ON one unpredictable weekend, people trooped to the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) to see hot, mean and cool machines.

At the 2009 Inter-Auto Club Meet car enthusiasts braved the sun’s heat, then the rains just to find their favorites and object of their desires.

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Thirteen of Cebu’s car clubs participated in the rarely held meet. This year’s theme was “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and Greener” and it is always good to keep the health of the environment and the rest of the world in mind.

The show occupied half of CICC’s outdoor parking lot while the exhibitors with their luxury, sports, modified, classic, vintage, restored cars and what have you were comfortably displayed and protected inside collapsible tents.

The atmosphere of the event was like a convention among aficionados, fans, car owners and major dealerships.

Some cars on display had their own cute, pretty and sexy models ready to pose on the hood for a souvenir picture. But the collectible cars were the real stars.

he MyNissan club showed brand new-looking Sentras while the Toyota Auto Club exhibited recent models.

It was the Old School Cebu Club that captured most of my viewing time. The 80s vintage Toyota Starlets, the same two-door model as the one I drive, were in tip-top shape and so well maintained.

Across it were generations of Mustang from the Sports Car Club of Cebu. And there was the Vios Club, the club for beetles, Bimmer Club (BMW), two of the show highlights a vintage Mercedes and a Cougar roadster from the Performance and Classic Enthusiast group. Also seen were members of MitSugbu (Mitsubishi) with their Lancers and Mazda Club.

Amazingly there are now collectors of Korean cars, particularly Kia with the presence of the Pride Club. Just like anything else that we care for in our life, be it pets, girlfriends or any other living thing and object of our desire, cars need to be taken care of to be beautiful.