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Motorised beauties on display

Sudipta Sengupta

Motor car enthusiasts throng vintage and classic cars stall

Photo: S. Subramanium

Eye-catcher: A Rolls Royce parked with other vintage cars draws attention during the Auto Expo Classic Parade organised by Heritage Motoring Club of India in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI: While the Tatas’ brand new “people’s car” is drawing huge crowds at the ninth Auto Expo at Pragati Maidan here, public curiosity over how auto-engineering has evolved over a century is attracting several motor car enthusiasts to the vintage and classic cars stall.

Sponsored by Anand Automotive Systems and organised by Heritage Motoring Club of India (HMCI), the pavilion has on display automobiles that have attained a “classic” status as the years have gone by. Among the 50-odd cars showcased, it is a 1937-make Mercedes Benz Sports Roadster owned by Diljeet Titus that is garnering the maximum attention. This “rumble” seat 1697-cc machine is a rarity in this age and, therefore, a prized possession for vintage car enthusiasts.

Other highlights include a 1924 Graham Paige (Tourer) with wooden spokes and an Austin Chummy made the same year, two of the oldest cars at the show.

Rallies

“Marilyn Monroe drove a similar car,” says Anand Automotives owner K. C. Anand, pointing with pride to his 1956 Chevrolet Corvette, a coveted automobile that has won several rallies and is literally kept in air-conditioned premises by its doting owner during summers. Though a majority of the population can only drool over the motorised beauties on display, Anand has a fleet of vehicles that connoisseurs would give an arm and a leg for including a 1958 Mercedes 300D and a 1947 Chrysler Windsor.

Another section that is witnessing hordes of jacket-clad Hells Angels wannabes is the motorcycle enclosure that has two-wheeled giants from a bygone age. According to Mr. Titus, one of the primary objectives of the show is to provide a perspective of how automobile engineering has evolved over the years. Cases in point are the single-cylinder 1902 Swift 550 cc, the 1956 BSA Twin A-7 (1956) and Devinder Singh’s 1928 Levis with hand-shift gear believed to be the only piece in India.

This year the number of participants has increased to 150 from the first year’s 25.

Possibly HMCI vice-president S. B. Jatti’s dream of “trying to attract more young people and telling them about our centuries-old assets” is also nearing accomplishment.

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