The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vintage cars take a trip down memory lane

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Monday, Aug 03, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vintage cars take a trip down memory lane

Staff Reporter

Kamal Haasan flags off car rally

— Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

PAST GLORY: Actor Kamal Haasan takes a look at a vehicle at the vintage car rally held in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Time stood still and machines from a different era rumbled through the streets of the city. No, that is not a line out of the script of ‘Transformers’.

That was the outcome of a vintage car rally organised by the Madras Heritage Motoring Club here on Sunday.

More cars participated

More than 120 cars and 60 motorcycles from the vintage and classic periods participated in the ‘My TVS Heritage Car Rally’ which was flagged off by actor Kamal Haasan. Maya Ganesh, who was driving her Uncle’s World War-II era U.S. army jeep, said “Vintage cars are rugged. They have character. I almost feel for them,”

Adding to this, she said, “With all the modern gadgetry, cars these days cannot match the raw mechanics of these vintage vehicles.”

Oldest car

The oldest car in the fray was a 1926 Austin.

Most cars have been refurbished with handcrafted parts as originals are no longer available.

Balraj Vasudevan, president of the Club, called the rally a history tour.

Owning a vintage car is like owning a piece of history, he said, pointing out that a car used by M.G.R. and a few dodge brothers model cars – made famous by the U.S. mafia – were part of the show.

“History teaches us lessons. We must try to learn from the past,” said Kamal Haasan.

“In the age of bio-fuels, these vehicles with low efficiency and limited gadgetry look truly antiquated.

But it also shows how much we have sacrificed in the pursuit of speed.”

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