Vintage Verve
Stanley Setia Atmadja and Valentino Balboni share with Indonesia Tatler about their love of classic cars and their timeless allure
Collecting and driving a classic car is one of life’s joys for enthusiasts and aficionados. Each vehicle is as distinctive as each make and maker, and each one’s beauty, rarity, and challenge for successful restoration provide an unmatched sense of satisfaction. Devotees Stanley Setia Atmadja and Valentino Balboni have dedicated their time to classiccar preservation and are joined through the Indonesia Classic Car Owners Club (ICCOC). They regularly attend the prestigious Concours d’elegance—a competition of elegance in which distinguished models are showcased and judged.
Recently held at the Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta with a luxurious setting to match the prestige and prominence of any other Concours d’elegance, Stanley—the founder and chairman of ASCO Capital Group and also the honourable President of ICCOC—LED the event as host. Meanwhile, among the crowd of classic car lovers and connoisseurs who came appropriately dressed in vintage fashion, was Valentino Balboni. Valentino was Lamborghini’s legendary chief test driver for 40 years, who attended the event as one of the day’s honourable judges, to look out not only for originality but also rarity and the cars’ overall condition.
A first of its kind in Indonesia, one of the purposes of the Concours d’elegance was to show the Indonesian government that the exquisite beauty of classic cars can contribute toward the growth of the country’s tourism industry. “The government should realise the potential of these competitions,” said Stanley. “This event could be an attractive magnet for tourists and the cars are also assets of historical value to be kept and preserved carefully.” With emissions-free, clean-energy engines installed, an environmentally friendly approach is another plus point when it comes to preservation.
For both Stanley and Valentino, Indonesia should be proud of the Concours d’elegance. Classic cars have left indelible imprints on the nation’s history due to Indonesia’s status as the country with the greatest variety of classic cars. “It’s a sign that Indonesia has become an important pillar in the automotive industry and market for quite some time, and we will keep on growing,” Stanley said in closing.