Anyone worth his driver’s license was most definitely at the Manila International Auto Show. The event—now on its third year and still held at the World Trade Center at the CCP Complex—was simply the place to be for certified petrolheads

While this year’s MIAS was admittedly smaller compared to last year’s edition, there were still lots of crowd-drawing attractions to guarantee a full house throughout the show’s four-day run. These included the new Hyundai vehicles (Veracruz, Tiburon and Elantra); Mitsubishi SUVs (Outlander, Pajero and Endeavor); the Ford Focus diesel; the Honda CR-V; the full Subaru lineup; the Nissan Skyline GT-R of Motul; the exotic cars displayed by Top Gear magazine; and the Ford No Boundaries off-road track.

But of all the highlights of the show—including the FHM Mossimo bikini show, several dance numbers by the EB Babes, and the mesmerizing collection of booth models (yes, cars and women apparently go together)—none was as popular as the precision-driving show of Russ Swift. The British motoring icon is the holder of three Guinness World Records in driving, including parallel-parking in the tightest space, J-turn in the tightest space and fastest donuts. He once famously taught the third trick to grandmothers on the Top Gear TV show. If you missed going to the MIAS and can’t picture the handiwork of Russ, just go to YouTube and launch a search for his videos.

I saw the first and last of his performances at the MIAS and what difference word of mouth must have made. At his very first show on opening day on Thursday, the audience was sparse in spite of the very affordable admission fee of thirty bucks. The makeshift bleachers were hardly filled. By the time Russ gave his last driving performance, his audience had swollen to SRO numbers—so much so that the organizers had to ask many of them to transfer to the opposite side of the track. When he stepped on the brakes one final time, he had officially transformed himself into a rock star, graciously signing autographs for adoring fans who were left breathless by his incredible tricks behind the steering wheel.

Benefiting tremendously amid all this hoopla was Motor Image Pilipinas, the official distributor of Subaru vehicles in the country. Allow me to tell you why.

The organizer of the MIAS, Worldbex Services International, initially asked Motor Image to provide the vehicles for the Russ Swift show. No fees had to be paid; they just had to load the cars for the entire MIAS run. This made sense since Subaru cars are known for their rallying exploits, and Russ had already partnered with Subaru in his shows abroad, most notably at the Singapore Auto Show.

Unfortunately, Motor Image, according to general manager Nicky Mariano, didn’t have available units at the time of the request, Subaru units being snapped up quickly by eager customers the very moment they arrived on our shores. So Worldbex had to look for another vehicle provider. The lucky carmaker they approached was Mazda, which agreed to provide a Mazda3 based on the list of specifications that Russ ordered.

But more unfortunately for Mazda, the car they sent on the day of ingress encountered mechanical problems, prompting the organizer to frantically look for yet another vehicle provider. Perhaps the Russ Swift-Subaru partnership was really predestined, because when all this commotion was happening, Motor Image already had the vehicles that Russ Swift needed. To cut the story short, Subaru topped the billing for the Russ Swift show once again. Russ showed up for the ingress wearing a Mazda shirt; he left sporting Subaru blue.

Those who were able to watch Russ perform his tricks in the Impreza saw how huge Subaru’s marketing success was. Almost overnight, the Subaru name became synonymous with driving excitement even among Filipinos who might not have been entirely familiar with the brand. The show was such a rousing success. If you can’t imagine it, Google “Russ Swift in Manila.”

When the smoke from the donuts settled, Subaru marketing manager Ariel de Jesus was grinning from ear to ear, knowing he had scored a publicity slam dunk. Now I understand why Subaru is making quite a noise among hard-core car enthusiasts. These people know how to have fun and give a good show. They are irreverent entertainers.

Exactly like their Subaru cars.

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