Ronald Walusimbi won the CBA Uganda Vintage and Classic Auto Show which is a Concours d’Elegance event with his 1967 Toyota Corona by the narrow margin of two points from Patrick Mweheire’s 1965 Mercedes Benz. Walusimbi is one of the ten Ugandans who will be contesting the Africa Concours d’Elegance on Sunday September the 24th at the Nairobi racecourse.
He is no stranger to the event having won the 2500cc touring car class last year with a 1974 Mercedes Benz. He was also the highest placed competitor from Uganda. He will be pinning his hope for success by bringing both his Toyota Corona and Mercedes to the Nairobi Racecourse for the classiest event on the Kenya motor sport calendar.
The annual Concours has been organized by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club for the past forty seven years with the object of recognizing and rewarding the owners of well-kept cars and motorcycles. There are twelve classes for all makes and types of cars, SUV’s and pick-ups and seven categories for motorcycles.
To ensure high standards of judging car entries are limited to seventy and the maximum for motorcycles is forty. Already over fifty cars are on the entry list and motorcycles are heading for the thirty mark.
Regulations and entry forms are available from the Bob Dewar Publicity office in block G on the second floor of Norfolk Towers, Kijabe Street. The email address is [email protected] and telephone enquires may be made by calling 020 3316160,2229793 or 0733 732 032 during office hours.
A team of nine Kenyan Concours enthusiasts participated in the Uganda event held in the gardens of the Sheraton hotel in Kampala. Stephen Warui who is a regular competitor in the CBA Africa Concours d’Elegance was placed sixth overall in his 1959 Volkswagen Beetle and won his class. He received his prizes from Charles Peter Mayiga, the Katikkiro (Prime Minister) of the Buganda Kingdom.
The Uganda team who will be at the Nairobi Racecourse on September 24th will have an impressive collection of crowd pulling cars. This includes the 1983 Nissan 240RS of Bob Roberts and Katende Mukiibi’s 1971 Ford Escort who are both listed in the class for competition and rally cars. Another star car is the 1957 Mercedes Benz 190SL roadster of Laban Mawanda which will be a strong contender for a prize in the sports car class.
Leslie Carvell, the overall winner of last year’s event in Kampala is a member of the Uganda contingent who will bring their cars to the Nairobi Racecourse. She will spend two days driving her 1970 Volkswagen Beetle from Jinja to Nairobi. Leslie has won class prizes in the Concours and took home the award for the highest placed entry from Uganda in 2015.
There is now a classic car club in Dar es Salaam and several members are keenly interested in driving in a convoy to Nairobi to take part in the Concours. Already Arusha based Tor Allan has entered his 1966 Peugeot 404.
On the motorcycle front Ugandan Stephen Tabaruka will be riding his classic 1957 BSA around the Racecourse parade ring during the bike judging. 12 members of the Uganda Bikers Association (UBA) will be riding their massive motorcycles from Kampala to Nairobi with an overnight stop to have their machines judged by Concours officials. It is expected that they will return home laden with prizes in the classes for large street and trail bikes. The team will be led by Gianfranco Masetto, the Vice Chairman, with his 2000 Honda Varadero.
Three members of the Vintage Motorcycle Club of South Africa are flying from Johannesburg to Nairobi under the sponsorship of the Galleria shopping mall to compete with their magnificent machines.
The oldest of their bikes is a 1929 New Henley which will be the first example of this rare make to be seen at the Nairobi Racecourse. The other entries from South Africa are a 350 cc DKW and a 1935 Sunbeam which will be a strong contender in the class for 500 cc street motorcycles.
The influx of entries from outside Kenya confirms the status of the Concours as an Africa continental event which has been recognized and sanctioned by FIM. AFRICA since 2006.