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ANYONE worth his driver’s license was most
definitely at the Manila International Auto Show last weekend. The
event—now on its third year and still held at the World Trade
Center at the CCP Complex—was simply the place to be for certified
petrolheads
While this year’s MIAS was
admittedly smaller compared to last year’s edition, there were
still lots of crowd-drawing attractions to guarantee a full house
throughout the show’s four-day run. These included the new Hyundai
vehicles (Veracruz, Tiburon and Elantra); Mitsubishi SUVs
(Outlander, Pajero and Endeavor); the Ford Focus diesel; the Honda
CR-V; the full Subaru lineup; the Nissan Skyline GT-R of Motul; the
exotic cars displayed by Top Gear magazine; and the Ford No
Boundaries off-road track.
But of all the highlights of the
show—including the FHM Mossimo bikini show, several dance numbers
by the EB Babes, and the mesmerizing collection of booth models
(yes, cars and women apparently go together)—none was as popular
as the precision-driving show of Russ Swift. The British motoring
icon is the holder of three Guinness World Records in driving,
including parallel-parking in the tightest space, J-turn in the
tightest space and fastest donuts. He once famously taught the third
trick to grandmothers on the Top Gear TV show. If you missed going
to the MIAS and can’t picture the handiwork of Russ, just go to
YouTube and launch a search for his videos.
I saw the first and last of his
performances at the MIAS and what difference word of mouth must have
made. At his very first show on opening day on Thursday, the
audience was sparse in spite of the very affordable admission fee of
thirty bucks. The makeshift bleachers were hardly filled. By the
time Russ gave his last driving performance, his audience had
swollen to SRO numbers—so much so that the organizers had to ask
many of them to transfer to the opposite side of the track. When he
stepped on the brakes one final time, he had officially transformed
himself into a rock star, graciously signing autographs for adoring
fans who were left breathless by his incredible tricks behind the
steering wheel.
Benefiting tremendously amid all
this hoopla was Motor Image Pilipinas, the official distributor of
Subaru vehicles in the country. Allow me to tell you why.
The organizer of the MIAS,
Worldbex Services International, initially asked Motor Image to
provide the vehicles for the Russ Swift show. No fees had to be
paid; they just had to load the cars for the entire MIAS run. This
made sense since Subaru cars are known for their rallying exploits,
and Russ had already partnered with Subaru in his shows abroad, most
notably at the Singapore Auto Show.
Unfortunately, Motor Image,
according to general manager Nicky Mariano, didn’t have available
units at the time of the request, Subaru units being snapped up
quickly by eager customers the very moment they arrived on our
shores. So Worldbex had to look for another vehicle provider. The
lucky carmaker they approached was Mazda, which agreed to provide a
Mazda3 based on the list of specifications that Russ ordered.
But more unfortunately for Mazda,
the car they sent on the day of ingress encountered mechanical
problems, prompting the organizer to frantically look for yet
another vehicle provider. Perhaps the Russ Swift-Subaru partnership
was really predestined, because when all this commotion was
happening, Motor Image already had the vehicles that Russ Swift
needed. To cut the story short, Subaru topped the billing for the
Russ Swift show once again. Russ showed up for the ingress wearing a
Mazda shirt; he left sporting Subaru blue.
Those who were able to watch Russ
perform his tricks in the Impreza saw how huge Subaru’s marketing
success was. Almost overnight, the Subaru name became synonymous
with driving excitement even among Filipinos who might not have been
entirely familiar with the brand. The show was such a rousing
success. If you can’t imagine it, Google “Russ Swift in
Manila.”
When the smoke from the donuts
settled, Subaru marketing manager Ariel de Jesus was grinning from
ear to ear, knowing he had scored a publicity slam dunk. Now I
understand why Subaru is making quite a noise among hard-core car
enthusiasts. These people know how to have fun and give a good show.
They are irreverent entertainers.
Exactly like their Subaru cars..
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