Pinoy Loves Wheels ( The Filipino Motoring Lifestyle Blog): The Best Show of 2012: The Old Schooler Auto Club and Old School Pilipinas Grand EB and Car Show (REUNITE)

2012 has been a great year for the Philippine car show scene. Lots of car shows happened all over the country, from big car shows like the Manila International Auto Show, the Transport Show, the Philippine International Motor Show, the Bumper 2 Bumper series together with Hot Import Nights, and the Manila Auto Salon. We also had universities / colleges held car shows like the Malayan Auto Show of the Malayan Colleges of Laguna, De La Salle's Automized Car Show and UP's Rev Up and Road Rage. And we had small car shows organized by car clubs like the Poblacion Car Show of the Makati Car Club, (and yeah, that car show that happened in Atoy's parking lot at West Ave) and those car shows held in mall parking lots and err, the malls. ;) Actually, countless of car shows were held in the country last year and I have been to at least 20 of them, that I can't recall their show titles. And I hope Kuya Manny Martinez, the star of this article, will forgive me because I helped him judge a car show at SM Markina in August 2012 which I forgot what the car show's title is.

Among these car shows that I've been to, there is one car show that I really won't forget, and I consider this as the Best (Car) Show of 2012-- The Anniversary Car Show and Grand EB of Old Schooler Auto Club and Old School Pilipinas. It was held at the Philippine Army Grounds in November 25, 2012. The Old Schooler Auto Club celebrated their 9th year anniversary while Old School Pilipinas celebrated their 4th. The show was the brainchild of Manny Martinez and Old School Pilipinas. Manny and OSP gathered all other Old School car clubs like the Classic Auto Club, the VW Kafer Club, The Ford Escort Club, Lancer Box Type Pilipinas, et al. And even old school enthusiasts without a car club joined the event. According to an interview with my good friend, Manny Martinez, there are 250 old school car entries during that day. The theme for the car show and grand EB is Reunite, because Manny Martinez, who's also the God Father of the Philippine Old School Car Scene, and Old School Pilipinas has once again united the Old School Car Community.

The anniversary grand EB was also an Auto Tiangge and a swap meet for old school car parts. I was able to sell a set of Rota RB15s for a reasonable price that day.

The Old Schooler Auto Club was founded in November 2003 by brothers Manny Martinez and Roger Martinez, sons of the late JAGO Atty. Pedro Martinez, together with their friends Raul Capistrano, Andrew Caballero and Alvin Gurayeb. The group started the organization of the club at the Martinez's MR Auto Landia / RLR Auto Spa in Kamuning Road, Q.C.. The OAC started small EBs at Greenhills but when Greenhills Shopping Center started charging parking fees they transferred to the Ortigas Home Depot c/o Alvin Uy until the numbers of business establishments grew in the depot. Now, you will regularly see them hanging out at the Minerva Tire Gallery in Macapagal Blvd. right beside DFA every Saturday nights headed by the OAC-Mid South.

The Old Schooler Auto Club is now composed of different chapters like the Mid South group with Al Laforteza, the East group with Francis Coloma and Toti Salvador. The OAC also has the Mid North group, and the original Quezon City group headed by Kuya Manny. And some of them broke away from the original OAC group and started their own car clubs like the Classic Auto Club.

The Old Schooler Auto Club also has members who are great race car drivers like the late Jeffrey Menguito known for his incredible slalom skills and piloted the "Taxi Toyota Starlet" (Jeff was also my first slalom / autocross coach), Sherwin Santos who pilots a Black Top powered Corona Silver Edition, Macky Garcia who races with his Black Top powered KP60 Starlet, champion drifter and ballroom dancer Boodie Dabasol, who competes and dances (drifts) with his monstrous SR20DET powered Mitsubishi Lancer I type, and businessman Joma Montaner, who competes with his 1JZ VVTi powered 1987 Toyota Celica, and a 3SGE powered Toyota Corolla DX.

To become a member of the Old Schooler Auto Club, aside from being an Old School Car Enthusiast you must also own an Old School Car that was released by a car manufacturer in 1987 or the years before that.

Old School Pilipinas on the other hand, who celebrated their 4th anniversary started in 2008 as an online forum for Old School Car enthusiasts. It is not a car club, it's a community where Old School car enthusiasts and Old School car clubs gather. You may check OSP out at http://www.oldschoolpilipinas.org.

I consider the Old School grand EB last November 25, 2012 as the Best Show of 2012 because the mission of Pinoy Loves Wheels is to bring you closer to the grassroots of Philippine Motoring. In this car show I have realized where Philippine Motoring has started because of seeing the cars that our forefathers first loved. Seeing old school cars is soothing to the eyes, it relaxes you, it takes you away from stress that this complex modern world gives you. It reminds you on how simple life is in the old days. Seeing carburetor fed vehicles showed me how simple life can be, and like Pinoy Loves Wheels, we are here to show you how simple Philippine motoring is--no more of the fancy stuff. We will bring you closer to the grassroots of Philippine motoring!

Thank you, Kuya Manny, for being the God Father of the Old School Car scene. You thought us a lesson by paying respect to the history of Philippine Motoring and for giving appreciated values to the cars that our fathers, uncles, granduncles and grandfathers loved.

The show winners are:

Best 70′s Mitsubishi – Kevin Musngi (’79 Lancer)
Best 80′s Mitsubishi – Reggie Policarpio (’80 Mirage)
Best 70′s Toyota – Joey Gatan (’74 Sprinter)
Best 80′s Toyota – Jojo Coloma (’82 Silver Edition Corona)
Best Datsun – Richard Opiana (Sunny Pickup)
Best Euro Classic – Toti Salvador (1982 BMW 518)
Best American Classic – Obet Roldan (Ford Mexico)
Old School Car of the Year – Atong Ko (’69 Sprinter)
Best Car Club – Classic Auto Club
(Courtesy of Old School Pilipinas)

(Check Out the Photos Below for Some Pure Nostalgic Experience. All Photos Are Exclusively Owned by Pinoy Loves Wheels. All Rights Reserved)