Classic cars take over Dubai's Safa Park for new annual event

Organised by Flat 12, The Grand Picnic brings together car enthusiasts, vintage vehicles and food

The Grand Picnic by Flat 12 is an event that brings together car enthusiasts of all ages. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Classic cars take pride of place in the park.

Owners of vintage vehicles and supercars travel from other emirates to participate.

Car enthusiasts near a Corvette.

The event is a meeting spot for car fans.

Spotted: a classic Willy's US Army general purpose vehicle at The Grand Picnic.

A Chevrolet Nova.

Visitors enjoy a picnic by a Pontiac Trans Am.

The aim of the event is to make it a family day out instead of just a gathering around cars.

Visitors admire a vintage Fiat at The Grand Picnic by Flat 12 at Al Safa Park.

A vintage Porsche Diesel tractor, spotted at the Flat 12 picnic.

A family picnic by a Fiat 500.

Cars must be vintage or supercars, those not regularly spotted on the streets of Dubai, to be eligible to participate in the event.

The Grand Picnic is set to become an annual event.

A Toyota Landcruiser.

Guests admire a Porsche at The Grand Picnic.

On Sunday, Safa Park, one of Dubai’s oldest parks, was buzzing with activity, people and classic cars.

The green space was transformed thanks to The Grand Picnic, an event organised by Flat 12, a community of car enthusiasts. The free event allowed owners of classic, vintage and supercars to bring their vehicles into the park so others could view and admire them.

Visitors could also bring food and have a picnic among the vehicles, while there were also food trucks for light bites and coffee.

“People know the kinds of cars that are eligible to be displayed," Mohamed Al Sahlawi, founder of Flat 12, told The National. They had to be "something different, something you don’t normally see on the road”, he said.

Everything from a vintage Volkswagen minibus and Porsche Diesel tractor to a Willys MB US army truck, Corvettes and Chevrolet Novas were at the event.

“We had classic cars to supercars, priced anywhere from Dh50,000 to Dh10 million,” says Al Sahlawi.

The event is a passion project for car enthusiasts, he explains. “You bring your own food, although there is a cafe and food truck on site. We wanted it to be a family day out rather than just guys gathering around cars. So that people could bring their children and meet other car enthusiasts.

“Car culture can have a bad reputation, especially when people get too noisy, revving the car too often. We want to break the reputation. We’re strict about being polite, respecting each other and following rules.”

This is the second year that Flat 12 has held such an event, although Al Sahlawi says last year was a much more muted affair owing to Covid-19.

“Even then, we had people from different countries and emirates showing up. Because of its success, we’ve decided to hold this event annually.”

Flat 12 began as a platform for cars, watch and art enthusiasts in 2016. When it first launched, they held car drives and similar events.

“It started escalating, with people bringing cars from their personal collection. So, we decided to create a headquarters where people can come on a regular basis, meet other car lovers and hang out around coffee and art.”

The result is the Flat 12 cafe, located in Mina Rashid. While the cafe still hosts a number of events, Al Sahlawi wants to take things to the next level, with more car-themed events in other parts of the UAE.