Sports Cars for a Cause Raises Php 12.7M for Charity
Rarely do we see 4th Avenue and 27th Street by Seven/NEO at Bonifacio Global City closed off. Even rarer is to find more than 200 sports cars transforming the space into a track meet and auction space.
On February 23, 2025, the sixth annual Sports Car for a Cause (SCFC) was held at BGC. The theme, “Timeless and Tomorrow,” was meant to signal the evolution of the automotive world, as well as SCFC’s rapid expansion.
The event was led by BGC Car Club Convenor and NEO President Charlie Rufino, the founder of the event and a patron of the Sisters of Mary Schools, the beneficiary of all proceeds from the event.
Spotted at last Sunday’s lineup were notable classics like the Mercedes-Benz SKL 350, Ford GT, Honda S800, Porsche Cayman, BMW M-2, and Mazda MX-5, among others. The event featured more heavyweights such as the Ferrari 296 GTS and Porsche 911.
Electric vehicles courtesy from Tesla, Lotus, and Hyundai were presented, as well. Apart from the cars from this group up for sale, a few pieces from artists Ramon Orlina and Ronald Ventura were part of the auction.
Of note, too, was the rare appearance of the Mazda MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition, marking its first appearance in Asia outside Japanese soil. One may recall that the famed roadster first debuted at the Chicago Auto Show back in 1989.
Complementing the reimagined sharp MX silhouette is the exclusive Artisan Red Premium Metallic paintwork rendered by Mazda’s “Takuminuri” color technology. The special-edition MX-5 will remain for public viewing at the North Court of the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell, Makati until March 2, 2025.
Proceeds from the event fund scholarships benefiting students at the Sisters of Mary School (SOM). “We hit a fantastic goal of 140 scholarships for SOM. It’s a scholarship foundation, so we’re very happy to reach that number because of the incredible support from many sports car club groups,” Rufino said of the previous year’s SCFC. “This is an all-time high for us.”
This year’s total will also help fund the new ‘Digital Transformation’ school that is being built together with the Calvin Ayre Foundation. “There are about 9,000 kids we’re helping between Cebu and Cavite. We hope to see them taking on jobs in the thriving digital economy in the future,” he added.
The charity event has proven to be a show of force for the local car collectors’ communities. Participating car clubs for 2025 include BGC Car Club, Porsche Club Philippines, Manila Sports Car Club, Ferrari Owners Club Philippines, Miata Club Philippines, SupercarSupercarA high-performance sports car with exceptional speed, advanced engineering, and striking design, produced in low volumes by marques such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren. Supercars sit near the top ofGo to Supercar Glossary Club, Southside Sports Car Club, RWB Manila, Toyota MRS Group, Mustang Club Philippines, MAGTROC, SLK Club Philippines, Dr. SLX, Auto Enthusiast Car Club, Sexy Drivers Manila, Karrera, and Cars and Coffee.
Rufino continued: “We’re so happy to welcome everyone to the sixth time we did this. Imagine, it started with about 30 cars, and today, we have 237 cars—and we stopped registration. As of now, I’m proud to say that we’ve reached P12.7 million in donations. All that money is going straight to the foundation. Everybody is doing this as volunteers, completely free.”
Photographs by David Lim.