NAIROBI, Kenya, AUGUST 31 – Organisers of the upcoming Concours d’Elegance say they are making all efforts to increase the interest of the young people in the 52-year-old competition. Peter Wanday, chair of Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club, the brains behind the event, said they will involve more Gen Z in various capacities on September 25 at Ngong Race Course.
“On September 25, there will be very many young people involved in the event as judges. In fact, our youngest judge in the competition is 20 years old. In recent years, we have leveraged on social media to try and reach out to this segment. We hope to see more of them take a keen interest in this culture,” Wanday said.
Also known as zoomers, Generation Z refers to a category of individuals born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s.
Vintage cars are those built between 1919 and 1930 while classic cars are those at least over 20 years old.
With most of these cars having trended before the Gen Z were born, most of these people may not have a keen interest in the cars, preferring the modern ones with better features.
However, Wanday believes they have made headway in reaching out to the younger audience and predicts that Concours d’Elegance will get better in the future as more youths embrace this car culture.
“We have made a lot of effort to tap into the younger generation and it is bearing a lot of fruit. Personally, I have seen young people inquiring about classic cars, whether it is to buy or restore them. There are a number of them…some as young as 20, who are doing a great job at collecting classic cars,” he said.
He is further hopeful the event will attract a vast array of vintage and classic cars in the next five or 10 years.
“The definition of vintage and classic cars is an international one and we do not expect it to change. However, personally, looking at the years to come, I project a much bigger event with more enthusiasm. We look forward to the event expanding and having a wide array of vintage and classic cars,” Wanday said.
The event coincides with Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club golden jubilee following its inception in 1970.
The celebrations were initially scheduled for 2020 but were postponed following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wanday admitted they have been affected by the two-year absence but is optimistic this year’s event will be worth wait.
“We are very excited to be back…the long hiatus might have made some people forget that we will be back but we are making the announcement that we are back in a big way. Every year we try to scale up in terms of the entries in cars and motorcycles categories. So, yes, this year we will have a few changes,” he said.
