The carnival of luxury classic cars for the first time on the Gulf

The square of the cultural district "Katara", which overlooks the Gulf in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods of the Qatari capital, Doha, has turned into a carnival of dozens of luxury classic cars within the first Qatar Concours des Elegance 2016 competition and exhibition for classic cars, which was held in Doha, with the participation of more than 70 exhibitors from the Arab Gulf countries and from around the world.
A pre-World War II car owned by Saudi Fouad Ali Al-Issa won first place in the classic luxury car competition.
On this occasion, rare classic cars of great historical value, in addition to sports cars that broke world records, as well as rare cars and cars that were designed as a masterpiece of art and engineering in more than 20 Arab and European countries, in addition to the participation of several museums belonging to companies. automobile manufacturers around the world.
After a fierce competition, a car owned by Fouad Ali Al-Issa won first place, as one of his car collections won the award for the best car before World War II, as the winning car was made in 1940, and he also won the third place award in the award for best pre-war vehicle in the competition that sponsored Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Qatar Classic Car Association, said on this occasion: “Classic cars represent one of the elements of economic development, and they are among the most important global historical inventions and constitute the most important aspects of industrial development, and cars are a means of transportation. It has been a mainstay of humankind for decades to this day, and the acquisition of classic cars is one of the most popular hobbies in the world and in the Arab Gulf region.”
Sheikh Faisal confirmed that he owns more than 600 old cars of historical value in his private museum, noting that some of these vehicles represent a special value to him, especially those that he used to go to school, where they take an important space from his childhood memories, considering that all vehicles Antiques represent rare masterpieces of high historical and material value.
This exhibition and competition represented a resounding presence of hundreds of people interested in this hobby at the level of the Arab Gulf, and it is the first event of its kind in the State of Qatar, and it comes as part of an international competition that launched its first session in Paris in 1920, and over the years has won millions of followers around the world and thousands The participants are owners of the most luxurious and beautiful cars at the same time. This important international event is being held in more than 40 cities around the world, while its first appearance was in the Middle East region in the State of Qatar and in one of its most prominent cultural and tourist attractions.
Very luxurious and expensive cars participated in this competition, including the only 1939 Porsche in the world, and the Bugatti Royal, whose value exceeds ten million dollars.
The organizing committee had allocated valuable prizes for the competition and exhibition, where prizes were distributed for each category, a prize for the best car that preserved its originality, a prize for the best car in the competition, and an award for the most elegant car.
About 100 luxury classic cars competed for the assigned awards, which were divided into five categories according to the FIA ​​system, which divided classic cars into several groups: Group A, which includes since the invention of cars to 1904, Group B, which includes the period from 1905 - 1918, group (C) includes the period from 1919 1930, group (C) includes the period from 1931 1945, and group (D) includes the period from 1946 to 1960.
For his part, Fouad Al-Issa expressed his great pride in winning one of the major prizes in the world in relation to his hobby, which he loved since his childhood and attached to it and spent a lot of his time, effort and money for its development. Al-Issa told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Since I was young, I was keen to own these types of cars and attend festivals related to them, and I got to know many who love this hobby around the Kingdom and the Arab Gulf countries in particular, where there are groups in the Kingdom, specifically in the Qassim region, that includes 120 hobbyists.” In the eastern region, there are about 140 hobbyists, who communicate with each other throughout the year and cooperate in organizing exhibitions and coordinating among themselves in all matters related to promoting this hobby, which he described as beautiful and expensive at the same time.
And he indicated that there are large businessmen in Saudi Arabia who have a close relationship with this hobby and have wonderful holdings, including a businessman in the Eastern Province who owns about 70 classic cars.
He pointed out that Saudi amateurs are among the most important participants in the Gulf festivals for this hobby, especially in the State of Kuwait in the past years.