In its sixth-year running now, the Asia Klasika Motor Festival 2015 was deemed another success by its organisers, who managed to pull a 30,000-strong crowd to witness the large number of classic and contemporary exotic cars on display, despite the treacherous haze.
Held at the Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside hotel, the collection of cars displayed, for sale and for competition, included those belonging to the Royal Johor Automobile Collection, courtesy of His Majesty the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.
The theme for this year’s event was “Ultimate Cats,” aptly so, with iconic Jaguar models forming the majority of cars on display – there was a large showing of classic E-Types, and even a partially-restored Jaguar D-Type in attendance.
In conjunction with Jaguar’s 80th anniversary celebration, Sisma Auto (local distributors of Jaguar vehicles in Malaysia) also presented the show-stopping F-Type Project 7 — the fastest road-going Jaguar today. Limited to just 250 units worldwide, the Project 7 was recently in town to make its Southeast Asian debut. Next to it at the Asia Klasika show was an iconic Jaguar XJ220, belonging to the the Sultan of Johor’s collection.
The Asia Klasika festival also welcomed Munich Automobiles Pte Ltd, Singapore’s official BMW Alpina dealership, which took the opportunity to showcase several Alpina-tuned models, including a 2014 Alpina D3 Biturbo, and a 2013 DTM M3 Coupe Bruno Spengler limited edition model. In its tribute to the 40th anniversary of the BMW 3 Series, there was also a range of classic 3ers, including a 1987 BMW E30 M3.
Keeping things fresh, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia was in attendance to show off two of its latest locally-available models – the hot C 63 S, and the CLA Shooting Brake. The CLA Shooting Brake is of course limited to just 10 units for sale in the country, at the moment.
Ongoing at the show was the “Pullman Sale” of investment-grade collector cars, that had a total cumulative value that exceeded the RM30 million mark. A rare 1958 Porsche 356 Speedster was amongst the cars put up for sale, asking a cool RM2.98 million for it.
There was also a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 and a 1967 Austin-Healey BJ8 3000 Phase II. A few customised Chevrolet Impalas were also available for sale at the show, with their values nearing the RM1 million mark.
The show would not have been complete if not for the pre-concours tour-Rally Klasika, which saw a procession of 25 vintage and classic cars participate in a drive around Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. A highlight of the drive was a 1972 Panther J72, along several other timeless classics.
Another highlight of the show was a 1958 Jaguar XK150 Drophead Coupe, owned by one Al Dakshi from Singapore, who also claimed the coveted “Sultan Ibrahim Cup” with his car.
Dutchman Arnout Everts, drove back with the “2015 Asia Klasika Best of Show” trophy for his pristine 1952 Citroen 2CV AU (Camionette). The very same car was a nominee for the award in last year’s show, but the odds seemed to favour Everts this time around.
Commenting on the relative success of the show, curator of the event, Andrew Suresh said, “the momentum for premium automobiles, collector cars and exotic future classics sold at the event shows no sign of slowing down. Sales of new vehicles are consistently supported by the heritage value of its brand and spirit of innovation, which are clearly evident in the range of classics on display.
“It is estimated that deals in the pipeline that have yet to be reported may result in a total of RM12million to RM14million in private sales,” he continued.
The Sultan of Johor and his son, His Royal Highness, Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim arrived at the show on the final day in their Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
The full list of awards presented at the Asia Klasika 2015 is as follows:
Premier Awards
Class Awards
Special Awards
GALLERY: Asia Klasika Motor Festival 2015
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Chris, where’s the image of the Corvette Z06?
sigh…. they don’t bring in the Citroens with hydro-pneumatic suspension system anymore. The C6 and the C5 (very limited run) were the last batches. Very sad if the decide to remove this feature on their future cars. It was way ahead of its time back then for the original DS and CX.
no orange satria?