Plzen, West Bohemia, July 22 (CTK) – A car used by the first Czechoslovak president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937) and another used by Lida Baarova (1914-2000), a film star known for her relationship with Joseph Goebbels, were the main attractions at an exhibition of vehicles that ended in Plzen on Sunday.
The annual exhibition took place in Plzen’s DEPO2015 new exhibition premises for the second time.
About 11,000 people of all age categories, including a number of women, came to see the displayed 200 cars and motorbikes, including historical and state-of-the-art luxurious ones, in the past four days, Roman Jurecko told CTK on behalf of the organising Plzen sobe Fund.
Hundreds enjoyed taking a photo of themselves with the Prague Grand model, a luxurious car from 1919 that was used by Masaryk in his capacity as president.
The Prague-based Ceskomoravska-Kolben-Danek manufacturer produced 1196 pieces of these cars in 1912-1932, Jurecko said.
He said that the visitors showed a great respect for LaFerrari, a model that can hardly be seen on Czech roads, and other Italian vehicles such as the super-efficient Lamborghini Aventador, which resembles a fighter aircraft, Jurecko said.
Some fans arrived to see Mercedes Gullwing, a model sought after by collectors, Mercedes-Maybach cabriolet or Bugatti Veyron.
Jurecko said the vehicles’ owners mostly put their “jewels” on display for free thanks to their long-standing personal ties with the organisers.
“We cherish them and we do anything they may wish. In addition, they like the event’s family character,” Jurecko said.
The Fund has hired two halls of a former public transport depot for 20 years, is reconstructing them and Jurecko would like them to host a permanent exhibition of both veteran and rare luxurious modern cars as of next year, complemented with a gallery.
“There is a plenty of sculptures an works of art that match well with cars,” he told CTK.
