'Time tunnel' encapsulates Gasan's 80 years

The main hall of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, was on Wednesday night transformed into a 'time tunnel' that presented 80 years of history for Gasan, along with highlights of local and world history.

The celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary since Gasan was awarded the Ford franchise in Malta reached their peak with last week's time tunnel event hosted by Gasan Enterprises Ltd. Among the guests were the Prime Minister and Mrs Lawrence Gonzi, 100 delegates attending a Ford of Europe European Direct Markets annual regional conference in Malta, and employees and former employees of the Gasan Group.

The multimedia display included a number of vehicles and other memorabilia from five distinct eras, ranging from the 1920s to the present day. The vehicles consisted of a 1931 Ford Model A; an SS (a precursor of the Jaguar) of 1935; a Merlin V12 engine, similar to those used in the Spitfires and Hurricane aircraft during World War II; a 1968 Ford Escort Mk I; a Yamaha 347 cc GP bike dating back to the 1970s; and a Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth dating to the 1980s.

These were complemented by contemporary vehicles in the current Gasan Enterprises range: a Ford Kuga, Jaguar XK, Volvo C70 convertible, Mazda2 Sport, the Yamaha R1 and R6 bikes and a Yamaha 225 hp outboard motor.

The time tunnel display showed newspapers of the various eras announcing major national and international events, milestones in Gasan's history, photographs from the Gasan collection, inspirational quotations, large plasma screens showing period footage, and models dressed in costumes of the era.

Group chairman Joseph A. Gasan looked back over the past eight decades of endeavour in the automotive business: "The late 1920s saw the beginning of the Great Depression in the US and the rest of the world. Eighty years later, we are seeing another major economic storm in the US, and the rest of the world... The irony is that, while these two negative milestones rocked the world, these dates are also looked on as milestones in the history of the Gasan business."

Mr Gasan also touched on the group's expansion into other areas, including property development, engineering, insurance, communications and IT.

Peter Fleet, regional director, European Sales Operations for Ford of Europe, congratulated the company on its significant achievement which he said the Ford Motor Company valued greatly before introducing a video message from Mark Fields, president of The Americas for Ford Motor Company.

Gasan Enterprises managing director David Gasan spoke about the latest developments, including the opening of a state-of-the-art centre in Mriehel, expansion into Libya with automotive brands, and other recent developments within the Gasan Group in all areas.