KARACHI: The first Japanese Classic Car and Bike Show was organised on Sunday by the Vintage and Classic Car Club of Pakistan (VCCCP) in collaboration with the Federation Internationale Vehicules Anciens (Federation International Vintage Automobiles) (FIVA), at The Forum Mall parking lot.

More than 60 cars and around 20 motorbikes of models ranging from 1960 to 1993 were featured at the show. Among the cars, one could find Toyotas, including Corollas, Coronas, Mark IIs and Land Cruisers. There were also different models of Honda, Mazda, Datsun and Suzuki, including its car and jeep models.

Aamir Hussain and his children had entered their ash gray with dark aqua roof 1964 Datsun Bluebird and the same colour two-tone seats. Hussain’s father had acquired it from a Parsi lady some 50 years ago. Beside the usual key ignition, the car also had a hand crank to start it from the front.

Young Abdullah Khan was seen cleaning the dust off his black 1986 Corolla after every five or 10 minutes. The car was a gift from his late father, who happened to be a lover of classic cars. “It has been with us for 14 years. I learned to drive in it,” said Abdullah. He also pointed out the various changes he had made to the car including changing its original colour from white to black. He gave it 14-inch rims, an HKS exhaust, a velvety Alcantara roof, a Nardi steering wheel and a fancy gear knob. The car also had his Instagram handle @abdullah_khan1000 printed on one of his rear door triangular windows.

Kuldeep Pinjani had brought his white 1980 five-door Toyota Land Cruiser, which he had bought at an army auction five years ago. “It was originally green when I bought it. But at the time you could say that only its chassis was in one piece. It took me two years to restore. So many of its parts, including its doors, I had to get from Dubai as everything was not available here,” he shared.

Fayyaz Mushtaq had come with his lime-coloured 1968 Toyota Corona. “It was light cream originally, when my maternal uncle bought it from its first owner in 1997,” said Mushtaq. “This car has been restored twice,” he shared. “First my uncle, Ashiq Hussain, restored it because it was broken and rusting when he got it. Then it was left to the neglect again after his passing in 2019. He had no children so I inherited it to have it restored in his memory. It cost me over one million rupees but I had to do it. The work on it was completed last year only,” he said.

Ahmad Kashaf, meanwhile, said that he had only come to the show to make a video for his YouTube channel @nukkar021. “Here I realised that I could also enter my Kawasaki KH100, also popularly known as Kawasaki GTO, so I entered it,” he smiled. “I have three bikes, a Yamaha Enduro, a Honda Cub, and this Kawasaki. There are many Kawasaki lovers in Karachi. In fact, there is an entire ecosystem around it, with a group of Kawasaki owners, Kawasaki mechanics, etc, also.

The founder and president of VCCCP, organiser of the car show, Mohsin Ikram, told Dawn that Japanese cars would usually get neglected during their regular vintage and classic car shows. “Their owners would come to me to include their cars, too, in the exhibitions but I would always be telling them that we just didn’t have space,” he said. “Still, I would promise them that one day I would do an exclusive car show for them also as their cars, too, deserved a platform just like other classic cars did,” he added.

He said that even the FIVA, with more than a hundred member countries, including Pakistan, was happy that he was doing this. “The Dutch president of FIVA also asked if there was any round light Suzuki 800 entered in the show. I told him I was afraid not as we have Suzuki 800 and FX with rectangular lights here. But you never know. It may also turn up,” he smiled.

Ikram had also entered his own yellow 1978 Honda 50 bike in the show. “I love classic motorbikes as much as classic cars. I have a collection of British bikes from World War II and several Vespa scooters, too. Whenever I see any bikes in bad condition that need to be salvaged, I take them. The Honda 50 and other Japanese bikes are now also becoming quite rare here,” he said.

The VCCCP president also said that with the response that he has received at this first Japanese Car Classic Car and Bike Show, he intends to make it an annual event. “And not just in Karachi but all over Pakistan,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2025