Photos by Diana Noche
It’s August and there was still a chance of rain but the weather held — the air was as thick as glue, in fact — so Automoto Philippines’ Metro Car Show 6 at the Makati City Hall Concert Grounds got the kind of attention it deserved. It was a most welcome pause in a flux of storms and cat-and-dog weather with people hassling to report for work in shin-deep floodwaters.
The Metro Car Show 6 had an unpretentious approachability. All cars were so arranged for a wide range of spectators who watched a dance of color and sheet metal glint cutting quite a silhouette against the open air light. There were quite a number of kids at the show, displaying a positive enthusiasm for the exhibited cars. This early their acquaintance with them is being cultivated and encouraged to keep their young dream of driving one happen.
Automoto Philippines, thru its chief organizer James Aliviado, had aimed at exploring a more diverse range of automobile options at each car show. This year has quite an impressive array of cars covering multiple genres without lots of the gimmickry stuff, both mechanical and auto architecture-wise. Restorations on the older models were at a minimum but the few things that were updated were tasteful modifications that added to the stuff car legends are made of.
The car show is chuck-full of masterpieces. A long look at the Yamaha4 x 4 Difflock Rov Viking can easily turn into a prolonged preoccupation with nature trips and escape from the 21st-century suburban traffic to quieter places. The Toyota Fortuner and its camouflage decals make for a true muscle car and stampeding horsepower. The 2-seater BMW shown off by Padi’s Point would put wow into any ride and make driving another sports car a lot flat and so ho-hum.
But the real attention-getter is a fleet of Mustangs — the ultimate index of upward mobility and jet set aura — the easiest datum to show one has made it. It’s hard to ignore a Mustang, especially if it’s a red one. Or a golden one. Take a Mustang to any car show and never drive back home without a trophy or two.
Put it all together and it made for an exciting Sunday of showing off and eye candy.