[kasli]

Sula drive note for team Bhp

The last drive to Mahableshwar which was great fun and ever so relaxing that we all decided that one more would be great.

The next possible destination was Nasik and the Sula Vineyards which had a great ambiance and a good comfortable drive to get there with ample parking and also secure.The weather also a great attraction and we all realized it driving up early morning

13 cars finally made it with one more of Rishad's (Black Chrysler New Yorker ) which went back the afternoon after lunch and this time there were mainly much younger cars. Snaps will do better justice than whose was what. We started at two points once again for the people residing in south Bombay for the Bandra side of the sea link and form the western or north side to meet at sion at 6:30 am.

The start started with a jam at sion which took the most amount of time getting out of mumbai but after the priyardarshini circle it was smooth all the way. We stopped at a place midway called Palash and a rest for the car and us . We fueled ourselves and off we went.

We had two basic breakdowns and one scare of a fire ( false alarm was a canvas packing which was too close to the main exhaust pipe ) but were quickly fixed up temporarily and off we went again . The site was when everyone stopped to help all together and the line up became a hot spot for all others traveling on the road.

The place " beyond " was great and the hospitality was wonderful.

26th Jan we were invited by the HVOC NASIK chapter to join for a display and small motorcade around the city. Which showed great enthusiasm of the public and all the people organized the show. Funny questions were asked all around by the crowd from the beetle being a modified Amby to the Packard being a taxi & gets me thinking need to address the color soon . The show ended at around 1:00 pm and we were all back at the resort.

The rest of the day went into chilling and attending to minor faults of the cars which were done .

27th the last day morning went into fixing a departure time/ settling any accounts and post breakfast we left at 10:30 am and headed onto a winding exit track from Sula onto clear empty highway all the way home with a stop at Shree Krishna a nice newly opened highway restaurant for the little rest for both driver and machine.

Suddenly realizing that this last drive flew by and I am sure most had withdrawals symptoms . Now let the snaps do the talking

Cheers

[kasli]

Another set of snaps ...in continuation to the previous post.

[kasli]

Another final set of snaps ....

Cheers

[kasli]

An article which appeared in the local newspaper .

Cheers

[Bulldogji]

Aniruddh and all the others who helped in making yet another drive enjoyable, THANKS. We had a blast as always, lovely route, venue and company. The buddy system in full force, there was a great level of confidence amongst all of us that in case of a breakdown, many eager beavers were at hand to help. Lets quickly plan one more in February. How about Amby Valley or Poona?

[karlosdeville]

I have to say this was a perfect follow up to Mahabaleshwar - great crowd, weather, location and of course cars. The Sula 'Beyond' resort has a great view of the vineyards and a leisurely atmosphere.

Here are the pictures - no camera this time, just iPhone. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Gathering in the morning


Mini was always rocketing past, as if just released from a slingshot


Sid's bling bling Beetle




Aniruddh with his 2 trademarks - cheeky smile and Packard


Rishad's Chrysler - he was sporting enough to drive down just for lunch and run back to keep a prior commitment.


PP's Rover steadily improved every hour of the drive, with constant tweaking. Interestingly the dash carries a plaque that reads assembled and distributed by Dewars, Calcutta. They probably just fitted tyres and battery


bulldogji too left early - his trusty Buick brought him back home in 3 hours flat, non-stop.


2 maroon Bugs complemented each other.


Amol would have been the happiest - his diesel Mercedes would probably have been the most economical


Regrouping to attend to minor hiccups - also attracted many crowds.


Dhondys were with full family as always (as were many others on this trip), this time in 2 roadsters.


View from the plant/restaurant


Harit's Dodge - everytime I see it, I love it more and more.


Lining up the next morning to catch the Nashik guys


Filling up American barges - the petrol pump owner's dream


2 Beetles joined us there, taking the count to 5. The yellow car is actually an oval windowed Bug, with typical Goa modifications. Amol smartly called it 'Carrosserie Goa'


Mint SL joined us from Bombay, but stayed back in Nashik.


She gave company to this outstanding 115, owned since new.


Standard 2000 was dieselised

[karlosdeville]

Beetle was a local entry, very clean, even interiors looked original.


Many bikes attended from Pune. Bullets, Bobbys and scooters were abundant. The red Vespa came down from Bombay for the event.














Saw a San Storm after ages - wonder when people will start buying these for antiquity.


Jawa club was in full force


Cool flashes on the Landmaster


Austin was one of atleast 5 I saw








Herald attended from Thane


Local crowds were out in full force, with full enthusiasm. Haven't seen such excited faces in a long time.




They went crazy when the Dodge flagged off.


Yamaha RDs joined the cavalcade, with a sprinkle of british bikes for good measure, including a lovelt Dominator



Traffic looked completely different


Fiat from Bombay


Local Super Select had the most strange interiors - sporting both column and floor shifts!




Pair of Pontons at the Mercedes Benz showroom, which had sponsored the event


Photoshoot back at the restort






SULA sun smiling at the Packard


Shirke family with bag, baggage and Bug on the highway - a regular sight. Can't wait to see the pictures taken by the boys.


Thanks to all who made it happen, kasli especially. Till next time.

[GTO]

Guys, thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures. I've moved the post-event report to a new, dedicated thread.

Bet you guys enjoyed the Nasik Highway a lot more than the boring expressway. Just fantastic that the old girls are heading out of their garages so frequently

[Bulldogji]

Karl, the LOCAL bug mentioned by you is not local. This pista green beauty, earlier in white, sourced from the south , belongs to Aditya who drove up with us in 5656. His other pale blue mercedes is also seen in the rally parade. The story of the green is interesting. This was the colour of the undercoat/primer done at Swadi. When Aditya saw the shade, he insisted that the final colour be the same.

[harit]

The Sula drive was fun, and we have to thank Kasli for organizing our trip, the accommodation and all.
We also have to thank the Thane club, Vinay Gurav, Edward Rodrigues, Digambar Yadav, Nashiket Patil, Jubin Joshi, Nikhil Rane, Yogesh Sawant, Anil Karandikar, Vaibhav Kale, and the Nashik club, Vinay Chumble, Amol Joshi, for their support in the arrangements of our participation in the Nashik Republic Day Parade.
The Nashik crowd was enthusiastic and fantastic, gave all the participants a different kind of high, being a dry day Crowds cheered the cars on almost all along the route.

As decided, we left early morning from Mumbai, almost all the cars met along the Eastern Express highway. We were 13 cars. The drive to Nashik was fine, but we did encounter a bit of traffic. One Beetle got stuck on the way, and almost everyone stopped. This car was then loaded onto the flatbed and attended to in Nashik, she participated in the Nashik run and was driven back. So that ended well, the guardian looking after her came to Nashik to fix the problem. The Rover also had some small issues, but PP managed to keep her running.

We stopped at a joint called Palash where we met up with Aditya in his 350SL and then we became 14 cars. After breakfast the next step was Beyond, the resort we stayed at. In the afternoon we visited Sula Vineyard, saw the manufacturing process. Vinay Chumble and his team came and greeted us, presented all the ladies with a Rose, a nice gesture.

Next day we participated in the Nashik drive, it started a bit late, became a bit chaotic with the crowds getting exited. Our Mumbai cars lined up with Nashik vehicles, and a few had come from Thane too. The first halt was at a Mercedes dealership, and then from there we dispersed and returned as the local traffic was affected. A second halt had also been planned, but the drive was cut short. In the afternoon, after lunch, some fettled their cars, others snoozed or chatted. In the evening the resort arranged a corner in the garden with a separate buffet dinner.

On Sunday we headed back, the drive was relatively uneventful, we had a halt for snacks and were home in the afternoon. Traffic was minimal.

ALL of us got along well, we had lots of fun, and the spouses did have a good time too. Each ones character was so different, the bond was the cars, and bonding we did.

Cheers harit



The naughty Bug causing the convoy to stop.



Line-up behind the Bug. Chrysler came only for the drive and returned on the same day.



Halt with the Bug



Departing for the Nashik run



Fiat Spyder and Packard in the rear view.



Filling gas before the run



At that pump



Kasli gassing his Packard at the same time



Excellent Mercedes W114.



Mercedes 350SL owned by Aditya in superb condition

[harit]

Standard Rover, a local car and dieselised, what else would one have done?



Bikes from many corners of India



Colourful selection of scooters



Some more



They joined the procession



Four Beetles, altogether there were five. The yellow Bug could be reverted to original with a little effort, has good potential



Bugs from the rear



The pilot vehicle, those guys hanging out were shooing intruders during the run



A band was present. Indian classics too participated.



During the drive with Spyder and Miata in front of me.

[harit]

Long Line-up behind me, W114 following me. Water was kindly provided by organisers.



Ponton ahead!



At the Mercedes dealership



Another angle to the dealership



Back at the resort



Stickers specially made for the run by Ronnie. In French(?), maybe to match the grape juice



Parking at the resort



Auntie showing her good side. She was also wicked, smoking at times


Usurped Aunties place!!



During the Nashik run some actually called her "Viman"

[harit]

Another angle of the Viman.



The Rose presented by Vinay Chumble and his team to the ladies, taken back unopened after 2 days.



The Rose after placed in water, blooming very nicely. This does please the ladies, makes it easier to get them to agree to accompany us for the next event.



We had our fun thanks to Kasli, but we should not forget the efforts put in by the HVOC Thane and Nashik teams to give us and Nashik more out of this drive. They are doing quite a bit to bring up interest in history and preservation of vintage and classic cars. A real enthusiastic effort and kudos to them.

A question for Kasli, who drove your car while you clicked the pics?
And Karl, thanks for showing how pics are to be posted with text in between. Very useful.

Cheers harit

[President]

The weekend drive and stay at Sula - Nasik was a welcomed holiday amongst like minded enthusiast friends and multi national machines. The stay and visit to the Sula Vineyard was an experience which will be remembered and it was a real good break needed from the city life for a change.
I'm sure my Italian beauty also enjoyed the company of American, British and German Monsters and the like whilst happily coping up with them.
I have some pictures from my camera that I am posting now.

[n_aditya]

Great to see so many timeless beauties out for a drive together. Must have turned heads like no other day

I can't decide which is the best car of the lot. The mini looks so cute, Amol's merc looks spanking new, the beetles look so hot, the roadsters, Buicks..... What a lovely outing it must have been.