Auto Show raises money for charity

By Christopher Tobutt

Hundreds of people flocked to George Town Waterfront on Monday 16 May for the auto show. The show was put on by Sea, Land & Sky Cayman as a part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. There were shiny classic and new cars too, huge pickup trucks and gorgeous, gleaming motorbikes. 100% of the proceeds went to support locally-based charities, including R3 Cayman Foundation, Humane Society, Cayman Community Farms, Plastic Free Cayman, and 100 Men who Care.

It’s a really good show,” said Jason, who was showcasing his beautiful Skyline GTT “I think it’s an iconic car.” “This is a 1991 Nissan Figaro,” said Rosa McNeill who works for the Minerva Company to which the car belongs, “They only made about 20,000 of them. We have this as our Errand car to run around on the island.”

There were also some beautiful replica cars. Only a real Jaguar expert would be able to tell the difference between a real 39 Jaguar and the beautiful replica, built in 1981 (and therefore a vintage car, anyway!). “It owned by the same person until about 2 years ago when the guy unfortunately died and his wife kept it for a couple of years,” said the car’s lucky owner. “Its special because there were less than a hundred made, and it’s very drivable, easy to maintain, and it puts a smile on everybody’s face.”

Another beautiful car that was putting a smile on a lot of faces was a replica of a 1933 Willys, which, if you don’t know was actually the name of the company that later made Jeeps. “The company almost went under,” explained the vehicle’s proud owner, Ken Wendorf, “And then the United States Government said, ‘can you build me a vehicle for Word War II?’ and when they came out of the war, people loved them so much that the Jeep took off.”

Jane Scaletta who was working hard to help make sure the sure ran smoothly, along with a team of volunteers, said “last year we brought back the Auto Show, and this year because it’s the Queen’s Jubilee we went ahead, and it’s a charity auto show, where all the public are allowed to come for free However, all the cars pay a price to enter. You are in the VIP tent now, so they pay the premium price because they’re in covered parking. They pay 150 or 200 dollars, depending on if they do a donation with it.”

Last year the event raised over CI$65,000 for Resilience Cayman through the Charity Auto Show event hosted by Island Air. This year as part of a ‘match’ donations made by the Cayman Auto Show to R3 will be matched by the Kenneth B. Dart Foundation, according to information released by the organisers.

Event organizer Douglas Cameron said, “This event is a great opportunity to bring out the whole family and create memories for this once in a lifetime Queen’s Platinum Jubilee event. It celebrates the evolution of the automobile all while raising money and awareness for projects and non-profit organizations in our community.”