Follow-Up On “Coinmaro” – Interview With the Owner

Back at the end of November we showed you the 1998 Camaro that a man from the United Arab Emirates had covered with over 33,000 coins to celebrate the UAE’s 40th anniversary of independence. Now the folks over at Gulf News have a one-on-one interview with Tariq Javaid, the man behind the coin Camaro.

Javaid tells Gulf News that he actually got the inspiration from a trip to America 20 years ago. He says, “I saw many objects covered with shiny buttons and coins. Then, after coming to the UAE in 1999 and joining the Chevrolet dealership, I noticed how people here love to dress their cars up. Fancy paint jobs and huge shiny wheels were very much the in thing and still are today. So I decided that I would do something unique to mark the historical 40th UAE National Day.”

Meticulously gluing Dirhams to the Camaro consumed Javid’s life for 12 months as he spent over 3,000 hours working on the project. He says, “I had no social activity during this period, I worked on it during all of my spare time, weekends, holidays you name it. I even took leave from work to complete it. Now my car is famous all over the UAE and parts of the world, it makes me very proud and happy.” Many people have wondered just how much weight the coins added to the 3800 V6 Camaro, and Javaid says that in total they weighted 160kg, which converts to just over a whopping 352 pounds.

As it turns out, the “Pride of the Emirates” coin-Camaro isn’t the first car that has gained Javaid attention in the Arab world. In 1998 he created the first Pakistani kit car – a Lamborghini Countach that rode on a Volkswagen chassis. He says, “It brought me lots of media attention…The futuristic looks of the Countach replica would stop traffic!”