Q. During your talk at the DIMS Motoring Nostalgia event, you’ll be telling us about the classic car market in Dubai and around the world, so what do you feel are the main differences between the classic car markets in Dubai and elsewhere?
Obviously, it can be much easier to be a classic car collector in other parts of the world simply because there are more classic cars available. At the moment most of the collectors in Dubai have to buy their cars from abroad because vintage cars don’t tend to appreciate as much in the Gulf, while the weather conditions here don’t suit the cars as well.
Q. What do you think it is about classic cars that inspires so much passion in people?
What inspires people about classic cars is the fact that beyond the simple importance of cars for transporting man from one place to another, classic cars have a profound ability to move us in emotional terms.
Q. Which is your favourite car you’ve ever owned and why?
My favorite car I’ve ever owned, and I still own, is the Chrysler New Yorker 1960. Looking back at when the car was made, the technology it included was mind-blowing, as not only did it have air-conditioning but also a push-button automatic transmission.
Q. How do you feel about the rise in automobile technology? For example, would you ever have a self-driving car and how do you feel about the entrusting your safety to a machine?
Driving a modern machine or sitting on the back of a horse are very similar to me. If you don’t learn how to master it, it can become a dangerous piece of equipment. The rise of automobile technology, whatever form it takes, requires full respect for the road and the handling of the car.
Q. If you could change one thing about cars and driving, what would it be?
If I could one thing, it would be to give us the ability, if your car is stuck in traffic, to lift up and hop in to a different lane to get out of it.
Q. What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you in a car?
That would probably be when I got into a car and, after trying to start it several times for at least half an hour, realized that although the petrol gauge showed it was full, it wasn’t working and I was simply out of petrol.
Q. If you had to drive cross country with a celebrity, who would it be, who’d be driving and what would you like to drive?
If I could drive across the country, I would like to go driving with George Clooney, who I hear is a really keen biker.
Q. Who is your motoring or motorsport hero? How have they affected your own relationships with driving and motorsport?
My motorsport hero has always been Sterling Moss from England. I love the way he appreciated and had an understanding of his cars as well as the sport of driving.
Akram Miknas will be speaking at this year’s Motoring Nostalgia event at the Dubai International Motor Show 2015. Join him at the show to learn more about the realities of the classic car market in Dubai and beyond, as well as sharing his years of expertise in buying and maintain a range of classic cars
Courtesy of: Dubai International Motor Show