shown in the same film being admired by a couple of Maasai morans.

I could go on – for many pages – but I have to leave John’s cars and his stories for another time.

I went to meet Gursharan Singh in a very different kind of place: a trim housing estate behind the Vision Plaza along the Mombasa Road. Gursharan entered the Concours for the first time last year, with a 1980 Datsun Sunny. And he came first in his class of touring cars. But this year he has his dream entrant. I found him and his father working hard on a 1980 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. There’s a very nice story behind this car. Gursharan’s father is a mechanic. Gursharan had often heard him singing the praises of Alfa Romeos. He had worked on them, had admired the clever simplicity of the engine and the beauty of the design – but he had never been able to afford one.

So Gursharan nursed a plan to get one for his father. This he eventually did – and later his father returned the favour by giving the Alfasud back to his son on his 21st birthday. This is the car he will be showing – with a lot of pride.

So, if you hadn’t already thought of going along to the Concours, I hope I have whetted your appetite – for what has become known as the classiest event on the Kenya motor sports calendar.

The admission fee is Sh1,000 for adults and Sh500 for children. The gates open at 9 am, but spectators will be arriving all through the day.

A tip: if you want to avoid the queue of cars along the Ngong Road, you can take the longer but quicker way round via the Mombasa Road or Waiyaki Way and the bypass to Karen.

 

John Fox is Managing Director of iDC

if you plan to g0

Venue: Racecourse,  Ngong Road. The gates open at 9a.m

Admission fee is Sh1,000 for adults and Sh500  for children.

A tip: To avoid the queue of cars on Ngong Road, take the longer but quicker way round via the Mombasa Road or Waiyaki Way and the bypass to Karen.