Cars, A Deep Rooted Love Affair At Al Dhafra Festival
Among all the Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols and GMCs roaming the tarmac, truck and sand roads at Al Dhafra Festival, a 1979 Rolls Royce Corniche is parked right in front of the souk.
The beautiful two doors navy blue vintage automobile comes with a V8 engine and four-wheel independent suspension that allows each wheel to move vertically, thus making it, technically speaking, an offroad vehicle.
Its owner, Mohammed Al Mazrouei from Abu Dhabi, did not bring it to Al Dhafra Festival to drive on sand, though, or any other terrain, but to take part in the Classic Cars competition, now an annual fixture at the Festival.
Unmodified, but well taken care of, the 35 years old Corniche still runs pretty well and Mohammed, who also owns four other classic cars, takes out for a drive at least once a month. This is the first time, though, he brings it to Madinat Zayed, in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, to take part in the Classic Cars competition.
A deep rooted love affair, becoming part of the cultural heritage of the country, cars are a lot more than just means for transport for Emiratis. They are a status, a way of life and they often lift veils over one's personality.
"We are passionate bout cars, yet we know very little about cars' history. This competition is meant to get people interested in such history. The cars arrive here several days before the actual competition and because they are all together, people get talking about each other's model. They find out all sort of facts about these cars and the more they learn, the more they want to know," said Salem Al Mazrouei, in charge of the Classic Cars competition at the festival.
"So far, we have 20 cars, mostly from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but also from Saudi Arabia, both four by four and salon," he also mentioned.
"Among them we have the first car ever to arrive on Delma Island. It is a 1968 Jeep and Sheikh Zayed himself drove it five times. Its owner passed away and the car now belongs to his son, Mohammed Eissa, who also lives on Delma Island".
Judges will award a total of AED 100,000 to the top three winners in each of the two categories - 4x4 and salon. Winning criteria includes age, original parts and maintenance.
