DUBAI // Museums are generally synonymous with historical artefacts – but Ali Al Showaihi plans to change that.
He hopes to set up a museum of cars that are covered in coins from all over the world.
“I plan to make a museum with all the nations’ coins,” he said. “It will have different rooms with cars and coins from each country. It is a unique idea.”
Mr Al Showaihi believes it could take Dh50 million and five years to come to fruition, but he hopes to raise the money through his business, a car company called 111 Group, and from corporate sponsors.
For this ambitious project, he plans to collect coins from different countries.
“We want to collect coins from Asia, Europe, Africa and all the other continents. It requires a big budget to travel and to bring so many coins. We will not stop until we achieve this, no matter how long it takes,” he said.
Mr Al Showaihi believes his museum project will not be a wasted effort.
“We are not spending money but we are saving it. We know it won’t disappear into thin air but will be with us, pasted on the cars,” he said, jokingly adding: “When we need the money, we will take it from the cars.”
pkannan@thenational.ae
