It was a red letter date for tuning and custom car enthusiasts as the Manila Auto Salon opened its doors late last week at the SMX Convention Center of the SM Mall of Asia. Tuning and custom shops from Metro Manila and nearby provinces put their best foot forward as the public feasted their eyes on 100 plus custom cars, trucks and motorcycles.
“The Auto Salon is probably the biggest display of aftermarket vehicles, parts and accessories the country will ever see,” says Sophie Delos Santos, president of Tradeshow International, the production company behind the event
As a partner of the Tokyo Auto Salon, the Manila Auto Salon is the largest custom car show in the country today. What started as a show for custom sedans and sports cars, have now evolved into an off-road show with majority of the vehicles on display being massive off-road trucks and SUV’s. “This trend reflects why there is a surge in pick-up and SUV sales, because these vehicles are the most logical choice for our local roads given the tropical setting, flash floods and bad roads,” says Sam Liuson of Wheel Gallery. Liuson’s display booth had a retro-mod Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, his take on a classic SUV with a dash of modernity and a custom Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution which won the plum fpr the Japanese SUV 4×4 Division. Atoy Llave, the country’s King of Bodykits and celebrity van maker, displayed a customized Toyota Grandia and a Kia Carnival with a bubble top roof which won the Best Van category. A crowd drawer was Atoy’s zombie apocalypse inspired Mercedes Benz 190E drift machine.
Also pulling in the crowds were the display of Overland of Thailand, who had a fleet of customized rigs equipped with Overland’s off-road gear such as front and rear bumpers and lift kits for higher ground clearance. The off-road machines were customized by Lance Chua of Autobuff QC and Warren Torres of Wernz Off Road shop and the Overland group won a handful of trophies as well. The “in your face” display of 199 Off Road house had a rare Mercedes Benz Unimog, plus a 4×4 monster trucks equipped with PIAA LED lights. PIAA displayed their dominance in the local market with majority of the off-road rigs and cars on display had PIAA as their preferred choice of lighting systems.
Another crowd pleaser was the Ferrari Novitec F12 N Largo of Autoplus-Motul. What this Ferrari Novitec cool was its rarity, which is reportedly one of 11 in existence around the World. JDM fans were also treated with some visual eye candy starting with the Honda Type R Spoon EK of Henry Chua of Team AutoGenix, the Mitsubishi Lancer “Boxtype” of Autoindustriya, a customized Honda Fit with clear hood of JDM Select and a rare rally spec Ford Escort Mexico owned by Press Undersecretary George Apacible.
The Manila Auto Salon runs up to this weekend.