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Old 23rd January 2009, 17:13   #31
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I was there at about 3pm, there was just one bentley there (which I think I did see at the Cartier show as well a few months back) , There were no other vintage cars at CCI , and there were no banners / signboards either and the staff was clueless as well , however the guard was nice enough to let me picture the car inside the compound , even though it was in shade and blocked by cars on either sides. I managed to get a few pictures (and upload them with much resizing to 1mb )
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The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-bentley_1.jpg  

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The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-bentley_311.jpg  

The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-bentley_811.jpg  

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Old 23rd January 2009, 21:10   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vikrut View Post
I was there at about 3pm, there was just one bentley there (which I think I did see at the Cartier show as well a few months back) , There were no other vintage cars at CCI , and there were no banners / signboards either and the staff was clueless as well , however the guard was nice enough to let me picture the car inside the compound , even though it was in shade and blocked by cars on either sides. I managed to get a few pictures (and upload them with much resizing to 1mb )
Beautiful pics! They do utmost justice to the car! Absolutely amazing...
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Old 24th January 2009, 16:44   #33
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The Great Rally of India - 2009 (Bentleys)

Hi Guys

I wonder how many were aware about this Rally.
At the Cartier event I came to know that some Vintage WO Bentleys were to come to India and drive down from Delhi to Mumbai. There were to be 6 to 7 cars and one of the gentlemen present at the Cartier event and a Bentley buff was involved. Well, the event did take place, but how many noticed?

Check this site for details, this was sent to me by Julian.
The Great Rally of India

As one can see, the cars were flagged of from Delhi, drove to Agra, Udaipur Ahmedabad, Baroda and finally came to Mumbai. All the details can be seen in this site. As you can see, they were hosted very well.
Now for the bummer. Many folks in Mumbai got sms's informing them that the Bentleys were being displayed at the CCI club in Mumbai on 23rd Jan. So some hardcore guys like Karl would have come down from Pune to see, fortunately he was involved with his sisters marriage affairs. Luckily, because the display never happened! Now we are curious to know what happened.

The event was a private event no doubt. And it was associated with some charity. Somewhere in the picture VCCCI was involved because I was told by the head of VCCCI that these cars are also sporting VCCCI plates during the drive. And the famous yellow car carrier is also seen in some of the pictures. Somewhere Volkswagen India also lent a hand, they gave a car for them to use. WIAA was also visited, so some involvement perhaps in hosting the visit to their premisis. Then the Taj was heavily involved, flag-off at Taj Palace Delhi and lots of pics at Taj Mumbai, perhaps also Taj Lands End.

For the car enthusiasts, CCI display was meant to be the place of interaction. Nothing happened. There was a selected lunch organised for very very selected people, something to do with WIAA and Castrol. The Prince came, drank a glass of water and scooted of after giving something to Castrol. The Bentley of Mr. Dossa was on display (he had told me that no India cars will be there) and one Rolls renamed as a Bentley in the Midday of Mr. Cama was also there.

What a let down for the car lovers of Mumbai. While some organisations wined and dined these guys, cars lovers were not only ignored but also taken for a ride. A number of friends had called that they went to CCI and that there were no Bentleys. This is a problem of attitude, and next time we should be cautious when hosting such people. They take hospitality in their stide, it is understood, we idiots bend ourselves to make their events as pleasant as possible, and then this. At least the French, Cartier were much much more honourable. These Bentley car enthusiasts were more interested to hobknob with page 3 at the Taj. Totally uncharacteristic of car enthusiasts I have known. They may have other engagements, but they always find time to fit in for some enthusiasts.

This is my take on the event, I telephoned around a lot and could only gather this much. There may be another side to this, shall be glad to hear it.

I do condemn such behaviour, but if there is an explanation, I would be perfectly willing to change my opinion and appologise. But we should know what has happened.
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Old 26th January 2009, 01:18   #34
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Harit sir, your observations are spot on.
I too heard about this event, but a day later, and that too while on a boat to Alibaug, from a lady who co-incidentally sat next to me and was mentioning this to someone on her phone while I evesdropped . I got talking to her, and it turned out she knows her automobiles to well.
Her uncle once owned an Armstrong-Siddley (Have i even got the spelling right ?!?), and she herself owned a fifties Plymouth which was sold to Mr. Bhogilal.
Small world of car lovers, this !
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Old 26th January 2009, 02:14   #35
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Prince Micheal eh? Isnt he the same guy at the Cartier event?
Well i heard about this a rpond 10 days ago and within a few hours the smses reached everyne in thieir phonebook, including several same smses, returned back to me.
I heard the exact same thing that Harit heard about and also that there was to be a very private, invitation only lunch but had no knowledge about who was invited. Imagine, none of the big enthusiasts and collectors of repute, i knew were not even aware of this. Strange I thought. Then to hear that the Bentleys actually never made it oto the venue. There was Dossa's Bentley whic was never going to be there in the first place and there was Cama's Rolls which some tabloid termed as a Bentley. Why do we have reporters reporting events they know nothing about?

I am also too intrigued to learn what went wrong and with whom, that a showcase of such cars was cancelled so suddenly. There must have been some fallout somewhere is my understanding. Anyhow we lesser mortals never got a chance to see those beauties and some nincompoops, who probably cant tell a Bentley from a Morris were shown these.
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Old 26th January 2009, 11:33   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl View Post
Beautiful pics! They do utmost justice to the car! Absolutely amazing...
thanks man , but just wished I couldve got more cars there, the bentleys they look beautiful
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Old 26th January 2009, 21:56   #37
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I happened to catch the entourage at the Port Cochere of the Taj Lands End at Mumbai, got a close up front look at the cars, alll nearly identical in their military green and Khaki avataar. i will try to upload some pics that my friends took at the location.
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Old 28th January 2009, 14:19   #38
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The rally when in Ahmedabad

Here are the pics of the rally when they were here in Ahmedabad. WE had organised a little gettogether in the WIAA-Ahmedabad. hope you enjoy the photos. The car no. 5 was the 8 ltr Bentley from France. They were here in Ahmedabad on the 21st Jan 09. I heard the organisers and the Innova driver with them who was from the scotland yard, in security of HRH Michael of Kent in Car no. 1 that they were 110 miles per hour to 120 miles per hour on their way from Udaipur to Ahmedabad.
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The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-003.jpg  

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The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-092.jpg  

The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-093.jpg  

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Old 28th January 2009, 15:00   #39
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Thanks Subodh bhai for the very special treat. It must have been a riot hearing all those Bentleys fire up
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Old 28th January 2009, 15:35   #40
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A few more pictures

Sorry the car no. 3 was HRH Prince Michael of Kents car. The Car no. 6 had an amazing sound, the fire Deepak was just great.
Attached Thumbnails
The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-094.jpg  

The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-096.jpg  

The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-187.jpg  

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The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-186.jpg  

The Great Rally of India Bentleys on display in Mumbai on 26 Jan 09-picture210109-188.jpg  

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Old 28th January 2009, 16:13   #41
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At the Cartier event I was chatting with Amir Ali Jetha when HRH Prince Michael and Philip Strickland (who runs the Benjafield racing club) walked up and we chatted for a long while. I remember Philip telling me about the Bentley rally and actually invited Amir to join in the Continental (I would have )

Its such a fun thing to do. I can imagine the stretch from Ahmedabad to Baroda on the expressway must have been a blast. Also quite a stretch of the Bombay Surat road passes through some lovely sections, especially around Borivli jungle

What a sight it must have been to see this group of Bentleys blasting through.

Last edited by DKG : 28th January 2009 at 16:14.
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Old 3rd February 2009, 19:07   #42
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The rally itself was a way to raise awareness of road safety in India and in particular for the Rashtriya Life Saving Society - RLSS (India) Home Page - RLSS(INDIA) (please remove the link if this is considered spam)

We opened a number of Life saving centres on our way to Mumbai from the Rajpath in Delhi.

When this event was put together the world was a very different place the term credit crunch was only spoken of in a few circles as a theoretical possibility and the tragic events in November had not happened. We had set up and arranged a number of events which we were intending to invite the public and media too in order to generate as much publicity as was possible for the charities and of course to increase the amount of money which would be donated.

It was a very well put together rally and we thought we had covered ever possible eventuality. In this we were of course sadly overtaken by events in November and consequently had to drastically alter the rally to accommodate this, initially we were to have been staying in the Taj opposite India Gate as this had both significance to HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO and also lent its name to the original title of the rally Gate to Gate – the Great Rally of India. The General Manager Karambir Singh Kang was instrumental in helping to organise this event along with a number of other members of the Taj hotel group.

These plans were still all in place when some of the rally attendees and its organiser (my Father) Philip Strickland attended the Cartier event and were busy promoting the rally whilst there.

For reference Philip is a founder member of Benjafield’s Racing Club, former Chairman and current Competitions Captain but does not run the Club, which is done by an executive committee lead by the Chairman.

After the events of the 26 November, the rally suddenly took on a far more serious tone than a few friends mucking around in cars for charity. We had to have meetings with both the high council of India, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office here in the UK as well as number of meetings with Officials from the India and British security services.

Initially the advice was given that the event should be cancelled entirely then after further discussion postponed indefinitely, sadly this lead to a number of sponsors pulling out as well as some of the original entrants to the rally. After some protracted discussions we were finally advised the rally could continue but under the prevision that there was absolutely no pre-publicity about the event and all reporting on the event had to be done historically after the rally had passed through the specified route.

It should be stressed at no point did the club or indeed the majority of the rallies participants consider cancelling the rally. Foolhardy might be the way some people would describe this action; however the club felt and still feels it would have been a greater disservice to India to have done so.

Having completed a similar rally back in 2000 we were aware as the organisers of the great love India has for the cars and it was beyond question the rally would go ahead we did, however, concede we would have to bow to the concerns of the Security Services. More importantly it was felt this was precisely the type of event which the attacks were designed to scare off and in cancelling it would have played into hands of the attackers.

We are not by nature a political club race, creed, class etc are all utterly irrelevant when it comes to racing what matters is can you cut it on the track. This to my knowledge is the only occasion where the club has reluctantly taken a political stance in saying we would not bow to terrorism.

This did of course present a number of problems in how to promote a rally and the charity without being able to promote it.

As a result a number of amendments had to be made to the original route of the rally and the events we had planned to attend. As much as was possible, the rally didn’t deviate from its original plan or route. We ensured ever Life saving centre we were scheduled to have opened was opened and indeed actually increased this number during the course of the rally as events unfolded.

The rally started off from the Rajpath as planned and we travelled onwards towards our goal in Mumbai, blissfully unaware of the politics we had now unfortunately become a small part of. Sadly as we reached the city of Udaipur we received credible intelligence regarding a possible threat to the rally and the wider public, at this point we were entirely committed to continuing with exhibiting at the CCI.

By the time we had arrived in Ahmedabad however these threats had become significantly more concrete and as a result we began to alter the rallies plans. This included on advice cancelling the CCI exhibition. We genuinely attempted to find every possible solution to the cancellation and after some pressure it was accepted that although the cars would not go to the CCI a representation of the rally including HRH Prince Michael would attend the formal dinner there. It came as a bitter blow as we had all intended to display the cars in all their battle scars and beauty and invite the public to come and see them, sit in them and all the usual exposure these events give the public to the cars.

As part of the changes to the rally however we felt it was also important to honour those affected by the attacks and the rally including HRH Prince Michael met with staff from the Taj Palace hotel who had been involved in the heroic actions. As a direct result of the events and also in recognition of the actions of the staff we made a direct donation to the fund set up after the attacks.

We are dreadfully sorry to everyone disappointed by our late cancellation and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of the club for events outside of our control leading to this disappointment.

We will undoubtedly be returning at some point in the future and hope that it is in happier times for India and of course Mumbai.

I will of course be happy to answer any and all questions you may have regarding this matter either here or on our own sites forums. For obvious reasons some details may have remain undisclosed.

Edward Strickland
Web editor
Benjafield’s Racing Club.co.uk
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Old 3rd February 2009, 19:34   #43
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If I may also correct a few things in this post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
Hi Guys

I wonder how many were aware about this Rally.
At the Cartier event I came to know that some Vintage WO Bentleys were to come to India and drive down from Delhi to Mumbai. There were to be 6 to 7 cars and one of the gentlemen present at the Cartier event and a Bentley buff was involved. Well, the event did take place, but how many noticed?

Check this site for details, this was sent to me by Julian.
The Great Rally of India

As one can see, the cars were flagged of from Delhi, drove to Agra, Udaipur Ahmedabad, Baroda and finally came to Mumbai. All the details can be seen in this site. As you can see, they were hosted very well.
We were indeed hosted incredibly well at each and every stop of the rally not only in the cities but also in the villages, petrol stations and anywhere we went. For which we are eternally grateful.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
Now for the bummer. Many folks in Mumbai got sms's informing them that the Bentleys were being displayed at the CCI club in Mumbai on 23rd Jan. So some hardcore guys like Karl would have come down from Pune to see, fortunately he was involved with his sisters marriage affairs. Luckily, because the display never happened! Now we are curious to know what happened.
I'm not sure who or why those SMS messages were sent but they did not come from the rally itself. I apologise if they had mislead anyone in anyway. We did not however issue them or can be held responsible for these messages.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
The event was a private event no doubt. And it was associated with some charity. Somewhere in the picture VCCCI was involved because I was told by the head of VCCCI that these cars are also sporting VCCCI plates during the drive. And the famous yellow car carrier is also seen in some of the pictures. Somewhere Volkswagen India also lent a hand, they gave a car for them to use. WIAA was also visited, so some involvement perhaps in hosting the visit to their premises. Then the Taj was heavily involved, flag-off at Taj Palace Delhi and lots of pics at Taj Mumbai, perhaps also Taj Lands End.
The event was private only in so far as it was a Benjafield’s Racing Club event; We met with and intended to allow full access to the public at all points of the rally, and as far as was possible still managed this.

The VCCCI were involved in some aspects of the rally however it was entirely a Benjafield's event.

The WIAA were involved but again not in terms of the event organisation.

Volkswagen were in no way involved in the event and had no input in it what so ever.

The Taj hotel Group were instrumental in the event and made every possible accommodation to the rally at each and every step of the way.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
For the car enthusiasts, CCI display was meant to be the place of interaction. Nothing happened. There was a selected lunch organised for very very selected people, something to do with WIAA and Castrol. The Prince came, drank a glass of water and scooted of after giving something to Castrol. The Bentley of Mr. Dossa was on display (he had told me that no India cars will be there) and one Rolls renamed as a Bentley in the Midday of Mr. Cama was also there.
This has been explained in my previous post I trust this now reveals this comment to be erroneous and also explains why the event happened in the manner in which it did.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
What a let down for the car lovers of Mumbai. While some organisations wined and dined these guys, cars lovers were not only ignored but also taken for a ride. A number of friends had called that they went to CCI and that there were no Bentleys.
It was a letdown for all concerned sadly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
This is a problem of attitude, and next time we should be cautious when hosting such people. They take hospitality in their stide, it is understood, we idiots bend ourselves to make their events as pleasant as possible, and then this. At least the French, Cartier were much much more honourable. These Bentley car enthusiasts were more interested to hobknob with page 3 at the Taj. Totally uncharacteristic of car enthusiasts I have known. They may have other engagements, but they always find time to fit in for some enthusiasts.
I disagree it is a problem of attitude, rather it was a problem of timing had the rally taken place in January 2008 it would have been entirely different. As far as I'm aware no one within the Club or on the rally has treated anyone as idiots nor would we intentionally do so. I understand the disappointment but feel this comment is rather wide of the mark. World events rather overtook the rally and became of greater significance than we would have ever imagined. Sadly, if the rally were to become the focal point of a new tragedy I'm sure there would be many asking why on earth were those foolhardy people who were endangering the lives of ordinary Indians and who on earth allowed them to get away with it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
This is my take on the event, I telephoned around a lot and could only gather this much. There may be another side to this, shall be glad to hear it.
It seems your sources only had a small amount of information regarding the matter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harit View Post
I do condemn such behaviour, but if there is an explanation, I would be perfectly willing to change my opinion and appologise. But we should know what has happened.
where this the reality then the club would also condemn such behaviour it would be entirely against the ethos of the club.

I trust my explanation provides further insight into the causes of the late changes.

Edward Strickland
Benjafield’s Racing Club.co.uk

Further info on the rally can be found on our site The Great Rally of India

The photos of the rally are at Photos

And my own person edit of pictures which is less car and more people orientated can be found on flickr India 2009 - a set on Flickr

Edward Strickland
Benjafield’s Racing Club.co.uk

hope this isn't considered spam if so please remove

Quote:
Originally Posted by speedy View Post
7 bentleys were driven down yesterday from Valsad to Taj Landsend Bandra. One car had some sputters in Delhi and had to be shipped back. The cars comprise of the 4.5/ 6.5 and 8 litre Bentleys. The cars would be reaching CCI club by around now that is 11.30am and would be there till 4.30pm. My Brother was with the cars from Valsad hence i know.
All 7 cars which started finished

One had a puncture at the start (the GERMAN not FRENCH; God he'll be cross about that, I won't tell him if you don't!!) 8 Litre.

There was also a Dutch Speed 6 and a Belgian 4 1/2 The rest of the cars were from the UK.

Hope this helps.

Edward Strickland
Benjafield's Racing Club

Last edited by khan_sultan : 3rd February 2009 at 20:18. Reason: Consecutive Posts
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Old 3rd February 2009, 21:12   #44
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Edward thanks a ton for clearing that up. I had the pleasure of meeting your dad at the Cartier event and had heard of the Bentley rally.

Its actually quite commendable that despite the security risks your group came through and completed the rally.

Its just so wonderful that all of you travel such distances to enjoy your fabulous cars.

Thanks and looking forward to seeing those glorious Bentleys here in India again. Best wishes
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Old 3rd February 2009, 22:20   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DKG View Post
Edward thanks a ton for clearing that up. I had the pleasure of meeting your dad at the Cartier event and had heard of the Bentley rally.

Its actually quite commendable that despite the security risks your group came through and completed the rally.

Its just so wonderful that all of you travel such distances to enjoy your fabulous cars.

Thanks and looking forward to seeing those glorious Bentleys here in India again. Best wishes
I'm sure if you saw photos of me next to my father you'd instantly recognise me and comment on how it is that a man half his age has lost his hair before his father, I blame the parents!!

Thank you for you kind words however the commendation should really be reserved for people such as the Taj staff who've earned it rather than a bunch of fools who gad about in cars for fun.

As for travelling great distances to enjoy the cars the other way to look at it is they are better than a passport, in what other context would you be able to go pretty much anywhere in the world be treated impeccably regardless of origin, class, money or any other factor by all you meet. It's a privilege to be part of adding to the history of the cars.

Again dreadfully sorry to those we disappointed.

Edward Strickland
Benjafield's Racing Club
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