Obsession with vintage cars birthed auto shows

One evening in 2006 as John Baptist Niwagaba arrived at Mulago Hospital from Makerere University for lectures, the parking lot around the hospital had a few vintage cars. It was on one of the days when the movie, The last King Of Scotland was being shot. This captivated Niwagaba and for the next two days, he followed the film crew as they shot scenes.

This fed into his childhood love for vintage cars. Growing up in the outskirts of Kabale Town, Niwagaba made toy cars out of wire and wood. His home was also near a garage that belonged to the diocese where cars, especially Volkswagen Beetles (Kikere) and Kombis that belonged to priests were serviced. Niwagaba and his siblings often sneaked into the garage to see mechanics repairing these cars.

Vintage car show is birthed
After following the film crew for two days, he was bitten by the vintage bug. In 2006, he started actively looking for car owners and garages with vintage cars. He was able to get owners of 15 vintage cars that were showcased in the debutant show that he organised in 2009 using his internship earnings.

“I printed black and white posters that my friends photocopied and posted on poles and buildings in the night. The show lasted a full week and was free of charge. About 200 people streamed by that entire week,” Niwagaba recalls.

For the next two years (2010 and 2011), the show did not take place, due to, among other reasons, unavailability of finances. The following show took place in 2012 and since then, Niwagaba says the vintage and classic show has been an annual event mainly attended by car enthusiasts.

Why vintage cars
Despite fast advancements in car technology, Niwagaba thinks that vintage cars are still a gem. He believes that most vintage cars were meticulously designed by hand or in small production firms and are beautiful pieces of art to behold.

“Early vintage car technology ,for instance the ability to use multiple fuels, are rare these days. Rare and concept cars where only a few were produced for special purposes or as experiments fetch millions of dollars at auctions. Vintage cars tell a story of events and personalities and for all these reasons, despite not being matched for performance with new cars, they will always stand out,” Niwagaba says.

Vintage cars in Uganda
According to Niwagaba, Uganda has a rich car history right from the time the first car, a 1906 Albion 16HP engine car manufactured by Albion Motors and owned by Sir Hesketh Bell arrived in Uganda on April 20 1908.

While most of these historical pieces such as the Wolseley 1937 model that won the 2019 vintage car of the year have been decimated by years of war and the scrap era, a few examples still exist.
Cars that can tell a national story like the presidential vintage cars at the museum, Ham Mukasa’s 1928 Dodge in Mukono, John Aki Bua`s Peugeot 604, the Leyland buses of the UTC era, the Mercedes trucks of the cooperatives, the Mwanyi Zabala (coffee yielded) motorcycles, Land Rover Santanas and Nissan Laurels should be kept for posterity.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to track, find, restore and keep their family and national history. Cars are the low lying fruits,” he says.

Vintage show Highlights
From the first show, the subsequent vintage and classic auto shows have been an improvement. First, the number and variety of cars has improved. Currently, Niwagaba has registered more than 200 cars in his database that have participated in the last eight years. Most of the models stretch as far back as 1928.

“The quality of competing cars has improved. We used to need carriers to get cars to the ground but now most of them are driven to the show venue. Sponsorships to the show have improved and in the last two years, we have been giving winning cars a cash prize,” Niwagaba explains.
Handling cars
Despite a car being an integral part of life, Niwagaba opines that most Ugandans who own cars do not love them enough. There are car owners who he thinks have never seen what lies beneath their hood.

“We are poor at maintenance and we want to change cars only because there is a new number plate on the road. We mistakenly think that the newer the plate, the better the car. We despise people who hold onto their old cars and perceive them as poor or struggling. Generally, our buying or selling of cars is based on opinions, not facts,” Niwagaba argues.

As a car enthusiast who drives a 1977 Peugeot 504 model and chairman of the vintage and classic auto shows, Niwagaba is growing a club to support members in vintage car restoration plans as well as lobbying the government on different aspects of the restored cars such as keeping old number plates and special waivers for importation of vintage cars.

Away from cars, Niwagaba is a physician at Kiruddu Referral Hospital in the Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit and also teaches medical students.
He is also one of the few doctors with training in aviation medicine. This involves reviewing pilots and other aviation support teams to ensure they are medically fit to operate aircrafts.

How the shows benefit Uganda
According to Niwagaba, there is increased usage of vintage cars in movies, music videos, weddings and corporate events. This brings revenue to the car owners who charge up to a million for a single day hire.

“After BBC featuring the 2019 show, we have received requests for participation from as far as the US and South Africa. We are pushing to promote history tourism for Uganda so that in addition to wildlife, we get tourists coming to visit our museums.
In future we hope to set up a museum of modern history featuring a number of historic cars and collectibles,” Niwagaba concludes.

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