The word has spread and car connoisseurs can’t wait to get their garaged old beauties out for some sunshine and adulation. At least 50 cars and bikes are expected to feature in the annual vintage car and bike show held for the third consecutive year on Independence Day.
The excitement this year is all about a small drive around Race Course. “It is voluntary. The owners can choose to join the pageant before exhibiting their cars for the day at Hotel Fortune Pandiyan,” says Ramesh Babu, the man behind the show. He is visibly happy about the response to the event this year. “This means we are slowly getting there — making more people aware of the heritage they hold or hide,” he says.
The flagship event of Madurai’s PCM family (who also own hotel Fortune Pandiyan) has in the past two years brought car owners and sellers, mechanics and engineers and all those with a passion for antiques on the same platform to exchange their stories about the magnificent machines preserved from another era.
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Stories about war, business, love and emotions are often shared at these rallies. Like Prasanna Ghosh of the Pastry Corner in Kodaikanal, who plans to drive down in his father’s 1949 Austin 16 Hp. “My father bought the black beauty with a 1937 vintage look from a British gentleman in 1973. It is not exactly a showpiece, but I have maintained it with all it’s original parts, accessories and upholstery intact,” he says, and recalls how he started his bakery business in 1985 stacking the car with loaves of bread for home delivery in Kodaikanal. He tries to keep its engines running by driving it at least 500 kilometres a year even though it guzzles petrol and gives a little over two kilometres a litre.
“It is not about mileage or speed, but a deep connection one develops with old cars,” he says. He last took the car to Batlagundu three weeks ago and is confident that it’s first journey to Madurai coming Thursday would be free of glitches. “I hope to make it in about three hours,” he says.
- Chevrolet Impala of June 1966 has been offered by the Executive Director of Thiagarajar Mills, K Hari Thiagarajan. The brick brown MSR 1234 belonged to his grandfather Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar
- The 1962 Italian make Fiat Berlina 1300 left hand drive is a single piece car to be sent by businessman S Chandrashekar alias Ajith from Tirunelveli. This is the only car in the whole of South India in a beautiful maroon colour with registration no. MEN 1.
- R Dinesh, MD, TVS Logistics Services, will be showing the mint 52 Cadillac Fleetwood V8 that belonged to his great grandfather T V Sundaram Iyengar. The car, that was last taken out on the streets sometime in the 70s, is on display at the TVS House in Madurai
Another new participant this year is D J Venkatesh Durai from Trichy. He is bringing a dozen pre-1960 make bikes and a 1937 Dodge which he bought less than a month ago. “I drove the car to the Ooty rally on August 3 at 100 kilometres/hour without stopping even once,” says Venkatesh, who is in automobile retail business. He says the hobby of car and bike collection got the better of him two decades ago. “I am looking forward to meeting more like-minded people, guiding them about repairs and also learning about restoration of old cars,” he adds.
Likewise, Suresh Rajendran, businessman from Nagapattinam is excited about riding his England-make 1955 Royal Enfield Bullet. He says he recently spent ₹2 lakhs on its restoration and will be showcasing it for the first time. “I take care of it like my child,” he says.
For Chandravel Rajan, who works as CFO in a private hospital, it is matter of great pride to be able to present his collection of 10 years consisting of seven antique bikes, a 1958 Jeep and 1948 Wolsely car. Drawn to collecting anything that is old, he had to ensure he earned a good salary in order to pursue an expensive hobby. “The Madurai rally is an excellent awareness drive for people to know more about automobiles from the yesteryears,” he says.
Veejay Saravanan T, who has participated in the previous two editions with his businessman father P Thyagarajan, will once again showcase their 1947 Chevvy Fleetmaster and 1964 Super Select Fiat with suicide doors. He says that participation of people from several nearby cities, such as Nagercoil, Nagapattinam, Sivakasi, Dindigul, Theni, Trichy and Kodaikanal this year, is testimony to the interest the event has generated. Everybody will have an opportunity to get a flavour of vintage, classic and veteran vehicles. Ramesh says the show is taking baby steps at attracting even those who may not be interested in cars. “For many, it is a not-to-be-missed photo-op; and once they are here, they get interested in understanding the evolution of the machines,” he says.
