It’s May again…time for the annual TransSport Show in SM Megamall in Pasig City, Philippines. This is perhaps noted to be the most decent of all the motor shows that the Philippines holds every single year. Why? Two reasons: first, the organizers treat this even pretty seriously. They don’t just put up souped-up Civics and Corollas for display purposes…they’d really look for people with great cars and put up a show surrounding a particular theme.
If last year, the theme was about ‘Top Down’ motoring, this year, the organizers made the first car show of the new millennium look back at motoring history, thus, this time it’s ‘Classic Cars’. However, as the first bunch of pictures show, the show is just vaguely titled that way. I mean, sure you can find excellent cars such as the Ferrari Dino and Lancia Stratos in the show, but the spotlight has always been stolen by such marvelous works of technology as the Honda S2000 (winner of the most popular car in the show) and the Mitsubishi Evolution VI rally car.
As a note of improvement however, is the lessening number of dressed-up cars at the show. In fact, they’ve been relegated to a size equaling to one-third from the usual one-half. Aside from this, this year, the TransSport Show is also the venue of new car launches from Mercedes-Benz in the form of the new VITO-L van.
This year, the show has been supported by only a few big car distributors: Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Nissan and Isuzu. The rest of the show was supported by the local / gray car import shop, again saying the sad state of automotive sales in the Philippines. I mean, Toyota, Mitsubishi…especially Honda (who launched the Honda HRV two weeks later) should use the show to release new vehicles.
Enough of my rambling. Let’s just get on with the show…
Overall the TranSport Show could have been better. However, with noticeable improvements from last year, it’s obviously a step in the right direction. Perhaps the only thing missing from the show is the support of big names such as BMW, Porsche, Audi and so forth.
If the organizers can put more of these car companies to display their existing units and launch new ones during the TranSport Show, then perhaps it could be in the same league as the internationally known motor shows. I have nothing against the customized cars, but this is not their place. I know, some people flock to the show to see these cars, but I guess it’s time people veer away from the common cars we see everyday. I mean, let’s face it: whatever you do to a Civic, it’s still ultimately a Civic.
What people need here is a breath of fresh air. New cars, new models, new faces. After all, isn’t this the point of a car show?
Text and Photos by Ulysses (Sorry Jays, lost the original) and Jason Ang
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