On a roll

These vintage rallyists kept their eyes on the road and hands upon their wheels.

Picture Amber Fort in all its splendour on the outskirts of Jaipur. Now picture it again, with the most exquisite gleamers on four wheels, vintage cars in near pristine glory, rolling past.

Well, it happened. We had marques ranging from Chevy, Jaguar, Chrysler and Ford to Mercedes and Austin, headed to Jaipur last week on their way from Gurgaon's Fortune Global hotel as part of a heritage rally.

The Great Rajputana Heritage Drive 2006, flagged off by the Czech Ambassador Jaromir Novotny Latvian, was the fourth such rally organised by the Heritage Motoring Club of India.

The club earlier took a vintage rally to Shimla to commemorate 100 years of the Kalka-Shimla rail link, and to Agra to celebrate 350 years of the Taj Mahal. Rallies have also been taken to Sariska in Rajasthan and Chandni Chowk in Delhi.

Lawyer Diljit Titus had a 1935 model Buick, bought from the Raja of Ayodhya, one of only 191 such cars ever sold.

"It feels great to own a car which was selectively made and which is more than 70 years old," says Titus, "My car is one of the only four seven-seaters that were made."

Kamal Shahani, a Delhi-based exporter, had a Volkswagen Beetle "" a vintage "model" it sure is "" imported from Brazil in 1984.

If that doesn't quite qualify, she and her dad also had other cars, including a Ford V8 1932 model, Fiat 1936 model and Rover 1946 model. It's the Beetle, though, that does her proud.

"It's not a car," she protests, "it's a Volkswagen... it gives 11 km per litre on highways and 9 km per litre on city roads, and it makes sure that it participates in all such rallies."

Industrialist S K Lakhotia, who runs an auto parts business, had his 1932 model Austin Seven, bought five years ago. With a mileage of 7 km a litre, Lakhotia claimed that the parts were all genuine.

"I have a passion for cars. I feel great driving this over-70-year-old four wheeler... much more than driving any latest luxury car."

Skoda auto dealer Dimpy Kapoor had his 1956 Chevy Belair, bought five years ago, fully restored and painted flashy yellow. Did that cost a lot of money? He didn't say.

"It is my passion to pick up vintage cars, restore and drive them. How much I spend in the process is immaterial."

K E Anand, an auto component manufacturer, was there with his six-cylinder 1948 Chrysler. He spent Rs 7-8 lakh doing up the car, though a lot of parts remain original, giving the car its vintage engine feel and performance characteristics.

As befits a Chrysler from the 1940s, the interior is spacious with a lot of leg room. "My Chrysler performs very well," he says, "and goes for most of the rallies."