Media Matter Related to Vintage and Classic Cars

[harit]

A recent article on Pranlal's collection in Mumbai Samachar. Shown are the 1947 V12 Linvoln, Alwar Hispano-Suiza and 1909 Fiat.
Could someone translate the gist of it?

Cheers harit

[karlosdeville]

This article appeared in the Delhi times - mentioning celebration of the Delhi F1 event, but interestingly enough, in Mumbai!

[KPS]

Interesting article in ET on investments in Vintage Cars.

Why vintage cars are a good investment| ET Slide Shows

Cheers

KPS

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by KPS

Interesting article in ET on investments in Vintage Cars.

Why vintage cars are a good investment| ET Slide Shows

Cheers

KPS

Thats a good article KPS.
Vintage and Classic investment grows and so also does one's love for the beauty.This love sometimes translates into real love and passion for the particular beauty/ies and comes in between, to stop one from selling the prized possession/s.
Only since the past two decades or so have we realized the inherent value of these beauties. Or else, these were treated with very cruelly and destroyed, left rotting and even junked.
Just have a look at the Bollywood flicks of the 1970's and 80's where many, many old cars bought at dirt cheap prices have been subjected to ductile deformation or burnt.
The high prices are the best saviours for these cars, as no one will buy a Mustang for Rs 45 lakh and destroy it. The policy makers have done nothing to stop the annihilation and decay of old vintages and classics, but economics has played a stellar role and has given the master stroke in our country to preserve these beauties.

[srinand]

Found this article in yesterday's Times of India, Bangalore edition.

Regards,

Srinand.

NEVER TOO OLD SPEED STILL THRILLS

A septuagenarian who lives, loves life in the fast lane

Former Race Driver Hajee Sattar Sait Fondly Remembers His Glory Days In Competition

Shrivathsa Sridhar TNN

Bangalore: Driving around town in his Aston Martin DB 8,Hajee Sattar Sait never misses an opportunity to step on the gas on empty roads for a short dose of adrenaline. It’s a rush that the78-year-old has to steal in a traffic-congested city with shrinking roads.
It’s almost like a throwback to the time when racing was life and guts meant everything for the veteran.
Sait, the owner of a chain of hotels and a software technology park, is a self-proclaimed car racing geek who has participated in car races in Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Pune and Mysore as partof the SouthIndia Championship in the late 1950s.
“I got into motor sports because I took whatever opportunity I had, to make a name for myself and shine,” Sait told TOI. “It was all about making a name for yourself. I had all the support of my family, which enabled me to participate in some fantastic events,” he added.
At a time when races in Bangalore were conducted by the Bangalore Motor Sports Club under the guidance of its then president Fred Webb, Sait was among a host of good drivers that included the Maharaja of Gondal, PS Hariharan and John Webb apart from current Formula One driver Karun Chandhok’s grandfather Indu Chandhok.
“Back then, you only needed a car to get into a race and drive,” said Sait, who owned a Jaguar XK 150 and a Fiat. “We never had safety equipment or fireproof gear. We only wore a helmet. There was so much publicity and interest that as many as 15,000 people would come to watch us drive around at 140 kmph. The presence of a few drivers from Sri Lanka too was a drawing factor,” he added.
“Competitions were not easy. Drivers had to make a dash to their cars and then start races. There were U turns and chicanes along the way. It was a hair-raising experience back then.”
An avid Formula One fan, Sait took pride in the fact that he too had a taste of the excitement similar to that gripping the nation ahead of the Indian Grand Prix later this month. “The atmosphere was fantastic back then, there were screaming fans, people scrambling for space. Once, a driver even died after his car toppled. The fans got a real feel of it all then.Now,there is dedicated machinery that ensures Formula One is organized. There is professionalism, there is top technology and great tracks available. I’m sure there will be a different kind of excitement in New Delhi,” Sait said.
Sait said he was also indirectly responsible for the setting up of a governing body for motor sports in India. “Once, while racing in Coimbatore, I was disqualified for over speeding,” said Sait,who was penalized by the organizers of the handicap 25-lap race as he had exceeded his handicap timing even though he finished third.
“Even Indu Chandhok, who finished first, was disqualified. I asked the steward how someone who finished second could be declared the winner. This led to like-minded individuals discussing fair play and it laid the foundations for FMSCI,” Sait said.
Sait said he was eager to make Bangalore a racing hub again. “If the government helps me with the land, I would get together with friends and organize a world-class motor sports event. I want nothing out of it. It would be a nice, memorable gift from me to the city,” he said.
shrivathsa.sridhar@timesgroup.com

SNAPSHOTS: (Clockwise, from top left) Hajee Sattar Sait shows off his prized Aston Martin DB 8 in Bangalore. Testing the car at Palace grounds. Sait in his Jaguar in the 1950s. Posing for shutterbugs with his XK 150. The start of one of the races in the South India Championship

[KPS]

Following is the Article in TOI on the Vintage Hot Wheels which will carry the race drivers at the Buddh circuit. Of the 28 cars 15 are from Delhi

The old and the new at Indian Grand Prix - The Times of India


Vintage Hot Wheels
Vettel - Buick Convertible (1947)
Webber - Rolls Royce Phantom I (1925)
Button - Lanchester (1928)
Hamilton - Essex Super Six (1929)
Alonso - Studebaker Commander (1930)
Massa -Chrysler CM 6 (1931)
Rosberg - Mercedes 680 K Supercharged (1929)
Schumacher - Stutz Speedster (1931)
Petrov - Lagonda M45 (1934)
Senna - Auburn Boattail Speedster (1935)
Barrichello - Jaguar XK 120 Roadster (1950)
Maldonado - Jaguar Mark V (1950)
Sutil - Jaguar XK 120 Roadster (1950)
Di Resta - Jaguar XK 120 Roadster (1951)
Kobayashi - Jaguar XK 140 Roadster (1955)
Perez - Chevrolet BelAir (1956)
Alguersuari - Triumph TR - 3 (1956)
Buemi - Austin Healey 100/6 (1956)
Trulli - Daimler Dart SP 250 (1959)
Kovalainen - Sunbeam Alpine Series I (1960)
Liuzzi - Austin Healey 3000 (1962)
Karthikeyan - Mustang Convertible (1964½)
D'Ambrosio - Mustang Convertible (1968)
Glock - Karmann Ghia (1972)

Frankly some of the cars in this list are disappointing. I feel Harit's Lancia should have been in this list as it was raced in India. The Gondol 300 SL Merc which was also raced in India should have definitely figured in this list.

Some from this thread could have figure
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintag...ml#post2275069 (Classic sports cars in India (1945 - 1975))

I am waiting to the see pictures of the 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster though.

Cheers

KPS

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by KPS

Following is the Article in TOI on the Vintage Hot Wheels which will carry the race drivers at the Buddh circuit. Of the 28 cars 15 are from Delhi

Frankly some of the cars in this list are disappointing. I feel Harit's Lancia should have been in this list as it was raced in India. The Gondol 300 SL Merc which was also raced in India should have definitely figured in this list.

I am waiting to the see pictures of the 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster though.

Cheers

KPS

Howdy KPS,

Irrespective of the fact that HMCI has organised it, which is primarily New Delhi-based and yet there are cars from other cities, maybe the following info could give an insight into why also some other cars are not on the list:

Cost of freight (from hometown to Noida and back) is to be borne by the car owner! And other expenses involved are to be self-borne as well!!

But the organisers are not heartless!! From what I've heard, they are giving a set of two F1 tickets to the entrants of each one of these vintage & classic cars (valid on both days, qualifying and race).

Of course, as it goes, there shall be people piloting some of the cars that actually do not belong to them. They are handpicked folks who deserve to be in the limelight, because as Spiderman said, with great power comes great responsibility, and you have to be very careful in selecting who sits alongside the Vettels, Hamiltons and Karthikeyans. And of course, the F1 tickets have to be honoured too!

Regarding the Auburn, what would go through your mind upon learning (assuming that you don't already know, and I'm also assuming that it's the same piece that I think it is!) that it's a chop job?!

Best,

P

[KPS]

Originally Posted by Prabal

Howdy KPS,

Irrespective of the fact that HMCI has organised it, which is primarily New Delhi-based and yet there are cars from other cities, maybe the following info could give an insight into why also some other cars are not on the list:

Cost of freight (from hometown to Noida and back) is to be borne by the car owner! And other expenses involved are to be self-borne as well!!

But the organisers are not heartless!! From what I've heard, they are giving a set of two F1 tickets to the entrants of each one of these vintage & classic cars (valid on both days, qualifying and race).

Regarding the Auburn, what would go through your mind upon learning (assuming that you don't already know, and I'm also assuming that it's the same piece that I think it is!) that it's a chop job?!

Best,

P

Hi Prabal,

Thanks for waking me up.

Cheers

KPS

[wasif]

The Auburn is a chop job but a rather well executed chop at that ....looks very very identical to the original.

I think Rosberg got the best set of wheels !

Wouldn't it be nice if they all suddenly took off at full throttle racing each other in these cars for a bit !

[karlosdeville]

Here is the scan of the article that appeared in the papers. We can debate on the list forever, but it is a great boost for the movement methinks.

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by wasif

Wouldn't it be nice if they all suddenly took off at full throttle racing each other in these cars for a bit !

Hahhaha Wasif, actually such a scenario is a closer possibility than we'd imagine. Once one of these guys had scared the living daylights out of another club member, when he convinced him to come along, as he took his recently restored 'finds' for a test-drive down the Greater Noida Expressway, at full pep. As reported, the second guy was hanging on for dear life in the big tourer, with little retardation from the poorly-fixed brakes further adding to his consternation! He refused to participate in the ride on the return leg and simply did a Houdini!!!

[mayankk]

This is always old-world-romantic.


edit:sorry, didint realize it was so blurry.
Its at statesman house.

[harit]

For those who liked the old Japanese cars, here is something to cheer you up.
Taken from the International Herald tribune

Cheers harit

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by harit

For those who liked the old Japanese cars, here is something to cheer you up.
Taken from the International Herald tribune

Cheers harit

Apart from the many eccentric French designs since ages ,the 1970's Japanese car designs in particular, were quite quirky to look at ( not everyone dislikes these designs like me) .Later on, by the 1990's the Japanese realised that they were not good at the design jobs or were being jeered at by the Western car critics.The buyers were buying their cars (Japanese) purely due to their frugality for fuel and reliability.
The designing jobs from Japan were in many cases later on, outsourced to European design houses who did the job best, in keeping with the customer tastes of the Western markets.Their sales kept multiplying and now buyers had good looking, frugal and reliable cars.
Beauty and Brain therefrom is what I mean!

[harit]

A snippet found in DNA, sometime ago.
Both the Mustangs went to a dealer in Indore a few years ago and landed up in Bangalore. One is restored, the other undergoing it. Were they Mach versions? I think they were kitted.

Cheers harit