For those taking the East Coast Road from Chennai to Puducherry on Saturday, there will be an added attraction apart from the eye-catching landscapes. The scenic stretch will be dotted with 35 vintage cars, each spreading a message on heritage conservation.
They will be participating in the ‘Preserve our Heritage,’ a vintage and classic car rally being organised, on February 6, by the Madras Heritage Motoring Club and the Tourism Development Corporations of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Announcing this at a press meet here on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director A.C. Mohandoss said that the rally would send the message across to the public on preserving our monuments.
“This is an occasion to remind ourselves that we need to take immediate measures to respect and protect our heritage,” he said.
Director of Puducherry Tourism P. Mathew Samuel said the rally would be another initiative to emphasise the significance of preserving heritage structures. Puducherry had 1,800 heritage buildings in 1980s and now the number has come down to 1,200.
“But we have been doing a lot of work to preserve such places. We have been conferred the UNESCO award for restoring the classical look of a street,” he said, expecting the vintage rally to bring in more tourists to Puducherry.
Public display
The rally, which will be flagged off at Prarthana Drive-in Theatre here at 9 a.m. on Saturday, will reach the beach in Puducherry. The cars would be kept on public display till 8 p.m. On Sunday, they will be driven back to Chennai, according to Madras Heritage Motoring Club president Balraj Vasudevan.
The oldest car among the lot will be the Austin 7 Chummy (1927). Classic cars including Dodge Brothers, Chrysler Plymouth, Jaguar SS, Morris 8 – Series 1, Willys Jeep, Citreon, Fiat 500 A and Vauxhall 12/4 will be part of the rally.
