KARACHI: The tidy lawns of Frere Hall were the place to be on Sunday as vintage and classic car lovers gathered there from morning to evening to admire some 120 antique cars on display at the third annual Antique Cars Show, organised by Antique Cars Museum, an online museum of vintage and classic cars.

The antique car models ranged from the oldest, over a hundred years old, to newer 30-year-old models.

These included many rare examples of British, German and American automotive ingenuity.

Among the older models were a 1938 and a1948 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith, a 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, a 1926 Chevrolet Superior, a 1926 Austin Seven Chummy, a 1941 Cadillac Sedanette Coupe, a 1956 Vanden Plas Princess Limousine and many timeless classics such as Ford Mustangs, Porsche, other Rolls Royce and Chevrolet models, Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin, Cadillac, Corvette, Camaro, Austin Mini, MG, VW Beetle, Toyota Celica, Nissan Z, Mazda Miata and many others, including some jeeps.

Speaking on the occasion, Shoaib Qureshy, founder of the Antique Cars Museum, said that, `Antique cars are a part of art and culture of any country and such shows help showcase the country`s soft image.

He also mentioned that, since Pakistan does not have any classic car museums, such a show helps create a one-day real-life museum display for the people.

`If we can somehow get government or private sector support with space, we would love to make Pakistan`s first physical car museum in Karachi for people to enjoy it all year round,` he wished.

`Also, it would be a top tourist attraction in Karachi for people coming from all over the country and the world,` he added.

`My objective through the Antique Cars Museum, which I founded three years ago, was to showcase on a single platform the great historic and globally priceless antique cars that we have in Pakistan so that the world can see how we are no way behind other parts of the world in collecting antique cars,` he said.

Ghazanfar Agha, a car racer, had brought his black 1978 Pontiac Firebird to the show, about which he said it was famous because of the Hollywood movie Smokey and the Bandit. Sadly, the car was missing one of its side mirrors. The car owner was also upset about it and said he had no idea who broke it off and walked away with it, not realising that finding a replacement would not be easy.

Mr Agha had also brought a red 1975 MG Midget. He had acquired both cars a few years ago from Islamabad and mentioned that antique cars circulate among a circle ofclassic car enthusiasts.

`There are several cars right here in this show that used to be mine. I am glad to see how well their new owners have taken care of them,` he smiled.

Another lover and collector of classic cars Razi Nayyar, who had entered some eight cars at the show, including his personal favourite, the 1972 Jaguar XJ6 and a 1963 Chevrolet Impala, also pointed out several cars which he called his `exes` as if they used to be his better halves.

`Don`t ask about the condition of my heart when I am saying goodbye to a car. But this thing happens of ten with collectors like us,` he said, adding that the good thing about this practice is knowing that their pride and joy will be taken as good care of in their new home as it had gotten with them.

Among the visitors looking at some Volkswagen Beetles at the show was Zareen Kizibash, who told Dawn that they used to have a black Beetle at home around25 years ago, which was sold off because it kept giving them too much trouble.

`My husband had sold off a perfectly good vehicle to buy that Beetle. But it would break down every other day and I insisted that he get rid of it, which he did finally, she said.

`He sold it quite cheaply to a garage owner at Tariq Road, who had told him at the time that he intended to restore it. Now, looking at all these beautiful restored Beetles here, I somewhat regret selling the car,` she said.

Meanwhile, another visitor, Seema Ismail, who was admiring the bright paint coats of the cars, was tal(en aback to learn that they were not their original colours.

`I was informed that all these cars were restored and given new paint coats. I had thought that maybe they were retouched but not totally repainted,` she said.

`Like that metallic maroon,` she said while pointing to a maroon Beetle and a twintone light green and white 1968 Fiat 1100 Lusso. `I think metallic colours in cars came much later than these models,` she said.

She also pointed to the Fiat`s licence plate, which mentioned `Italy`. `This one doesn`t even have a Sindh or Punjab number plate. I would love to learn more about the car`s history,` she said, and was informed that all the information she needed about any of the cars there was available online at the Instagram page @ antiquecarpakistan.