Vintage cars for a cause

One thing that is undeniably true of Filipinos is their bayanihan spirit. This is what I learned from a young English lad who by some stroke of the uncanny came to our country, was overwhelmed by the poverty that he saw and could not forget it. For how could one forget the happy faces of impoverished children, running around Payatas in tattered kamisetas and in spite of their hunger pangs could still manage to smile at the pleasant face of a kind stranger handing them some goodies. Dylan Wilk was the kind samaritan who could not turn his back on our poorest of the poor. He came, he saw, and by God’s grace, stuck with us Filipinos. He has opted to spend a good part of his life in the Philippines by joining Gawad Kalinga, an organization whose aim is to give housing and livelihood to the poorest of the poor. Dylan is an inspiration to us Filipinos but this story is not about him. It is about the bayanihan spirit of Filipinos, who are willing to give generously for a good cause. Juts like on this particular Sunday afternoon at the Polo Club, there was one worthy cause.

Golden Acres is asking for help. They need a new home for the countless elderly people who were abandoned by their families or who have no families or next of kin to care for them. A sad and lonely plight when one is in the sunset of his life, with nothing but death to look forward to. Golden Acres Foundation in Quezon City takes care that most of the old homeless people are given shelter and three meals a day.

During my school days, I used to go to the Home of the Aged in Welfareville every Sunday with a bunch of volunteers to teach catechism. It was part of our Student Catholic Action activity. Rain or shine, we never failed to visit the aged and bring some cheer to them. Sometimes I would bring some goodies and magazines, aside from teaching them catechism. After a while, I knew most of them by name. It would sadden me every time one of them would pass away.

This is why, when Pinky Tabiano asked me to help out in this event for the benefit of the Golden Acres, which is a charity close to her heart, I could not refuse. It brought back fond memories of the Sundays I used to take the jeepney with my fellow student volunteers to bring cheer to the aged.

Joey Almeda, chairman of this event with members of the Manila Sports Car Club Norman Castillo, Francis Rivera, Ed Salonga, Louis and Bubi Camus, and Nilo Vergara, organized their group of fellow car enthusiasts to exhibit their collection of vintage and non-vintage sports cars to raise funds for the Golden Acres Foundation.

What a unique idea. In place of fashion shows or musicals which Manila society is over saturated with, an afternoon at the polo field with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, BMWs, Jaguars and the like made a world of difference.

A collection of sports cars that I never knew existed in Manila littered the sprawling polo field. There was a silver Mercedes Benz called the Gullwing owned by Ramon Torres. True to its name, the doors opened upwards, like a gull. Cito Beltran is the proud owner of a 1953 XK120 Jaguar formerly owned by Freddie Elizalde. It took Cito three years to restore the car to its present running condition. An interesting note is that he did not change the interiors. He used the same leather seats, never mind if they looked a bit beat, the same steering wheel and steel frames with all their scratches. Such a car can command a handsome price in the auctions nowadays but Cito will not be tempted to sell, as he has promised to give this car to his daughter.

There were two cars that were replicas of the original Porsche, and MG. The proud creator of these two cars is Gonzalo Sy-Quia who loves cars so much he can create almost any kind of car. He uses a Toyota engine for his replicas. They look exactly like the real thing. For the benefit of those who want to get good-looking replicas of their dream car, his company is Michel Motor Corporation.
My cousin Carlos, who has been a car aficionado since his college days, (he was the first Corvette owner I ever saw in the Philippines) introduced me to someone who has a stable of eight cars, in a temperature controlled air-conditioned garage. Carlos claims that when there is a brownout in Makati, he goes to this friend’s garage because his generator is turned on for his babies. Talk about pampering.

The yellow Lamborghini owned by Nilo Pascugin was a scene-stealer parked alongside the dashing red Ferraris. One such Ferrari, the 308 GTS Quattro Valvale, is owned by Joey Almeda, organizer of the event. Another red beauty was the Ferrari Testarossa owned by Dr. Duque.

One car that caught everybody’s attention was the 1968 Lola T 70 owned by Louis Camus and his son Bubi. This car was developed by Eric Bradly in 1965 for endurance racing. Over 100 T 70s were sold during the years 1965-1967. After the factory stopped producing them, Franco Sbarro in Switzerland made replicas, using the original body mould, mainly for road use. The Lola has a bulbous body shape with flowing lines and was aerodynamic for the time.

The maker of bulletproof windows, PAGC and Armory Inc., was one of the sponsors of the event. They had a bullet-proof Suburban on display. Very effective for those who want extra security while cruising around Metro Manila and the neighboring provinces. Other sponsors of the event were BMW, Auto Haus in Libis, RFM, and Photo Teknika.

A very successful car dealer, Jimmy Garcia, of 1471 Auto Stadium Inc. displayed his Hummer and Mercedes Benz four-wheel drive G 500, a top of the line BMW and a Porsche. He opened his car dealership December 2004. He has sold six Hummers, five Mercedes G 500, and has no more BMWs and Porsches. He started his business with two cars and now has a garage of 40 cars. All his cars are over P5 million each. This leads us to wonder if there is an underground economy in our country, which is undergoing a fiscal crisis and is debt-ridden in the trillions of dollars in all the world banks. It seems that there is a surplus of cash available when the big boys are buying their toys.

Other vintage cars like a 1960 El Dorado, a ‘65 Corvette owned by Oscar Medalla, two other Corvettes circa ‘66, and ‘70, a 1973 Trans Am 455, a ‘66 Mustang GT convertible, a ‘69 Mercedes Benz SE 280, a West Field Lotus, among others.

I had such a good time looking at the cars but more importantly the thought that the proceeds of this car show would give Golden Acres its much-needed fund made the event more enjoyable to cover.