Rare veterans from all over the Czech Republic flock to the fresh green lawns of the golf course in Hostivař on the last Saturday in April. Although the participation was not very large, there were forty machines on display, but one was rarer than the others.

“Right before the event, about ten cars were canceled due to the weather. It rained in the morning, but the weather was good in the afternoon, and according to our estimate, about 1,500 people turned up,” said Jiří Martinka, organizer of the Automotive Jewel Show event.

The event took place after a hiatus that ended for four years, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic. Already in 2019, this is one of the unique events for rare vintage car lovers.

The organizers’ intention is to gradually make it one of the most prestigious exhibitions in the Czech Republic. “Our idea was for the atmosphere to be similar to that of the famous Concorso d’Eleganza on Lake Como in Italy. To be on the same level and convey automotive beauty and great elegance,” explains Jiří Patočka, who is in charge of the selection of the cars exhibited.

This is very rare this year. In fact, in the Czech Republic, two machines that previously received a standing ovation at the most prestigious car show in the world have never gathered at the exhibition.

They were the Talbot T26 Grand Sport from 1948 and the Hispano-Suiza J12 from 1931. The Talbot was owned by father and son František and Robert Kudel of Chropyn. They went to the American Pebble Beach Show of Elegance in 2018, and their meticulously restored car won honors in the postwar touring car category and was among a trio of cars named Best of Show. Subsequently, she was also featured at the Elegance Show in Chantilly, France, where she also won prizes in her category.

The Hispano-Suiza J12 was also awarded in its category at the Pebble Beach show in 2017. The owner of the rare car is not known to the public, but the exhibitor was Club Hispano-Suiza, which brought a second Suiza to the Hostivar, a black H6C from 1930.

“Mr. František Kudela’s car, Talbot, is not real in person, it looks cosmic, as if from another world. That is why huge crowds of people gather around him all day long. He won the title with a large margin of audience vote , receiving about twice as many votes many from the second car in succession,” the exhibition organizer Jiří Martinka evaluates the results.

The golf course’s Talbot T26 GS also won a prize in the postwar car category, but the title of best Show from the expert jury went to the excellent Hispano-Suiza.

Visitors can also admire other machines that are no less rare, for example Ivo Smutného’s Lancia 30 HP, Karel Kupka’s Sénéchal Super Sport, Zbrojovka Z4 III. series, Volvo PV36, Tatru 87 Diplomat, Škoda 440 Karos from Pavel Kalina from the Cabrio gallery in Dobřenice, Porsche 959 from the Engine Prague collection from Radek Pokorný, Bugatti 44 from Jakub Stauch, who is president of the Czech Bugatti Club, and many others. View gallery.

Jiří Martinka wants the event to be held every year, also because it receives a lot of positive feedback. “We want the cars to be varied as much as possible, but we are not completely strict that whoever has shown his car is not lucky the second time. After all, this is also because the Czech Republic is a small country and the oversupply is not that big. Even so, it turns out that given the conditions us, we have a lot of cars that are really unique, really world class. And we would love to be able to bring them to the Automobile Jewels next year,” concluded the organizers.