The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Old beauties rev on city streets

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Monday, Jun 27, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Old beauties rev on city streets

Staff Reporter

11 vintage Fiat cars come together to take part in the ‘Monsoon Rally – 2011'

–Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Classic:A two-door 1949 Fiat 600 takes part in the ‘Monsoon Rally – 2011' on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: As the humid conditions during the day abated, vintage Fiat cars came out for ‘Monsoon Rally – 2011' in the city on Sunday.

Proud owners of 11 Fiat cars of 1950's and 60's vintage came together under the banner of Fiat Classic Club Hyderabad (FCCH) to participate in the rally on Tankbund.

V.V.S. Ram Kiran, president of FCCH said that the one-year-old club had already attracted about 30 vintage Fiat car lovers who maintained their cars quite religiously.

The club helps owners in restoring these old cars. “New generation car mechanics cannot service these old beauties. So our club helps members to find old hands to service these cars,” he said.

Mr. Ram Kiran has two Fiats of 1962 and 69 make and has been maintaining them for the last 12 years.

Hyderabad has the largest collection of Fiats apart from Mumbai and yet there is no awareness of their worth among car owners, lamented Balaji Iyengar, secretary of FCCH. The rally was attended by quite a few enthusiasts.

V. Suryanarayana, 71, a retired physical training instructor in a Nallakunta school said that he dreamt of owning a Fiat ever since he saw one at the age of eight.

To fulfil this dream, he bought a Premier Padmini 127D in 2002 and has since travelled a distance of 80,000 km in it.

With his dream car giving a mileage of 20 kmpl he hopes to cover more miles. His travelogues can be read in his blog cum website www.milesonfiat.com.

Beatle look

Prakash Waghmare, another enthusiast maintains his Fiats in his personal garage as a hobby.

A two-door Fiat 600, a 1949 model owned by Sonu Singh, stole the show with its compact Beatle look.

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