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| Beginnings |
The
old boys of the Manila Sports Car Club like to say that the club was
founded in 1967 under the acacia trees of the University of the
Philippines in Diliman. They
will tell you that the founders were Amado Castro, then Dean of the School
of Economics of the University, Rolf Kleindienst, a Professor of Economics
at the neighboring Ateneo University, and Andy Sta. Maria, a student whose
academic future was generally considered dim due to the constant attention required
by his Triumph TR4. Supposedly, they elected Castro first President of the
Club, a responsibility he took so seriously that he has remained
unmarried.
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Bart
Silayan and Rolf Kleindienst in the 1960s |
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There
is, of course, some truth to that tale. Castro, Kleindienst , and
Sta. Maria did meet with their sports cars at U.P. from about 1967,
sometimes joined by student Pedro Syqui in his TR2 (Syquia's family
used to assemble the sports car in the Philippines).
Their gatherings under the umbrella of the old trees of the
campus set the tradition for meetings that were to follow many years
later.
Apart
from MSCC, an enthusiastic MG T-series club also existed
in the 1960s.
That club, of which Kleindienst was also a member, eventually contributed to MSCC such stalwarts as Bart Silayan
and
Ben Silvestre, whose MG TCs continue to attend club meets.
Due to, among other things, the departure of Castro, Kleindienst,
and Sta. Maria for abroad, the sports car group at U.P., as well as the MG
club, became inactive and remained dormant until the early 1980s.
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| Reincarnation |
The
first meet of the club in its present reincarnation was held in 1982
at the home of Sta. Maria, who, contrary to popular expectation, did
manage to get an education (and brought back a Lotus Elan to boot).
Castro and Kleindienst were there, of course, together with their
sports cars (TR4 and MG TD), as well as Ted Evora (Lotus Europa),
Chuchi Iriarte (Honda S800), Nene Syquia and Anding Roces (both Michel
TCs), Serge Naguiat (Jaguar XKE), and the late Jack Verano (Alfa
Romeo Duetto). The
club formally took on the name "Manila Sports Car Club" and the motto
"Nil Desperandum."
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Ramon
Torres in his Morgan +8 at a meeting on University
of the Philippins grounds. |
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In the early years, MSCC met about three to four times a year, often
at the homes of members, sometimes at restaurants such as the now
gone Casa Marcos and Harry’s Grille, and occasionally farther afield
at place, such as the Ayala Alabang polo grounds or the Pook Ligaya
Horse Farms. More often
though, MSCC convened at its traditional haunts at the Ateneo and
U.P. campuses in Diliman, where picnic baskets with wine, cheese,
rice cakes, and home-baked goodies completed the picture.
There
were no real meetings in those days, simply shop talk and the constant
scrutiny of sports cars. Wary
of the politics that pervaded and ruined Philippine auto clubs, MSCC
adopted a rule that it would have no elections, no officers, and
definitely no presidents.
MSCC's official club seal was designed by member Sonny Liwanag (Jaguar
XKE). It is based on
the seal of the City of Manila and features the city's intramural
walls, a sea-serpent lion holding a broken sword, and the club motto.
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Based on the seal of the City of Manila,
the MSCC official club seal features the
city’s intramural walls, a sea-serpent lion holding a broken sword, and
the consoling message in Latin, “ Do not despair.”
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PK
Runs and Bow-tie Dinners |
The
club's two favorite events are the PK Runs and the Annual
Bow-Tie Dinner. The
PK Runs, which are out-of-Manila trips, are named after Penny Kleindienst,
who in 1969 blithely agreed to her husband's suggestion to drive their
MG TD from Manila to Munich, Germany.
Penny Kleindienst survived the trip and is of course still
very much around, but the club's long-distance runs have been named
after her to commemorate her spirit of adventure.
The PK Runs have taken sports cars to Angeles City, Pampanga,
Tagaytay and, in 2003, to the northern-most tip of Luzon in an epic
1,000-km. run. One of MSCC's most memorable run was a two-day trip
in 1996 to the seaside resorts of Puerto Azul and Caylabne Bay.
"It cannot get any better than this," Kleindienst commented
during that run, which wound through scenic forest roads.
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Lotus
Elan, Lotus Eleven, Lancia Zagato at the Ateneo
campus in the 1980s. |
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The
Club's Annual Bow-Tie Dinner used to be held every year at the Nielsen
Tower, a restaurant housed in a building that in prewar Manila served
as the only airport. Visitors would search for a skyscraper, only to find the historic
building, with its two-storey control tower, dwarfed by the office
buildings that have sprung up around it.
Nielsen Tower turned out for the event, serving cocktails at
its inner lot, which was reserved strictly for sports cars.
Rolls Royces and Bentleys had to park outside. Nielson Tower prepared a special menu for each dinner; they
featured such delights as "Chapman Chowder," "Pollo Pinninfarina,"
and "Crepes Corvette." Sports
cars, bow-tie and jacket, and cocktail dresses for the ladies were
de riguer.
Sadly,
Nielsen Tower closed in 1993. The
Bow-Tie Dinners are now held at Le Souffle at the Fort and, whenever there
is a concours d' elegance, at the bayside gardens of The Westin Philippine
Plaza.
MSCC meets regularly for breakfast on the first Sunday of each month
at the Via Mare Cafe at the new Rockwell Center. The Center
closes one street to allow club parking, of course, for sports cars
only.
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The Club also organizes the only vintage racing series
in the country and also hillclimbs, tarmac rallies, and other events
geared specially for the sports car enthusiast. It maintains
the Vintage Sports Car Register, which catalogues the ownership and
other details of vintage and historic sports cars in the Philippines.
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| Into
the Future, Slowly... |
The
currency and import controls and high duties that were in place in
the Philippines for a very long time ensured that only a few sports
cars would trickle into the
country. It is a wonder that MSCC has survived at all.
Since the 1990's, however, the environment in the Philippines
has changed dramatically. Currency
and import controls were lifted, and industry protection schemes diminished.
At the 1996 Trans Sport Show, a historic event occurred.
Mazda introduced to the Philippine market the Miata.
For the first time since the 1950s, one could go to a showroom
to buy a new sports car. BMW
followed suit immediately with the Z3, then Jaguar with the XK8, and
now Porsches, Ferraris and Maseratis are available on dealer's floors.
This has changed the complexion of the club.
More than half of attending cars at Club meets are now new
models. To keep up with
over 150 members and a register that now includes more than 400 sports
cars, ranging from a Morgan 3-wheeler to a Lamborghini Diablo, MSCC
appointed a professional club secretariat in 1994.
Trade Show International's Sophie delos Santos, the Club
Secretary, now oversees the club's administration and finances.
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MG
T series sports cars at a breakfast meet Racks, Ortigas
Center. |
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Grudgingly,
MSCC has had to appoint officers to oversee the Club's many
activities, but in keeping with tradition, all positions are temporary and
revocable at any time. When
out-going MSCC head Andy Sta. Maria handed over a copper-faced knock-off
hammer - the club's symbol of authority - to Nene Syquia at the 1998
Bow-Tie Dinner, Nene Syquia assumed the position for the standard 14-year
term. However, as with his
predecessors, his title will be simply "Acting Chair."
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