If the country’s automotive calendar were ever drawn up on metal, most weekends in February, and the odd one in January and March, would be etched in chrome. In India, this is the season for annual rallies pertaining to vintage-classic vehicles. The last two weekends were packed, and there is still something left to look forward to, which includes the Cartier Concours d’Elegance at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, on February 24; and the Ahmedad-to-Jaipur Grand Heritage Drive 2019 (February 17-24) organised by the newly-formed Federation of Historic Vehicles of India; the drive is a closed event meant for member-groups, seeking to introduce them to collections of historic vehicles.
I had a look-in only at the Chennai-Puducherry Drive, an annual fitness-and-fun jog for vehicles from Madras Heritage Motoring Club. But I have a sense of how most of the other events went, as organisers, participants as well as enthusiasts now promptly evoke the zeitgeist of the times, social media, usually Facebook, to update the wider world. Particularly, on Facebook, there are engaging images from The Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally (February 10) in New Delhi.
Here is something that struck me as I was tracking these events: Clubs and organisers of rallies should look for a strong presence on Instagram and other highly visual platforms, if they seek to draw Millennials to the hobby. Moreover, this hobby has a lot of visual content to offer those parked outside but curiously looking in.
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The Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally in New Delhi
A vintage and classic vehicles rally by Manipal Auto Club was interesting for the composition of vehicles. Just two years old, MAC is a Millennial among automotive groups of its kind, and in my opinion, its approach to the hobby may very well bring a good number of Gen Zs into it.
On the automotive forum team-bhp.com, there was a pre-event thread about the 2019 edition of MAC’s vintage and classic vehicles rally. Started by a MAC member and teambhpian, it put out a list of probables, which included a Maruti Zen Carbon and a few other machines from a time frame that is just two streets removed from the present. Of course, it had the usual suspects: the Morris, the Austin and the Plymouth, to name a few. But to include vehicles closer to our times, but out-of-production and rare, will do a boot-space of good for the hobby.
Zen Carbon was a limited edition three-door model and Maruti rolled out only a few dozens of them, and the Zen name evokes nostalgia by the gallons for youngsters in their twenties now.
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There is a Red Data List for biological species that tracks their numbers, largely through observational information provided by wildlife enthusiasts and volunteer-researchers. Why not a Red Data List for vintage and classic vehicles? It could be built with information fed in by automotive enthusiasts. With the cooperation of clubs across the country, this should be possible. There should also be a system of collaboration that would ensure internal and external support for maintenance of marques that have alarmingly dwindled in numbers. Or, am I asking for the impossible?
A couple of years ago, 21 Gun Salute Heritage and Cultural Trust, which organises the 21 Gun Salute International Vintage Car Rally and Concours Show, announced plans to organise a marathon awareness drive with a pageant of vintage and classic cars chuntering through the northern parts of the country, and the proposed exercise was reportedly geared towards vintage-vehicle conservation, seeking to encourage residents to bring their run-down antique machines out of dinghy and forgotten garages and douse them in the energising light of restoration.
The idea may come across as a bit romantic, but I think it is worth working on. Even if only one out of every ten abandoned machines encountered on the awareness drive, whirred back to life, it would be mission accomplished.
