The Al Baan Nawk car exhibit room.

Not your Average Garden

When we put out our Nongnooch Garden article, believe it or not, a couple of people said that gardens weren’t manly enough for them to visit, or that they were for people in romantic relationships.  Let them keep believing that if they want to but Nongnooch is more than just your average “pretty flower” garden.

Located on the beautiful grounds of one of the world’s top ten most beautiful gardens is a warehouse that houses some pretty “manly” items, lots of them.  If you’ve not been for a visit yet and you are a fan of grownup “toys”, you have to check out the Al Baan Nawk car exhibit.

You see, the owner of Nongnooch, Kampon Tansacha’s passion for beautiful and exotic things didn’t stop at flowers and trees. The Al Baan Nawk exhibit currently hosts more than 60 vehicles for your viewing pleasure:

The Cars

The Morgan Plus 8 (Speedster) is a sports car built by British car makers, Morgan, from 1968 to 2004 and put back into production in revised form in 2012.

In addition to the Morgan Plus 8 Speedster, the exhibit also has a second vehicle by the Morgan company, the Morgan 3-Wheeler.

The Morgan 3 Wheeler represents ‘no frills all thrills’ motoring with attitude and character.

For the most part, the Al Baan Nawk cars are historical replicas.  Many bring a sense of nostalgia to car enthusiasts of different eras because of the way they are built or designed, but these vehicles also contain most modern-day luxuries as well.

The Lotus 2-Eleven is a car produced by British car manufacturer Lotus. It is based on the Lotus Exige S and thus has the same Toyota 2ZZ-GE with VVTL-i, Eaton M62 Roots-type supercharger and inter-cooled inline-four engine.

Whether you are into the older look or more modern super-performance cars, there is something at the exhibit that you will want to have photos of.  Al Baan Nawk could easily take over a Hot August Night car show with their collection.

A beautiful super-shortened wheel-base Mini Cooper in “Pink Pearl”

In addition to the super-short Mini, they also showcase two other Mini Coopers.  One is painted with the British flag on the top in the traditional red and has a trailer to match.  The other is painted in a futuristic and almost psychedelic pattern.

KTM developed the X-Bow in collaboration with Kiska Design, Audi, and Dallara. The X-Bow uses a turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0 litre Audi engine. The 2008 model produces 237 hp (177 kW; 240 PS) at 5,500 rpm and 310 newton meters (230 lb-ft) of torque between 2,000 and 5,500 pm and can accelerate from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds. Its top speed is 217 km/h (134.9 mph).

What better way to get out to check out these cars than to tell the missus you’ve changed your tune and are looking forward to a day at Nongnooch with her?  Every lady loves to go to the garden, she doesn’t have to know that there is an ulterior motive involved.

The Plymouth Prowler, later the Chrysler Prowler, is a retro-styled production car manufactured and marketed from 1997 to 2002 by Daimler-Chrysler, based on the 1993 concept car of the same name.

The Prowler is probably one of the most futuristic-looking vehicles that they have on display.  This particular version was produced in small batches in 1997 and from 1999 till 2002.  For being made a few years ago, it still has one of the most futuristic feels about it.

Subaru IMPREZA WRX STI. Made very popular by the Gran Turismo video game series.

What car collection would be complete without a Cadillac?  Not only do they have a Caddie on hand but it’s painted in a beautiful reddish-brown with the Louis Vuitton markings.

Daddy never was the Cadillac kind…

In addition to the cars, Al Baan Nawk also has a decent amount of sport and recreational vehicles in the collection, some of which are quite unique.

Some sort of tracked Segway? looks like something the Terminator would ride around on…

Racing on the street, racing in the sand, racing just about everywhere.  As you can tell, Mr Kampon Tansacha is clearly a fan of speed and fun.  His collection says it all.

Anyone for a little fun in the mud or sand?

The next time the missus tells you that she wants to take a trip to the garden, just give in to her demands, even the little crumb snatchers will have a blast checking out the rides.

If Thailand ever found themselves stuck in the snow, at least ONE person would be driving around (probably having a blast).

Entrance into the car exhibit is free with the purchase of a ticket to Nongnooch Garden.  For information about the outside garden exhibits or for more information about the garden venue, check out our Nongnooch Garden Photo Diary!  

 

 

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Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/