Pangasinan car club promotes Pinoy passion for collecting vintage cars

Posted at 8:30 pm August 08, 2011

Tags: Games and Hobbies

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By Anna Valmero

DAGUPAN, PANGASINAN— For members of the Pangasinan-based North Star Vintage Motor Club, collecting and restoring vintage cars is more than a hobby; it’s a passion.

In 2005, the club was formed by only a handful who displayed their vintage car collections in Perez Boulevard in Dagupan City. To organize car collectors in the city and province, founding member and incumbent president Bert Jimenez and ten others formed the club.

“We named the club North Star because of the province’s location in the north of the Philippines,” he said

Jimenez admitted that collecting vintage cars is a very expensive hobby and for restorers like him, it also requires months to years to finish restoring a car. On average, a car restoration would go from six months to years and cost around P250,000 up to millions, depending on the car brand and the needed parts for restoration.

“Despite this, the rewards of restoring an old, beaten up car is priceless and a therapy in itself,” he said. Testament to this is the growing membership of the club, from a handful to the present 45 members.

“To join the club, one only needs to have passion and love for vintage cars, you don’t need to own one. But in the long run, the club aims to assist members to acquire their own vintage car for restoration and go as far as help them locate car parts both locally and abroad,” Jimenez said.

At present, around four of the car restoration shops in the province are owned by club members. Around 70 vintage cars restored by club members are joining car shows around the province, particularly during the Dagupan City feast day every December and other town fiestas.

“Since 2005, there is increasing awareness about the club’s and we get more invites to showcase our cars during fiestas, which is a good way of promoting our club and the hobby of collecting cars,” Jimenez said.

For the club, vintage cars should be manufactured at least 30 years ago. The club seldom collects Japanese cars and most of the cars are American muscle cars and stylish European brands.

Jimenez said the club is actively promoting vintage car shows as a family affair in the province. On some occasions, the club members also ride the restored vintage cars to church. Starting up the cars is key to prevent the engine and gears from accumulating rust. It also prolongs the car’s life.

“When we go to car shows, we bring along our families because this is another way of family bonding and weekend get-together. We wanted to influence are kids to be interested on our hobby because we would rather see them be interested in cars than in drugs,” Jimenez said.