The venue is obviously incredible. What was the process for selecting the right location in Dubai?
About two and a half years ago we started speaking to the team at Burj Al Arab. We didn’t really know them so it took a long time to persuade them it was a clever idea! It wasn’t an easy event venue because it’s such a wonderful, private hotel but The Terrace is made for this – it’s just extraordinary.
How does this differ from your previous events?
If you look at a Concours d'Elégance event there are probably four or five major ones around the world and Pebble Beach blows everything out of the water. It’s a monster and consumes most of that region of California when it’s on. The others are very traditional and normally in very lovely places, lake a chateaux on the banks of Lake Como, Chantilly in France and our UK events, which take place at different royal palace. They’re pretty traditional with 60-90 cars, most of which are classics.
What we wanted to do was bring an event out here with a nod to the Middle East and to Dubai. Concours d'Elégance events kicked off in the 1920s and 1930s, mainly in Paris, when people would drive their carriage-built cars down the Champs-Élysées, putt-putting through and showing off their vehicles. We felt that what’s happening in Dubai is a bit like what was happening back then, which is totally bespoking cars and making a reflection of the owner’s personality. So we felt we should create a new Concours here and not just with vintage cars – but showing the history of the car to modern day. It’s all about the owners, so 90% of the cars on display are owned by an individual, so it’s a gathering of people who share the same passion.
It seems there are some owners here who were willing to take bids on their cars?
I think every car is for sale at the right price! It’s extraordinary when you owners quietly talking to one another and then four months later we find that they’ve swapped cars. It’s an amazing gathering of the world’s wealthiest car enthusiasts; most collectors have between 50 and 300 cars in their collection and some of the leading car owners live around Dubai – a really interesting group of businesspeople and families.
Do you find that car lovers in the Middle East have their own distinct tastes?
Definitely. If you saw our event at Windsor Castle there were a lot of oldschool jalopies, which the English absolutely love; cooing over old Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. Here, most of the cars are the pointy, fast-looking and glamorous cars. You see all the modern versions on the streets here so we’ve brought the really interesting ones that show the history of the cars.
Are there any gems you want to highlight from the show?
The reason why Concours d'Elégance events are interesting is because every car has a history. There’s a Ferrari here that was owned by Hollywood superstar Ingrid Bergman and other cars owner by the world’s greatest drivers and there’s a wonderful providence, just how a work of art may have been owned by different people over several generations. There’s also a Porsche here that was left abandoned in an Italian barn after being crashed by some young playboy. It just lay there for 60 years until it was recently discovered and rebuilt – now it’s owned by a Middle Eastern collector.
We have to do Concours differently over here. If we just did lots of vintage cars it would be of interest but a bit strange. With the modern day cars, people get gripped and we get the opportunity to educate collectors – there are some savvy investors out here and cars are one of the best investment pieces you can own. In most countries you don’t have to pay capital gains tax on vehicles, even though they go up in price. These cars have appreciated faster than gold over the last decade and I don’t think the classic car bubble is going to burst because there are so few of them – in many cases there are just one left. Even if 10 are left in the world, an increasing number of people appreciate cars. And China hasn’t yet come online yet in terms of collectors – Asia is only just starting on that ride