TRAVEL TRADE CYPRUS: How did the idea to create the museum come about and what is the vision behind it?

ANNITA KYRIAKOU: The idea to create a museum was conceived by Dimi Mavropoulos, the owner of the museum.

He used to be a professional racing rally champion at international and Cyprus rally competitions.

After he retired from his rally career, he turned to classic cars and started collecting them. His collection of cars has been growing through the years.

People kept asking to see the cars so the dream of a classic car museum would combine his passion for cars and the love for his city of Limassol.

Soon, this dream came true. The museum was inaugurated on February 01, 2014.

Dimi Mavropoulos put all his efforts in creating this museum with the aim of offering his city, the culture of Limassol and to all visitors a different yet memorable experience of learning the progress of the vehicles through the passage of time.

Moreover, with the museum, we are trying to help people in need, as a portion of the entrance fee is donated to charity foundations.

TRAVEL TRADE CYPRUS: Why should someone visit the museum and what can visitors expect to do and see there?

ANNITA KYRIAKOU: The museum can offer a different experience to each visitor.

It addresses all ages as the collection includes more than 100 cars covering various periods of the last century.

Adults can retrieve memories of their childhood, they can recognise their first car or their parents’ cars.

Kids will learn about the changes in the automobile industry through the years and see well-known cars of famous owners. Among the exhibits, one can admire [the popular TV character] Mr. Bean’s famous green mini, Archbishop Makarios III’s bulletproof Cadillac and some very old cars with the oldest being a Ford T model of 1912.

Also, people get the chance to go inside some of these cars like a British double-decker bus.

TRAVEL TRADE CYPRUS: What relation does Cyprus and Cypriots have to cars and how can tourists experience this when visiting the museum?

ANNITA KYRIAKOU: Many of the cars of the museum have both a cultural and emotional value for the Cypriot people, either because these are cars that were very popular among Cypriots and had an impact in the society or because they hold cultural value to the history of Cyprus, like the vehicles of the republic’s first president and Famagusta’s mayor Andreas Pouyiouros.

In general though, we can say that Cypriots have an emotional relation with their cars. They care about them and always try to keep them in good condition.

This can be noticed by a visit to the Cyprus Historic & Classic Motor Museum. Most of our cars, which are 40 – 50 years old, only had one owner and never required restoration.

Their exterior and interior condition is kept well and they are all in excellent working condition.