The Cadillac is back. The iconic car, which had been a permanent fixture on Hard Rock Café’s façade at Cuscaden Road for nearly 25 years, returned to the café’s entrance at 9am on December 4. And it was for charity.
Classic car collector Kumar Balasingham, who had won the 1961 Cadillac Series 62 de Ville in a raffle draw last year when it was taken down following the café’s closure for renovation works, decided to lend it back for a month following a request from the café’s management.
Members of the public and visitors to the café can now take photos with the car and donate whatever sum they want – which will go to the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF). Hard Rock Café has also come up with a non-alcoholic Strawberry Basil Lemonade drink, priced at $15++, to commemorate the return of the car – 15 per cent of the sale proceeds will go to BCF.
“It is so encouraging that it took a man with a passion for cars to make everyone believe that one can ride through breast cancer,” said BCF President Noor Quek.
An enthusiastic bunch from BCF put on a vigorous Zumba performance outside the café’s entrance when the car arrived.
For Kumar, who has a collection of about 50 vintage cars, the decision to hand over the Cadillac for a month to Hard Rock Café was easy. “It’s for a good cause, so why not?” he said. “The car is a Hard Rock Café symbol. The Hard Rock Café logo is still on the car.”
The 58-year-old, who is in the aviation business, has bigger plans: If he is able to sell the car, he is ready to take back the money he spent on refurbishing the car, and give the remaining to BCF.
