Gibraltar to host classic vehicles assembly

Gibraltar will host the 52nd Annual General Assembly of FIVA on the Sunborn Hotel this weekend.

FIVA, Fédération Internationale de Véhicules Anciens, is the federation for ancient vehicles.

To mark the prestigious event a number of cars form the Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association will be displaying their vehicles on the Ocean Village, Promenade.

Forming part of the display will be Gibraltar's oldest registered car, an Austin 7. 1.

The event which takes place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will bring together over 175 delegates and partners from many of the 68 member countries. Some of the countries include Japan, New Zealand, Canada as well as countries from the Middle East, Europe, North and South America.

Gibraltar became a member of FIVA in 2014 and soon afterwards the president of the GCVA Howard Danino was asked to become a committee member. He was appointed as director of membership.

“In 2016 we took the brave step of asking if we could host the annual general assembly and it was granted,” he said.

“I was very surprised because Gibraltar is the smallest of all the countries but we are not the smallest in terms of the number of classic vehicles. We keep in par with many of the bigger countries than us.”

“This a great opportunity to showcase Gibraltar to an influential, international group of people. We want people to know and recognise Gibraltar as a vibrant, multicultural place that has many interesting facets one of which is an active club of classic car enthusiasts," he added.

There are a million and a half FIVA members around the world.

“I think for Gibraltar to have been firstly admitted into FIVA was a great honour for us and secondly myself being elected into the general assembly is a good thing for Gibraltar because we have a say in the in the world committee,” said Mr Danino.

The event consists of a full schedule of meetings that cover all the facades of motoring heritage and will culminate in a plenary session of the Annual General Assembly where any changes to the statutes of the organisation will be discussed and voted on. Including who will host the next event.

There are different commissions within FIVA including dealing with all legal issues regarding the use, preservation and promotion of the classic vehicles. They will sit with officials in Brussels to discuss issues such as road tax, daylight driving light, low emission zones, seat belts.

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, will address the General Assembly on Saturday and will later join the General Committee for lunch.

“In parallel with the meetings of the general committee and working commissions a full social programme of events has been organised for partners and those delegates who might be free at the time. This includes a visit to the Mayor’s Parlour, the Gibraltar Museum, Upper Rock and St Michael’s cave,” said Mr Danino.