TEHRAN – On Sunday, a permanent exhibition of classic and vintage cars was inaugurated in Alborz province situated west of Tehran.

“It is the largest-ever permanent exhibition of historical, classic, vintage, sports, safari, and unique vehicles being inaugurated in Alborz province,” a local official said.

The exhibition, located at the Asa-Center complex in Mehrshahr, promises to be a captivating destination for car enthusiasts, collectors, and tourists interested in automotive history and heritage, the official explained.

The opening ceremony of this prestigious exhibition was accompanied by an impressive inner-city parade of vintage and classic cars.

The parade saw over 500 classic and historic vehicles gather in the parking lot of the complex.

According to organizers, the exhibition has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public, with hundreds of visitors attending the opening day. Classic car enthusiasts and the general public alike marveled at the vast array of meticulously maintained vehicles, each telling its own story of engineering prowess and aesthetic elegance from different eras.

The age of the classic cars

According to Brinatica, the decade 1925–35 was notable not only for the appearance of many new small automobiles but also for the building of many ultra-large ones. The years from 1925 to 1948 are cited by collectors of automobiles as the “classic years,” a period that saw the rise of the luxurious fast motorcar to a peak it seems unlikely to reach again.

The first name in this field was Rolls-Royce Ltd., founded in 1906. Most Rolls-Royce chassis are designed for limousine and large sedan bodies, but the firm once made a comparatively light car (called the Twenty), and it has throughout its history produced fast models in addition to its regular line—e.g., after World War II, the Continental, built under the Bentley Motors Ltd. label.

Other motorcars of this type included the Hispano-Suiza of Spain and France; the Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Hotchkiss, Talbot (Darracq), and Voisin of France; the Duesenberg, Cadillac, Packard, and Pierce-Arrow of the United States; the Horch, Maybach, and Mercedes-Benz of Germany; the Belgian Minerva; and the Italian Isotta-Fraschini.

AM