Africa Concours D’Elegance: Where Craft, Culture, and Chrome Collide

How Nairobi’s Concours preserves heritage, trains artisans, and fuels Kenya’s creative economy

A Sunrise at Ngong

By dawn at Ngong Racecourse, a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190SL rolls out of its trailer, the first light finding every polished chrome curve. Owner James Kariuki tightens a rare hubcap he tracked down over months online a final, intimate ritual before judging begins. Around him, grooms polish bonnets, mechanics confer in Kiswahili and Kikuyu, and schoolchildren snap photos a scene where memory, craft, and community meet on dew-damp grass.

The Africa Concours D’Elegance, organized annually by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Kenya, is more than a car show; it is Kenya’s mobile archive of industrial skill, a yearly classroom for apprentices, and a festival that transforms machines into living heritage.

“Concours isn’t just a show; it’s history in motion. Every scratch tells a story.” James Kariuki, car restorer

Origins and Evolution

Kenya’s Concours D’Elegance began in 1971, organized by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Kenya. In its first years, it drew a small circle of expatriates and local enthusiasts who shared a devotion to restoration over racing.

By the early 1980s, the event had become a Nairobi social fixture, weathering years of economic constraint and import restrictions that forced creativity: parts were recast, seats handstitched, and paint jobs improvised with agricultural compressors.
Recognition from the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA) in the late 1990s established its global credibility, aligning Kenya’s standards with international judging protocols. That milestone elevated Concours into Africa’s foremost vintage-vehicle event a title it still holds.

Today, it is one of only a handful of FIVA-sanctioned shows in Sub-Saharan Africa, standing alongside South Africa’s Knysna Motor Show. The 2024 and 2025 editions the 52nd and 53rd respectively underline a half-century of continuity through shifting cultural and economic landscapes.

The Judging Ritual: Precision and Patina

Concours judging rewards provenance and workmanship as much as aesthetics. Vehicles are evaluated across 18 categories for authenticity, mechanical soundness, and historical fidelity. A single misplaced screw can cost points; meticulous documentation and period-correct parts are prized.

Veteran judge Philip Mureithi calls it “the science of authenticity,” where welding, upholstery, and paint converge to tell a vehicle’s story. Restorations often take six months to two years, drawing on cottage industries from Nairobi’s Industrial Area to Nakuru and Kisumu a nationwide network of artisans keeping old skills alive. “A well-finished car represents ten different local trades working in sync.” Philip Mureithi, veteran judge

Craft Ecosystem and Apprenticeships

Classic restoration is a living ecosystem of Kenyan craft. Panel beaters, machinists, chromeplaters, and painters all converge at the Concours each showcasing the fine art of manual skill in an increasingly digital world.
Schools such as St. Kizito Technical College and NITA’s Automotive Division now send students to observe the event. Corporate sponsors fund apprenticeship awards and live workshops, turning the Concours into a practical classroom for future artisans.

Workshops and Apprenticeships

Participants learn documentation, preservation, and mechanical restoration under master craftsmen ensuring that heritage trades find continuity and modern application.

In Kariuki’s garage, two apprentices both recent polytechnic graduates work on a 1974 Datsun pickup. “We learn patience and precision,” says one of them, 23-year-old Mary Naliaka, who hopes to specialize in classic upholstery. “You can’t rush beauty.”

This generational renewal, long a challenge for the craft, has turned Concours into a living classroom for Kenyan automotive heritage.

Sustainability and Innovation

Classic motoring in Kenya is evolving with a green conscience. Since 2023, the Concours has introduced electric and hybrid showcases, alongside experimental uses of 3D-printed parts and recycled alloys.

A new “Future Classics” class welcomes vehicles under 25 years old such as Subaru imprezas, BMW Z3s and Toyota MR2s are widening the event’s cultural relevance while nurturing a younger generation of collectors and sustainable designers.
These adaptations keep the Concours both rooted in heritage and open to innovation, blending nostalgia with technology.

Economic Footprint and Cultural Value

The 2024 Stanbic-sponsored edition drew over 10,000 visitors and 110 entrants 72 cars and 38 motorcycles generating an estimated KSh 50–70 million through direct and indirect spending. Digital e-ticketing introduced that year streamlined entry and data capture, marking a digital leap for heritage events in the region.

Beyond the figures, the event sustains local hotels, craftspeople, automotive shops, and vendors, reaffirming the Concours as part of Nairobi’s creative and cultural economy. Media coverage, influencer partnerships, and tourism tie-ins have made it a flagship lifestyle event on Kenya’s annual calendar.

Challenges and Continuity

While the Concours thrives, it faces headwinds: the high cost of genuine parts, regulatory hurdles around vintage imports, and limited sponsorship in a competitive events market. Yet its endurance since 1971, and FIVA recognition in 1997, mark it as one of Africa’s oldest and most respected motoring showcases.

Event director Surinder Thatthi noted in a 2024 briefing that new digital partnerships and corporate sponsorships have stabilized funding. “We’ve moved from passion-driven survival to structured sustainability,” he said. With every edition, the Concours reminds Kenya that heritage can be both beautiful and economically viable an intersection of art, industry, and memory that continues to evolve.

Timeline

• 1971 – Inaugural Africa Concours D’Elegance held in Nairobi.
• 1997 – Event gains recognition by the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA).
• 2023 – Introduction of EV and hybrid categories.
• 2024 – Stanbic Bank joins as title sponsor; record spectator turnout.

A Heritage in Motion

The Africa Concours D’Elegance endures because it refuses to be merely nostalgic. It preserves craft, trains new hands, sustains small enterprises, and reframes heritage as an engine of innovation.

As restorers polish their chrome and judges mark their ledgers, Ngong’s racecourse becomes more than a field of dreams, it becomes an archive of motion where Kenya’s past and future meet under the gleam of a morning sun.