Classic cars on display at the Retrospective on Classic Auto Design (Photo/Courtesy of Gao Jing)
The Retrospective on Classic Auto Design kicked off at the Millennium Art Museum on Sunday night following the opening ceremony for the annual Beijing Design Week. The collection, a total of more than 60 of the world's most precious cars that date back as early as the 1910s, is on display at the museum as the theme exhibition of Beijing Design Week.
According to Li Miao, one of the curators behind the event, the exhibition is divided into seven sections, including Century Classics, Luxury Designs and Dream Age to the Future, offering a chance for visitors to appreciate the beauty of industrial design.
"These are not just cars that we've used or are using for transport, but the art and designs of modern society," Li told the Global Times.
Among the cars on display, the oldest are a 1910 Reo 4 Cylinder Touring and a 1912 Unic 2DR Coupe, both of which are placed at the beginning of the exhibition together with nine other vehicles representing different time periods.
"We can easily see the changing style of designs from 1906 to 1991. Each age has its own style. You can even see how economic and social changes influenced the designs, like during the Great Depression," Li pointed out.
"Most of these cars are on display in China for the very first time."
The exhibition is scheduled to end on December 31 and free tickets must be booked in advance.