Ahead of this year’s ‘’Fast and Furious’’ event We had the chance to meet Mr. Issam Eid-Editor of Arab Wheels magazine, which will be covering this event exclusively, and gave us a review about the up coming event.
Arab Wheels Magazine is a publication that covers the automotive industry and markets from various angles with an objective view on its happenings. From emotionally charged test drive reports to detailed car reviews, Arab Wheels is a comprehensive automotive publication, serving its readers with unlimited up to date information, presented in an attractive, easy to read and involving package.
Mark Jlailaty: we knew that ”Arab Wheels” is sponsoring the fast and furious event, can you tell us more about the event and what are the main features that will be introduced there?
Issam Eid: We’re the official sponsor magazine for the ‘’Fast and Furious’’ event that will be held at Burj hammoud stadium, the Official radio station will be ‘’Melody FM’’ and ‘’Arab wheel’’ Magazine will be exclusively covering the event, and the rest of people will take the info from us , the interviews, and the details about the cars and the shows held there as a start. ‘’OCEAN EVENTS’’, will be organizing the event similar to last year’s edition, I knew about it but we weren’t participating in it back then.
M.J.: So its the same company that organized it last year?
I.E: Yes Ocean event is the same company that organized it last year.
Fast and Furious is a relatively new event, but it’s not quite the first of its kind. It was preceded by numerous underground gatherings for tuned cars, bringing together an ever increasing number of car fans, tuning fanatics and even pro street racers.
Those clandestine groupings soon became organized mainstream events, the first of which was called ‘’3arabiye M3adale’’, which started in 2004. Those events gathered record breaking numbers of extremely well tuned cars in all sorts of events, such as drift shows in big parking lots, like Rio Lento and Palapas beach, Carwash events with smoking hot girls all around the gorgeously tuned beasts.
With a constantly growing popularity among the Lebanese youth, events became more frequent, more exciting and more creative than ever before. Using venues such as the ABC Ashrafiyye parking lot and having the support of international brands such as Red Bull, the Lebanese car tuning and street racing scene doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to slowing down!.
M.J.: We noticed that this event includes more exciting features than last year, like the DB Competition; can you tell us more about it and about the event in general?
This expo will gather overall over 200 old-school rides including my own Classic, a MERCEDES CE 230 1970, muscle cars and tuned cars. There will even be bike and ATV shows and a “Best sound system” competition. There are many cool prizes to be won! The invitation is open for everyone who believes he has a sound system worthy of being crowned the best Lebanese Car System of 2011, to enter this event and compete with the best! As you can see, the more our gathering is diverse, the better it is! Everyone can get a taste of what they love most, be it muscle cars, tuned cars, old-school beasts, ATVs, motorcycles or bikes.
M.J: Is every car tuning shop in Lebanon participating? If so, who else is taking part or even involved in this event?
As far as I know, there will be traders of various tire brands, accessories and sound systems, as well as paint and body shops owners. Stands will also present the visitors with Motorcycle, ATV and Bike spare parts. I believe we are the only magazine covering the event so far. As I heard from the ‘’Ocean events’’ people organizing the whole thing, there will be an on spot car system installation, as part of some sort of demonstration on how to install a good car system.
M.j: Why choose the Burj hammoud stadium as the venue for the event?
Last year, it was held in the marina; but the problem in marina was space and foremost, the security! As you know because when ever you host a public event, the internal security forces tend to intervene and obstruct the flow. So they decided it was better to do it in a private space like the Burj Hammoud stadium.
Since the stadium is a private venue, they just rented the place and were free to use it as they pleased. The stadium is spacious, and very well divided, providing enough room for the exhibitors to have their stands, as the cars use the space inside, and the shows have enough space aside. Plus, the stadium’s location is quite strategic; it’s in the Beirut district, and midway for people coming from both the north and the south.
M.J: How many people would you say will be attending this immense gathering?
Well, that last year we counted a total of around 20 000 people throughout the event, and as I heard, they expect around 30 000 people and even more for this year, since it’s a 4 day event (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th of May), and organized by far better. The show will be taking place from 2 pm until midnight.
M.J: What age/class spam is this event targeting?
I believe the people interested in such happenings are mainly between 18 and 30 years old. Even though the show contains Classic cars, the most reputable classics car owners will not be participating. It’s more like an American backyard event; much more popular
M.J: Should we expect one of our famous rally drivers, like Abdo Feghali, to make an appearance and give the audience one of their much anticipated drifting shows?
Jean Pierre Nasrallah or Billy Karam may come, but I’m not sure, again, since it’s more of a fan and amateur drifting event than a pro thing…
Interviewer: Mark Jlailaty
Editor: Anthony Zahr
