[harit]

Hi!

Most of us have tried and tested our cars, sorted some spares for the road, maybe gassing up will be in the evening and then we are ready to roar off.

Maybe, just maybe it is a good ides to confirm the starting point, Sea Link Bandra side facing the airport or Sion, after the circle near IDEMI, before Priyadarshini. All should be informed about the final decision.

Cheers harit

[wasif]

Have fun boys and take a lot of pictures. Hope all the beauties will perform at their best !

[kasli]

Hi Harit

Meeting at 6 - 615 am at the sealink side : Bulldogji, Harit, Yash, Kasli, Amal, Jacob, Karl,
Sion : Amol, Venkatesh, Kadambs, Shirke
Khandala Ghat : Dhondys
Hingewadi : Dhanukar

Cheers

Originally Posted by harit

Hi!

Most of us have tried and tested our cars, sorted some spares for the road, maybe gassing up will be in the evening and then we are ready to roar off.

Maybe, just maybe it is a good ides to confirm the starting point, Sea Link Bandra side facing the airport or Sion, after the circle near IDEMI, before Priyadarshini. All should be informed about the final decision.

Cheers harit

[Rehaan]

Looking forward to this!

Though i really know absolutely nothing about this trip other than whats posted in this thread, oh, and the weather...



cya
R

[wasif]

Can you share the list of cars that will be going ? It would be nice to know who is driving what

[kasli]

Karlosdeville : Fiat
Mole : Merc 180 D
Bulldogji : Buick 8 1949
Harit : Dodge
kasli : Packard
Amal : Dodge
Yash : Buick 8 1947
Venkatesh : Belair
Kadamb : Merc SL, VW , Buick 8 1947
Fali D : Merc SL , Fiat , Rolls
Randomuser : VW
Jehangir : Buick V8 1953
Amulya : Plymouth

Cheers

Originally Posted by wasif

Can you share the list of cars that will be going ? It would be nice to know who is driving what

[kasli]

Wonderful start and a great drive . We assembled at the the designated spots at 615 am and with a little delay here and there started on a great run to the queen of the hills. A total of 16 cars

Some snaps taken on route by the phone at various points including our sugar cane cooling of spot for man and machine

Cheers

[the mole]

A exciting adrenalin filled drive where true camaradrie was shown by all owners who drove their machines brilliantly to reach mahableshwar and back without incident. This year we had a flatbed trailing us to take care of any cars that might flounder on route, but i am proud to report that all mumbai cars made it on their own steam all through the 600 odd kilometers travelled over two days.

We started rather late in the morning and on the drive to pune which was our first stop we were quite a scatttered bunch, the cars that were around us were kasli's packard, bulldogji's buick, venkys chevy biscayne convertible and jehangir drive a early 50's buick. We were the only european car in the company of larger americans :-) here are some pictures shot by my wife with her iphone.


The first hiccup was when bulldogji had a tire puncture on the expressway, however the buddy sytem quickly came into force and within no time we had three other cars who stopped and we changed the tire rather quickly.

We then continued and after a lovely breakfast at pune, headed to the scenic NH4 and then a bypass to mahableshwar via wai, where at a very scenic location we stopped to cool our cars before climbing the ghat and enjoy some sugar cane juice. There we were met by behram who was furiously testing the new safari.

Finally we reached the mahableshwar club for lunch by 2 PM after a extremely challenging climb up the ghats. The next day was filled with intense car centric talks and discussions followed by more car centric talks and discussions. The trip was a huge milestone in our classic car scene in mumbai and brought a whole lot of diverse cars and their owners together for a really memorable weekend. And now we are confident that this will be a annual event in all our vintage car calenders. I am already looking forward to the next one in january.

[Philedonos]

Nice pictures, Kasli and Amol, thank you! The Fiat looks sooo tiny amongs those huge American cars.
Really missed coming with you, let's hope that by the next drive I'll have both a car and a weekend off ;-)

[Bulldogji]

Amol, thanks for the pictures and of course the delightful venue.Yes, we all had a blast, lots of leg pulling, good humour and no rancour whatsoever. Thats the way forward. When I discovered I had a flat tyre, before I could get out of the car, three others had stopped. The flat was duly examined, and three pairs of eager hands got down to doing the dirty work. Now thats what I call being helpful. If not for them, I would have been holding my poor old back even now.THANKS guys. The group was delightful and the performance of all the cars brilliant. The food at the club, as always was well worth the hot journey back and forth, and many were ready to do a U turn from chembur/andheri and go back. Some things stood out. Harits Dodge sped like a rocket, followed by Ratty Tatty ( for the uninitiated, Karls delightful fiat), with all the rest of us trailing along. Rehaans capacity to sleep deserves mention in Ripleys Believe or not, and Yash showed that he has a good sense of humour and the ability to drive his delightful Buick fast and steady. Anirudh, Amol and all the others who were involved in the planning, THANKS. You guys made our weekend perfect. Lets plan the next before it gets too hot.

[wasif]

Wow, looks like you all had a great time and the turn out was superb.

I love the looks of the burgendy Chevy with the rusted bumper and all, great to see its a good runner, is it a 6 or a V8 ?

The yellow Ferrari looks cool to as do all the other cars.

What was the fastest car in the pack ? The Dodge Custom ? Does anyoen have any pictures of its engine ?

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by the mole

A exciting adrenalin filled drive...

Absolutely loved the lines of the Packard in your last picture! Lovely car! Great pics, beautiful cars, a great effort by everyone involved, and all the very best for future drives!

Cheers,
Rahul

[the mole]

Originally Posted by wasif

I love the looks of the burgendy Chevy with the rusted bumper and all, great to see its a good runner, is it a 6 or a V8 ?

The yellow Ferrari looks cool to as do all the other cars.

What was the fastest car in the pack ? The Dodge Custom ? Does anyoen have any pictures of its engine ?

The Chevy is a 1957 Six cylinder Belair Convertible quite unseen on Mumbai roads and events for a long long time and awaiting a restoration, but I must say she is mechanically fit and runs well. Infact the owner did a Mumbai- Pune- Mumbai the night before.

I would say flat out Harits dodge is fastest, but of course the wily dukkar fiat is much quicker on the traffic and ghat sections

Originally Posted by voodoochild

Absolutely loved the lines of the Packard in your last picture! Lovely car! Great pics, beautiful cars, a great effort by everyone involved, and all the very best for future drives!

I love the packard when the bonnet is opened almost looks like a Bat's wing here are some pics , BTW the pics were clicked by my wife who has taken a liking for such endurance runs. She normally never shows up for other vintage car events.

Finally Some pictures of Harit's Dodge on the road, a really mean car when seen from ones rear view mirror, but she was our constant companion on our way back.

[karlosdeville]

Thanks to kasli, amol and all others for an absolute blast of a time. Perfect weather, fairly good roads and minimal traffic (the best we could hope for) and of course the perfect setting - the regal Mahabaleshwar Club - itself seeped in history. Needless to say Harit had some period pictures of the club too.

It was a much needed break for most participants and their cars. And what a selection of cars! Everything from a 1920s Rolls Royce to a 1980s Ferrari (coincidentally both from the same owner, alongwith his Mercedes Pagoda SL). Predominantly American cars made up the lot (lucky guys!), but there were also British, Italian and German cars brining up the rear.

The morning run was especially enjoyable, taking advantage of an empty expressway and cool temperatures. Barring a couple of minor halts for punctures and hose pipes, everyone was cruising calmly. I left (in my 57 Fiat)a bit earlier anticipating that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the Americans, and naturally I couldn't!









A quick breakfast later (after an even quicker refuel) we headed on through Pune towards Mahabaleshwar. We picked up the Plymouth (the only participant joining from Pune), and en route was a customary stop for sugarcane juice, much to the amusement of all passers by. Also a chance to check vital stats of the car - I was pleasantly surprised at how cool the Fiat was running. Even up the ghats in the afternoon she was just under 80 degrees. I did have brake troubles later on though, plus a particularly bad pothole meant the balance rod mounting just sheared off, aided by years of corrossion. I'm glad I got a chance to view the car from under the ramp, I had no idea she was that rotten. Must attend to it soon enough.





















Though the parking was ample, we couldn't squeeze everyone into one line for a shoot, so cars were scattered around the parking lot. Other guests at the Club really enjoyed this sight.











Most of the next morning was taken up by spending time with the cars - sorting out niggling issues, examining other's cars, learning from the seniors' vast experience and general fiddling about.





For the trip back too, cars left in batches. Since we left a tad earlier, couldn't get shots of all the cars on the road, except bulldogji's fabulous Buick menacingly sneaking up my rear view mirror every now and again, and the Shirke's Beetle, making for the perfect sight of the whole family picnicking in the Bug. Eagerly looking forward to pictures from their side. By the way, they have an interesting trip planned shortly, watch this space.







Our tow truck followed us faithfully everywhere we needed to go. Its being there really put us all at ease.



Minor break-downs were not limited to the classics, even one back-up Innova needed a helping hand. The Buick it was backing up ran perfectly!



The Club was the perfect atmosphere with quaint old world charm. Hard wood floorings, monogramed cutlery and immaculately dressed polite staff.



On the way up we spotted this battered Station Wagon, and on the way down this six door Volvo limousine.





For me no trip to Mahabaleshwar is complete without the obligatory photo at the gates of Bohemia - the late Pranlal Bhogilal's grand bungalow.



Thanks guys, can't wait for the next!

[RandomUsername]

Some of my pictures from the drive: