The Hua Hin Vintage Car Parade 2008 was something special. Laurence Civil discovers why!

History of the Club
Over 40 years ago Dieter von Boehm-Bezing, himself the proud owner of a 1924 Bentley was inspired by the sight of a caravan of well maintained vintage cars crossing the White Bridge in Bangkok. “Why don’t we organize the Thai equivalent of the famous ‘London to Brighton or Bust’ veteran car rally?” he asked.

The response was the first Vintage Car Concourse in Thailand born on 28th February 1971 with the vintage car club establishing itself in April of that year under the Sponsorship of Lufthansa German Airlines. The club under­went a number of sponsorship and name changes before settling on “The Vintage Car Club of Thailand in 2001.”

What is the difference between a classic and vintage car in Thailand.

“We have three categories of membership for our club,” explains Kwanchai Paphtphong, Club President. “A vintage car has to have been manufactured between 1900-1939; the second is post World War II manufactured between 1940-1955 and the third type of classic car manufactured after 1956 must be at least 25 years old. The oldest car participating this year is the Darraq 1904. A model of this car was featured in the 1953 British film Genevieve about the London to Brighton car rally. This year we were joined by neighbouring members from Singapore and Malaysia who drove up especially to be with us. ”

The Eye catchers of the 2008 rally – Who Looked Hot

The Jaguar XK120 was a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. Jaguar’s frst post-war sports car, it succeeded the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.

The XK120 was  launched  in roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a test bed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. It caused a sensation, which persuaded William Lyons to put it into production.

The “X” in the car’s name is for experimental, and the next letter was the sequence. “K” happened to be the sequence of the engine that was up to the job.Te “120” in its name referred  to  its 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with  the windscreen removed), which made  the XK120  the world’s  fastest standard production car at the time of its launch.

The roadster version was popular with Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Clark Gable and Lauren Bacall. Production of this car was limited with only a total 7614 being made of which the frst 240 had aluminum bodies.

The car that really turned heads at this year’s parade was Mercedes-Benz 300SL introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show—unlike previous models introduced at either the Frankfurt or Geneva  shows. The 300SL was best known for both its distinctive gull wing or butterfy wing doors and for being the frst-ever gasoline-powered car equipped with fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber.

Eternal youth is a miracle bestowed on only a small number of cars, and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe is one of this elite group. The road model was inspired by American importer Maximilian E. Hofman who urged Mercedes-Benz to build a road car in the image of its racing coupe, the start of production in 1954 providing a sweet fruit for his endeavors. The assembly lines may have waved goodbye to the last of the only 1,400 units of the 300 SL coupe ever made in 1957, but the spirit of this extraordinary car most certainly lives on.

The body of the 300 SL was developed with the primary aim of cutting aero­dynamic drag to a minimum. The result was a streamlined form with few adornments, a car which adhered faithfully to its design brief and which has retained its freshness and allure to the present day. Wonderfully propor­tioned and extremely dynamic, it was as if the 300 SL – surging forward on its wheels – had been cut form a single mold of high grade sheet steel.

The engine had to be tilted 45 degrees to the left in order to squeeze under the hood of what was an extremely flat car, thus reducing the amount of space in the passenger-side foot well. When I tried sitting as a passenger it was hard to get in and even harder to get out off, the price you pay for doing it in style.

Jaguar E-Type 1961 was the model produced by Jaguar between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing resulted in a great success for Jaguar, with more than 70,000 E-Types being sold over its lifespan. It is often referred to as the E-Type Jag, and has subsequently become an icon of 1960s motoring. In March 2008, the Jaguar E-Type ranked first in the UK’s Daily Telegraph’s list of the “100 most beauti­ful cars” of all time. In 2004, Sports Car International magazine placed the E-Type at number one on their list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s.

“I have a collection of 20 cars at home,” says Atavit Suwannapakdee, proud owner of the two Jaguars. “I use a Mercedes as an everyday car, but Jaguars are something very special.” And he should know, he’s an MP!