A majestic private collection of heritage vehicles, both cars, motorbikes and scooters, had the enthusiastic citizens of the Mumbai enthralled as they were seen driving through the streets of the city during the 40th VCCCI Vintage Car Fiesta organized by VCCCI (Vintage & Classic Car Club of India) in association with WIAA (Western India Automobile Association), on a bright Sunday morning.
The Fiesta was conducted under the Chairmanship of Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Honourable Minister for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra and is being hosted by Director of Tourism and is co-hosted by World Trade Center.
The Honourable Minister Lodha along with Mumbai Police Commissioner, Vivek Phansalkar flagged off the participants.
Proud owners of around 150 prestigious cars and an equal number of two-wheelers of various manufactures were flagged-off from World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade. The classic vehicles which were in pristine conditions roared through the roads from WTC to Bandra Kurla Complex and returned back after covering a distance of approximately 50 kilometres.
Participants from Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad negotiated their prized possessions with utmost care throughout the route and the citizens of Mumbai who had lined the route were not disappointed and instead watched in amazement.
Leading the pack was, Abbas Y. Jasdanwalla with his 1903 Humberette, was the oldest car to hit.
Chennai’s Shankar Sundaram along with his wife looked thrilled in their 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom III and they won the first prize for the ‘Best Restored Car’ in the Vintage category. Tushar Bhagat’s 1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe was second and the 1936 Mercedes 1705 owned by Abbas Jasdanwala won the third place.
Best Maintained – Vintage Car: 1. 1921 Type II Steyr owned by Vivek M Pittie’s 1921 Type II Steyr was declared winner of the ‘Best Maintained Car’ in the Vintage cagetory, the 1936 Chrysler Airflow Imperial owned by Amal Tanna and the 1938 Mercedes 170V owned by Deepak Himatsingha were placed second and third respectively.
Concours D’Elegance in the Vintage Car category was won by the 1934 Packard Super 8 owned by Rajiv Kher and in the Classic Car category Yohan Poonawala’s 1949 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith was declared the best.
Winners list:
Concours D’Elegance – Vintage Car: 1934 Packard Super 8 owned by Rajiv Kher; Classic Car: 1949 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith owned by Yohan Poonawala.
Best Restored – Vintage Car: 1. 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom III owned by Shankar Sundaram (Chennai), 2. 1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe owned by Tushar Bhagat, 3. 1936 Mercedes 1705 owned by Abbas Jasdanwala.
Best Restored – Classic Car: 1. 1991 Ford Mustang owned by Pratap Sinh Gaekwad, 2. 1973 Austin Mini owned by Sarthak Shah, 3. 1973 Mercedes 450 SL owned by Kabir Bhogilal.
Best Maintained – Vintage Car: 1. 1921 Type II Steyr owned by Vivek M Pittie, 2. 1936 Chrysler Airflow Imperial owned by Amal Tanna, 3. 1938 Mercedes 170V owned by Deepak Himatsingha.
Best Maintained – Classic Car: 1. 1950 Ford Deluxe Club Coupe owned by Amal Tanna, 2. 1958 Nash Metropolitan owned by Hassan Hussain, 3. 1957 Volkswagen Beetle owned by Zakir Merchant.