In the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, classic car enthusiasts meet coffee and pizza lovers at an exceptional destination that combines these three elements.

This initiative is part of the diversity of uniquely themed cafés in the UAE, which blend entertainment with various interests.

The 'DRVN' project is both a café and a classic car showroom, serving as a meeting point for car enthusiasts in the UAE, where they can enjoy coffee and pizza surrounded by the world's rarest cars.

In Abu Dhabi, classic cars are the main attraction at DRVN Café. Credit: CNN

The idea belongs to Rashid Al Fahim, who founded 'DRVN' in 2019 to combine his passion for cars, coffee, and food, and to allow the public to see part of his father's classic car collection.

Today, Al Fahim oversees a collection of around 100 cars, but he didn't always enjoy this freedom. His father used to forbid him from touching any car in his precious collection, but Al Fahim defied this ban when he took his father's 1964 Jaguar E-Type for a drive without permission.

When his father discovered the car was missing, Rashid had already moved it to a workshop, where the famous British car's parts lay disassembled on the floor, beginning a restoration process that lasted 7 years.

Today, Al Fahim manages his father's collection without needing such tricks. He told CNN: 'Since then, our relationship has become like a game of cat and mouse.'

He added: 'I try to touch one of his cars or modify it, and he gets angry and scolds me, but in the end, he feels proud of what we have achieved.'

Family Legacy

Founder of the DRVN Café project, Rashid Al Fahim. Credit: CNN

Before entering the business world, Al Fahim worked as a pilot for Emirates airline. During one of his long flights from Dubai to Manila, he wrote down his project plan on the plane.

It was fitting that the first branch of the café opened a few steps from Al Bateen Executive Airport, before later opening two other branches: one in Abu Dhabi and another in the emirate of Dubai near the Palm Jumeirah area.

In 1958, his grandfather Abdul Jalil Al Fahim founded a car repair workshop, which later evolved into the ALFAHIM Group, a family conglomerate with investments in real estate, energy, travel, and other sectors.

Today, the group is led by Mohammed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, from whom his son inherited a passion for classic cars since childhood.

Al Fahim recalls his childhood, saying: 'We would arrive at school and find all the children gathered around the classic car, as well as the parents.'

He added: 'I wanted to share this passion that brings many people together, but in a way that becomes an experience enjoyed not only by car enthusiasts but also by those who know nothing about it. Just being in the midst of this car culture is an experience in itself.'

He continued: 'When you take your car out for a drive, your final destination is often a café.'

'Every car manufactured is considered a work of art.'

DRVN Café has hosted many car gatherings, where enthusiasts display their finest cars, as well as organized screenings of Formula 1 races and even Pilates classes.

There is essentially one basic rule at the café: if a car is available for purchase from an ordinary showroom, it won't be displayed at DRVN.

This commitment to displaying only rare cars and hosting exceptional models has featured cars such as a race-modified Mercedes-Benz 300 SL bearing the signature of American actor Brad Pitt, as well as a Mercedes 600 Pullman that carried Queen Elizabeth II during her official visit to Abu Dhabi in 1979.

According to Al Fahim, the Dubai branch, which opened in partnership with German company Porsche in 2022, hosted a collection of historic Porsche cars valued at around $400 million, including the very first car Porsche ever made.

Al Fahim looks forward to a 'much bigger' future for DRVN, with plans for global expansion and capitalizing on the passion of car enthusiasts beyond the Middle East.

He added: 'Every car manufactured is a form of art. These engineering masterpieces have contributed to human civilization and will continue to do so in the future.'

Rashid Al Fahim's story reflects the new generation's passion for automotive heritage in the UAE. The project started as a simple idea on a plane and evolved into a unique chain of cafés. The café also represents an extension of a family legacy in the automotive world, as his grandfather founded a car repair workshop in the 1950s. This blend of coffee and cars is expected to attract more visitors to Abu Dhabi.