New Year, new beginnings
The New Year brings in optimism, joy and hope. It is a time for celebrating the successes of yesteryear while learning from the struggles, as well.
But it also rings in a new dawn filled with hope. And we look at recent three events that commemorate the success of the past, celebrating today as we look towards tomorrow with optimism, joy, and the promise of better things to come.
NeoClassic 2025
First of these events is the 2025 Edition of NeoClassic held at Filinvest Tent in Filinvest City in Alabang, Muntinlipa. The event attracted hundreds of impressive builds in both the indoor and outdoor display areas. The collection on display was a curated line-up of vehicles from the country’s best tuners, builders and customizers. The show is unique because you more or less have to be invited to participate. I was fortunate to get invited and my wide-body Toyota Poopra was proudly positioned at the middle, visible from the entrance. NeoClassic is different in that it forgoes the typical complicated and eye-catching display setups, leaving the cars squarely in focus. There were no car show girls showing skin or any other distractions for that matter. And you can tell by the crowd: all true enthusiasts from different walks of life and different age groups. The love for true and pure builds by truly passionate people brought everyone to NeoClassic. We hope there are more of these shows in the future!
BMW Cebu opening / Visayas Motor Works
The following weekend saw us fly to Cebu to witness the relaunching of BMW Cebu under new management. Previously a franchise dealership, SMC Asia Car Distributors Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation decided that rather than franchise the dealership out again, the brand would be better serviced if the dealership became a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, ensuring truly world-class sales and after-sales experience. Thus, Visayas Motor Works (VMW), wholly-owned SMC subsidiary was born to manage and grow the Cebu-based BMW clientele through its dealership.
The event also features the unveiling of the latest BMW M models which now have a display unit in Cebu, plus the Cebu launch of the BMW X5 iDrive 50e M Sport PHEV, signaling the start of BMW’s ambitious electrification strategy for the Queen City of the South. The customers present at the launch were truly excited, flocking to see the BMW M4 Competition on display. Truly, BMW Philippines knows its market.
30 Years of Autoplus Sport Anniversary Party
30 years is a very long time for something to exist, withstanding changes in trends and people coming and going. But that is the greatest test Autoplus has withstood. From its humble beginnings in the 90’s, to building mega horsepower Japanese performance cars in the late 90’s through to the 2000’s, modifying exotic sports cars and building record-breaking race and drift cars, along with winning championships and competing at foreign world class events. Autoplus has been there, done all that and more.
None other than the team behind it, led by Carlos Gono, himself a dyed-in-the-wool fanatic of all things automotive beamed with pleasure, as Autoplus cements its past as a true pillar and icon of local custom car culture and motorsport. With son Luis Gono, himself a race car driver now joining the team, it will be exciting. And to enthusiasts, buying cars and having Autoplus work on it and install parts for it is a dream, an honor just to be associated with and worked on by arguably the country’s leading tuning shop.
Busy start to the year is always a great thing!
