[LOVE HER(ALD)!]

A cheerful HELLO to all BHP-ians,

A new thread from me after a very long time. By my own confession, I had been in a frenzy for the past two months. On a lighter note, I like writing stuff which all members find interesting enough to respond to! (looking forward to your long, lovely replies...)

I was on Cloud Nine last weekend. My 1962 Triumph Herald found its way into the 11th Vintage and classic Car Rally here at Jaipur. In its 11th year now, this rally is organized by the Rajputana Automotive Sports Car Club, Jaipur. The elite participants comprise of car conneuseurs and collectors, the flamboyant business community and the Royal Rajput 'thikanas'. It is not hard to imagine then, the invaluable wealth of Vintage and Classic beauties at this glitterati-studded event, graced by the Page 3 community.

It was a two-day event held on the 7th and 8th Feb, 2009. The first day was a line-up of all the cars, explanation of the rally rules, the judging by experts from Mumbai, and a free-for-all exhibition of the cars, till 6 pm. This was held at the huge back lawns of the sprawling Jai Mahal Palace Hotel. Among other prominent guests was the Grand Lady herself - Her Highness Rajmata Gayatri Devi. Her personal car, a '56 milk-white Jaguar-XK also participated in the rally (driven by a Turban-wearing chauffer).

The next day was the flag-off by Smt. Beena Kak (Minister of Tourism) at 9:30 am. There were an astonishing 101 cars, divided into three categories - Vintage (till 1939), Classic (till 1959) and Modern Classic (from 1960 onwards). It was a 30 km route through the Pink City to the awesome Shiv Vilas Hotel, Kukas - via - Amer Fort. The event ended at the Clarks Amer Hotel at 6:30 pm, after the award ceremony by the Governor.

Hope you enjoy the pictures,

Regards,

Vikas

Here are a few pictures from the event:

[Stanher]

Hi Vikas, great to hear about a rally in your state! How I wish I'd known about such events when I'd lived in RJ as a kid!

But, no offence, no matter how many fascinating beauties turn up at these events, my eyes are automatically drawn to a Herald if any in them!

Your baby looks all the more a killer here! No close-up pics. of her at the rally??
BTW, is she a '62 or '63 Herald (I remember when you'd wanted to sell the car back then, it was advertised a '63?)

[LOVE HER(ALD)!]

Hi Stanher (dont know your name yet!),
Its regd as a '63 model but is actually a Nov'62 make.Thanks a lot for your kind words. Have many close-up pictures, but need to sit and compress them for posting. Will do that in a day or two.

[karlosdeville]

Wow, looks to have been a grand affair indeed. Quality of cars looks fantastic. I remember the Mustang when she was yellow in Pune for a while. The silver XK120 also came from Pune. I had seen the Delhi regd SL Merc in Hyderabad and the KA regd DeSoto cabrio in Bombay. Looks much better now. I see the movement in Jaipur is full steam ahead! Do you have any more pictures?

[wasif]

LOVE HER (ALD)

Thanks for the report on the Jaipur event. The pics look great.

It would be nice if you could upload atleast on picture of every car that participated. This way we know more about the cars in India.

Also if possible can you post a list of the cars entered in the various catagories and who were the winners.

This is eagerly awaited.

Wasif

[LOVE HER(ALD)!]

Hi Karl,
The Vintage car movement in Jaipur is indeed in full swing. People seem to be in a mad rush to procure as many of these classic beauties. Interestingly, among the 101 cars that participated, a collection of 8-10 cars each belonged to individual collectors. And there were atleast five such collections. Will be posting more pictures shortly.

Vikas

[Gooney]

I must say the cars really look well kept!!!