An unexpectedly pleasant highlight of my December 2024 visit through Bangkok touring some of its coolest automotive highlights was a Saturday evening visit to take in the year’s Amata Spring Classic d’Elegance, on the gracious invitation and kind hospitality of my esteemed friend & local vintage car contact Khun ‘Knotty’ Piman Nawadhinsukh of Grand Touring Magazine. Last year’s edition being their fifth year running, this is a tastefully curated affair that gathers some of Thailand’s finest vintage & modern classic cars to honour their aesthetic beauty and historical significance amidst an unmistakably beautiful concours setting.
With the cars poised confidently as always on the lawn at Amata Spring Country Club itself, the venue certainly lived up to this billing. It was founded in 2005 (20 years ago now) by Andrew Yau with a vision to being a world class private golf club for Thailand, complete with a warmly designed Spanish style clubhouse. Certainly a suitable backdrop for the sort of classic automotive masterpieces Amata normally attracts.
Last December’s event was attended by a diverse field of over 400 cars, from iconic Mercedes-Benzes to heritage Citroens, from several generations of Chevrolet Corvettes to a similarly extensive range of Land Rovers, even Alfa Romeos and several mid-engined exotics. Practically every car there was kept well and presented in the best possible condition too, amply demonstrating not just the breadth and depth of this vibrant country’s rich classic motoring heritage, but also each individual’s appreciation for the cars that appeal to them. Belying Bangkok’s usually hot climate, the sunny yet cool evening thanks to breezes blowing in from the nearby Gulf made for a surprisingly welcome and pleasant environment in which to stroll around and take in all there was to see.
It has always been said that genuine refinement in luxury is about intentional curation of only the very best elements of something, the calm confidence of understanding each detail’s meaning. With that said, out of the hundreds of cars in attendance, three absolutely stood out for me in terms of their provenance & historical significance.
The first was of course this Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’, long held high as one of the world’s most desirable and iconic classic cars. Originally built for racing, victories came quickly to solidify its reputation, including Sir Stirling Moss & Denis Jenkinson winning the 1955 Mille Miglia’s overall title with its 300 SLR competition variant. Yet it also proved to be a very accomplished Grand Tourer, enabling its owners to set out at speed towards any major continental city with the confidence inspired by Mercedes-Benz’s solid reliability, arriving still fresh enough for the opera in Vienna or the summery glamour of the French Riviera for instance.
Truly, there really aren’t that many other 70 year old cars that are still dependable enough to do proper road trips with, its relatively large 130 liter fuel tank making long tours at sensibly paced average speeds a definite possibility. Complete with bespoke luggage sets matching the interior trim colours, it will always get you and your belongings there in superb style, with the final flourish of delivering a stunning visual impact as soon as you swing those signature gullwing doors skywards – as befits this ultimate Stuttgart dream car from the 1950s.
Its M198 water-cooled 3 liter overhead cam straight-6 engine developed 240 hp and 217 ib-ft of torque, enough to sprint the ‘Gullwing’ from rest to 100 km/h in 9.3 seconds on the way to a 235 km/h maximum speed. A later 1:3.25 lowest final-gear ratio gave a higher top speed up to 263 km/h. Now these numbers may sound modest today, but back then they made the 300 SL the fastest production car of its era – in essence, it was the hypercar of that time.
Perched perfectly next to a Honda NA1 NSX – which itself gave Maranello rather the firm wake-up call in the early 1990s, though that is a story for another day – this striking yellow Ferrari 512 TR was another personal highlight. Having celebrated its much feted 40th birthday in 2024 as well, this Prancing Horse and its Testarossa forebear will always instantly spark nostalgic memories for anyone who grew up in the 80s with Miami Vice & SEGA Outrun. It’s one of the bedroom wall poster icons, alongside such highly regarded luminaries as the Lamborghini Countach & Cindy Crawford.
Designed by Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina, there’s really no mistaking those dramatically straked ‘cheese grater’ side air intakes, or the wide & voluptuously muscular rear proportions. Both visually and culturally, this Ferrari was a true symbol of 80s excess – it certainly wasn’t shy about showing it off too.
Along with an increase in performance that made it a true 300 km/h+ machine, the 512 TR was distinguished by integrated aerodynamic spoilers & a redesigned engine cover. These aesthetic refinements were the work of Pininfarina’s Pietro Camardella – who also graciously signed this particular car when he was in Thailand for a dinner & design retrospective highlighting his greatest Ferrari designs, partially organized by Khun Piman.
How could one ever fail to be captivated by such famously iconic racing colours? This Ford GT was looking resplendent in a richer, more metallic interpretation of the iconic Gulf Racing livery: a clear indication of its owner’s inspired yet distinctly characterful taste.
This 21st century homage to Ford’s famous multiple Le Mans-winning GT40 was conceived as the brand’s ultimate 100th anniversary birthday present to itself in 2003, decades before the recent retro styling trend among supercars. The crucial task of respectfully updating such an iconic design for the modern era went to Camilo Pardo with design chief J Carrol Mays’ guidance, while Carroll Shelby himself was also engaged for the GT’s performance testing & development work.
It would probably be an understatement to say they succeeded: the production GT ended up being just 4 inches taller than its famous forebear, part of the slight size increase needed to account for its greater performance along with 40-plus years of automotive technological development.
Even above that, the Ford GT proved remarkably capable next to the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, Porsche Carrera GT and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren that dominated supercar headlines of the early 2000s. Its 5.4 liter supercharged V8 produced 550 hp and a 205 mph maximum speed, making this a fully paid up member of the 200 Mph Club. Well regarded contemporary reviewers praised its ease of use and user-friendly driving experience with excellent handling dynamics, superbly weighted control feedback, and instantly responsive accelerative punch. Winning Evo Magazine’s Car of The Year 2005 award ahead of the Ferrari F430 & Lamborghini Gallardo SE put the final stamp of approval on the fact that with the right people, the Americans could build a supercar every bit as good as the Europeans.
More than just the cars themselves however, what made the 2024 @amataclassicdelegance memorable in the best way possible was the class, composure & respect with which everyone involved conducted themselves, from the organisers to participants and visitors. There were no barriers or ropes placed around the cars, they were open for enthusiasts to get up close & view them personally.
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And yet, no one touched the cars, sat on them, or otherwise behaved disruptively. From what I observed not one car engaged in obnoxious stationary revving for the sake of cheap attention. For the most part, people even dressed up stylishly giving the sense that this was an event worth looking their best at.
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This all combined to form a classic motoring affair that was a genuine pleasure to attend & photograph, with the kind of sophistication and savoir faire one might expect of classic motoring events at the likes of Villa d’Este or Chantilly. The Thais have truly put together something that should be held up as an example to aspire to by many other Southeast Asian event organizers & motoring stakeholders alike. I’m definitely looking forward to further enjoying the Amata Spring Classic d’Elegance on future trips to Bangkok.
