CLASSIC CAR WORLD

Dear Dr Hasan İnsel, thank you very much indeed for giving an interview for Azuranews.

You are one of the first names coming to mind when classic cars are mentioned. Could you please introduce yourself for our followers?

I am an Internal Medicine Specialist; and the founder and honorary president of Turkey’s first and biggest diagnosis centre, Interned Medical Centre. I am also the founder member of ESAAM (European Society of Preventive, Regenerative, and Anti-aging Medicine) which is centred in Vienna.

How and when did your classic car passion start?

Classic cars are one of my top hobbies. My father bought me a brand new Opel Kadett when I started my higher education at Medical Faculty. I changed it with 1947 model Citroen, which was my first classic car. This led me use only classic cars; and I am currently the vice-president of Turkish Classic Automobile Club.

According to you, what specialties should a car own to be a classic?

Could you inform us about the years, brands, etc. of your and other classic cars in Turkey? Although it is a general thought that a car should be at least 25 years old in order to be named as ‘classic’, in fact, it is desired from a car to have a character: sport, rarely produced or special cars are always preferred. 1963 Mercedes 190SL, 1960 Corvette, 1969 Porsche 911, 1970 Mercedes 280SL are among the most precious classic cars of mine. There are various classic cars in Turkey; the most precious ones are 1957 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, various types of Ferrari, Rolls Royce, and Porsche Carrera RSR.

Old car choice ,meeting only the needs at first maybe as a result of being cheap, has tended to emotions and has involved in our lives as a passion by featuring our visual pleasure, life style and image depending upon developing technology and presented advanced options. Therewithal, this tendency has brought the passionate and collector serious gains as well as prestige and satisfaction.

Without being wordy, let’s talk to a classic car passionate Mr. Dr Hasan İnsel…

As a member and the vice president of Turkish Classic Car Club, could you inform us about your activities? Do you have abroad connections? Would you like to cooperate with Qatar? Our club is Turkey representative of FIVA, which is the most prominent classic car organization in the world. We have activities abroad; World Rally is some years held in Turkey with a lot of foreign participants. Our club will always be honoured to cooperate with Qatar.

Can our readers abroad buy classic cars from Turkey?

And what procedures are needed for this process? These procedures can be done in two ways. The first and easiest way is temporarily importing cars to Turkey and exporting after the restoration. The second one is buying the cars with Turkish license plate. Since these cars are customs cleared to Turkey, they are naturally expensive; and exporting these cars are subject to special permission, which is also not so hard.

Do you think classic cars collection is profitable?

Absolutely, it is currently one of the most profitable facility of the world. It is often seen that a car bought for 200 thousand USD can reach to million dollars and even more price in two years.

As a last word, could we hear about your advices for our readers passionate about classic cars?

Classic cars is both an indescribable and profitable hobby in recent years. This market will expand day after day since classic cars are becoming rare by being sold. Everyone passionate about classic cars should take their part as soon as possible.

Thank you very much indeed for the interview and information.