[thebulletboy]

Automobile journalist, author and KVCCC member Gautam Sen shares his thoughts on the recent draft notification for vintage & classic cars issued by MoRTH

https://www.kvccc.in/single-post/201...ow-is-the-time

[KPS]

Originally Posted by thebulletboy

Here's a report on the recently held Whitefield Rally in KVCCC member Raghunandan's (team-bhp'ian tonrag) inimitable style !

https://www.kvccc.in/single-post/201...eld-rally-2019

Annual Whitefield rally 2019
December 8, 2019

|Raghunandan T R

You might say today was an Eddie day. Not only did we celebrate Eddie’s happy times with us, but the weather too was Eddiesque; cool, comfortable, and kind.

Whitefield is not the place that old timers remember it to be; the latest quip is that you need an overnight bus service to get from the western side of the city, to Whitefield. But our friends from the other side of the Bangalore planet did make it in time for our rally today.

Tonrag's above very well articulated report on the KVCCC website was very well received. It even featured in the FIVA Instagram!




I will try and cover some the cars featuring in the KVCCC rally for the first time or coming after a recent restoration.

The invite for the event featuring the Sponsors logo's, KVCCC, Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield, Jamal Gears and The Whitefield Club




The Whitefield Club hosted the afternoon. Our Club President sponsored the excellent lunch



This very uncommon Peugeot 203 caught the eye of many. This car is very rare in India.








Tonrag's freshly restored Austin 7


We are fortunate that 71convertible joined KVCCC recently and his 1971 Convertible Beetle featured for the first time too! We are happy to have him join us!


This 1962 Fiat 1200 Cabriolet is appearing after a very long time, after it recently changed hands. Happy to see this car back on the road




The 1947 Dodge has recently been woken up from its slumber! This car is a good driver and happy that the young owner has been posted back to Bangalore


The 1947 MGTC has come Bangalore recently, full filling the long term desire of the current owner to own one.


Founder member Prithvi Ganapathy to the left with EC Member Suresh P A. Both have over the years played very important roles in KVCCC. Happy that even at the age of 84 years, Prithvi Ganapathy drove a 1967 VW1300 for the event.


With our President Sulaiman Jamal around, we were all treated to wonderfully organised music.




Our President delightfully plays the harmonica. It is always a joy to listen to him play


The mandatory picture at the end of the event.


Some of the papers carried out articles on this event.




The Club also remembered the late Edward Rodricks, one of the nicest gentlemen ever to be part of the Club. Thanks to our President, Mr. Sulaiman Jamal for organizing this event.

I was unfortunately not in town and had to miss this superb event.

Picture Credits to KVCCC Members

Cheers

KPS

[shankar.balan]

Lovely cars indeed. Mr Jamal’s nephew is known to me - he shares the same passion for music and old cars.
Most importantly it is beautiful to see that British Racing Green MG and that other Maroon MG and that beautiful Fiat 1200 cabriolet.
Lovely lovely cars.

[KPS]

Thanks to KVCCC Member S Hegde, for sharing this rally picture. We get to see the famous Packard for the House of Khodays.

This is a 1939 Super Eight Limousine. Big massive car, with partition glass.



Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Thanks to Yogesh Kalro, who shared with one of our members, some pictures of a 1985 event.

Our first President Anil Kumar Lakhani in his Ford A


Ex-travancore 1935 Sunbeam of Late Ganesh Rao. Now with Doc


1935-36 Austin. Mr. Jamal's first vintage car


1939 Daimler of Jamal



Doc's first Car, Sunbeam Talbot



Ford GPW


Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Thanks to Yogesh Kalro for sharing more KVCCC Rally pictures. Probably early 1990's

Trio of Austins. Not sure if these car remains in Bangalore





This a larger Austin Tourer, probably 12/4


This 1920's Chevy survives with the same owner. Rarely seen car


Ford A survives in Bangalore




Not sure where this Ford A is


Vauxhall Wyvern


This Jaguar E Type survives. Was sold on to Rajasthan a couple years back


This MGTC remains in the same ownership


This MG TD is unfortunately not in Bangalore anymore


This 1936 Plymouth Roadster, survives and is now in Delhi


The beautiful Ex-Mysore 1939 Silver Wraith SWB Saloon by Hooper. Chassis WGC 31. Car remains in Bangalore


Cheers

KPS

[thebulletboy]

Then & Now !

CKP2500 - 1936 Plymouth Roadster Convertible




This recently unearthed old picture, kindly contributed by Yogesh Kalro, shows this car participating in a KVCCC rally held in the early 1990s.
The car survives and is now in Delhi.




Picture and information credit :
Yogesh Kalro
respective owners on team-bhp
Subbaiah Kuppanda Prithvinath
Kedarnath Swamy

[thebulletboy]

Then & Now !

TNV3007 - 1958 Triumph TR3A





KVCCC member Girish Nayudu who owned this car, recollects that the car was painted red when he purchased it in Madras in 1989. Factory records said that the car was originally powder blue with black vinyl interiors, and the date of manufacture was 21 June 1958, which incidentally happens to be Girish Nayudu's birthday as well ! The car was a regular in all the KVCCC rallies in the 1990s

Girish adds that the original owner of the car, a Mr. John Taylor, a planter from Kerala, imported it in 1959.




The car was later sold on to a collector in Delhi around 2006. It was re-painted black and attended the Delhi Statesman Rally in 2008, and was up for sale soon after.







Subsequently the car returned to Bangalore to the collection of Dr. Ravi Prakash. The car has since been painted ivory, and now, more recently, a lovely British Racing Green.
A familiar sight again in KVCCC and FHVI events !

Pictures and information credit :
Girish Nayudu
Subbaiah Kuppanda Prithvinath
Kersi Bastawala
ajmat team-bhp
Karl Bhote
Milind Kale and House of Creation, Jaipur

[KPS]

Originally Posted by thebulletboy

Then & Now !

TNV3007 - 1958 Triumph TR3A

KVCCC member Girish Nayudu who owned this car, recollects that the car was painted red when he purchased it in Madras in 1989. Factory records said that the car was originally powder blue with black vinyl interiors, and the date of manufacture was 21 June 1958, which incidentally happens to be Girish Nayudu's birthday as well ! The car was a regular in all the KVCCC rallies in the 1990s

Girish adds that the original owner of the car, a Mr. John Taylor, a planter from Kerala, imported it in 1959.

The car was later sold on to a collector in Delhi around 2006. It was re-painted black and attended the Delhi Statesman Rally in 2008, and was up for sale soon after.
Subsequently the car returned to Bangalore to the collection of Dr. Ravi Prakash. The car has since been painted ivory, and now, more recently, a lovely British Racing Green.
A familiar sight again in KVCCC and FHVI events !

Thanks thebulletboy, for this fantastic series. The KVCCC Whatsapp Group, has been on fire with this series.

The previous owner shared more thoughts and BHPian Tonrag, who had used this car extensively, came up with nostalgia.

I am sharing this nostalgia

Summation of Girish Nayadu's thoughts

The brand new wire wheels were purchased from Cox & Buckles by Girish, some time in the 90's. By the way, it also had a detachable hard top and Girish, wonders what happened to it.

Girish & Raghu (Tonrag) have some good memories of the sticky transmission and driving without a hood in pouring rain.

Tonrag, writes as below,

Ha Ha! The fun I’ve had in that car!! Shall post pictures and reminiscences.

1995 and 1996 were bad years for me. None of my cars ran. My Amby was in the garage, the MG was undergoing a slow, ground up restoration and the Morris Minor was being repainted and its engine was being overhauled.

So for the Dussehra rallies of both years, I drove Girish’s Triumph 3A. In 1995, my companions were Aditya, a car mad son of a colleague and my 6 year old son, Ghappu. After the Ayudha puja, we made our way out of Bangalore. Getting stuck in the hot sun in the city market area did not do any good for the car. It overheated and we had to pull over. The ‘Deve Gowda’ flyover hadn’t been built yet, so our progress was painfully slow. But once we hit the two lane Mysore road, we opened up and the car ran impeccably. The TR3A is enormous fun, though it isn’t as beautiful as its other sports car contemporaries, the MGA, the Healey 3000 and of course, the Sinuous XK120, which is in a class of its own. But the TR3A’s unfussy straight four engine is robust and simple to maintain, as compared to the twin cam six of the XK. We made Mysore in good time and had a great rally the next day.



After the rally, on our return, the clouds began to build up as we passed Mandya in the gathering dusk. At Maddur, the rain came pelting down. Ghappu, tired and happy by then, was sleeping, wrapped in a tarpaulin, in the tiny luggage bay behind the seats. Oh, the casual way in which we brought up our kids then! Contemporary parents would be aghast at our cavalier attitudes towards child rearing!. Since there was no hood, we avoided the rain by the simple expedient of driving faster, so that it would blow over us. I wished that the oncoming traffic would not dim their lights, because that shone them directly into our low-slung eyes!
All went well as we battled the gusts of rain, till we reached the Torino factory, just outside Bangalore. The engine just went dead – it must have been a spot of water splashing into the carbs – just as the rain came down in sheets, with renewed vigour. Before we could say Tee Aar Three Aye we were soaked to the bone. The tarpaulin above Ghappu collected a bucket of water and dumped it on him as he struggled to emerge from it. Teeth chattering, we drove into the city with a chilly wind blowing straight at us. It did not dissuade us from making a couple of sorties flying down MG road, our mud streaked car drawing admiring glances from the gaggle of Ice cream fans at Lakeside, before I dropped off Aditya at Indiranagar, uniting him with his anxious parents late at night.Remember, we did not have mobiles back then! I returned home with an enormously happy, and thoroughly soaked little boy, to receive a pasting from Aditi. He was lucky not to have caught pneumonia!


Of course, the 1996 rally was equally eventful. Girish and I foolishly decided to drive down the Kanakpura road. The rain, predictably, was severe, and the TR3A’s petrol pipe disconnected, leaving a huge spill on the wet road, which we set fire, scaring the pants off an innocent biker. It was our ‘smoke on the water’ moment. I also remember we drove into Southern Star in Mysore, where we were greeted by an enormous Doberman, who frothed at the mouth and lunged at my face. I was conveniently at face height for him, in the TR3A’s cockpit!





Years later, in 2006, I saw TNV 3007 in a Delhi rally in which I participated in my Austin. It was then painted in a sedate black. I whooped with joy and told no one in particular, that I’ve had so much fun in that car! The owner thought I was mad. Make that the Statesman Rally, 2008

Cheers

KPS

[thebulletboy]

Then & Now !

MDE4978 - 1939 Daimler DB18
CAJ2192 - 1947 Windovers Daimler DE27 limousine



This duo of Daimlers owned by KVCCC President Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, or Silu as he is known fondly in the club, have been regualr participants in club events since the 1980s.








The older pictures show the Jamal family participating in costumes with the Daimler DB18, in a 1985 KVCCC rally !
The DB18 was earlier owned by 'The Meenakshi Mills' in Madurai, and prior to that she was with a Mr. Varkey from the Nilgiris.








The DE27 Limousine has royal provenance. The first owner of the car was the Maharaja of Mysore.
The DE27 has been on display at the third Cartier Concours d'Elegance held in Feb 2013 in Bombay.
The DE27 too has been a regular participant in club events. The older pics of the car in this series show it participating in the 1995 club rally to Mahindra Guestline, Attibele




Both the Daimlers have been featured in the book 'Daimler Days', by Brian E Smith

Picture and information credit :
KP Subbaiah
Kersi Bastawala
Yogesh Kalro
Srinand Piedpet / Yashaswini
respective owners on team-bhp

[KPS]

Here is story, which a blast from the past.

KVCCC Member Mr. A J Loganathan had a restoration shop and was interested in racing. He built his own racer called "Hanuman"

Hanuman was built on a Opel chassis and V8 engine, during its racing days

Hanuman seen on the race tracks!


Picture of the street built Hanuman from 1987. Mr. Loganathan is seen


The car was recognized and certified by KVCCC





Currently Hanuman is running a Fiat Balilla Chassis with Amby engine and gearbox, with the gear box being modified to a close ratio.


It is wonderful to capture the stories of our old members. Mr. Loganathan became a member of KVCCC in 1997.

Cheers

KPS

[tonrag]

An old mystery solved, but in a bitter sweet way.

Back in 1992 or so, when I was pretty much penniless and whatever pennies I had were sunk into Morrises and MGs, I went to see my uncle, who lives in Brunton Road. Those days I was using his venerable Austin 10 as my sole personal transport. I chanced to see a beautiful low slung saloon, in eye catching cream and maroon, through an open garage door in the house opposite. Mrs. D, who lived there, was a gracious lady and she welcomed me in, leading me to the garage, slightly sunken below ground level with a gentle ramp to the outside. There I saw it; a pre-war Riley sports saloon. It was absolutely original, and looked well run in. The engine had a few oil leaks, and the paint had that well worn but cared look. The leather upholstery was crackled, but shiny in parts; clearly the car had run hard, but always returned to that safe garage to be cossetted. Mrs. D spoke of how her husband had bought the car decades back, and how they had traveled the length and the breadth of the country. At the far end of the garage there was a neat workbench with all the tools that her late husband used to maintain the car himself. Mrs. D showed me photos of the car in rallies in the early sixties, in Delhi. A stylish car, and a stylish couple too, I noted.

I used to see the car occasionally, sometimes parked near Koshy's - Mrs. D would visit the British Council library often.

As the years passed, I would pass Mrs. D's elegant brick faced house occasionally and wonder whether that car was still in the sunken garage there. It did not occur to me to enquire. It seemed to be sacrilege to ask if the car was available for sale. She did not seem to be the kind of person who would like such a question to be asked.

However, sometime in February, I visited my cousin and stood there, looking at the silent home and the garage. I asked him whether the car was there, and whether I could meet Mrs. D. She must be quite old now, I thought. Its nearly 30 years since I met her.

Well, my cousin gave me bad news. Mrs. D had passed away, and the car had been exported by her grandchildren. Oh, well, I thought. So that's that.

Imagine my surprise when my cousin contacted her granddaughter, to find that she had lovingly restored the car, and is still driving it in the UK! The shade is now a light grey with black wings, but the little beauty is still a little beauty!

[KPS]

Originally Posted by tonrag

....... how they had traveled the length and the breadth of the country. .......... photos of the car in rallies in the early sixties, in Delhi. A stylish car, and a stylish couple too, I noted.

What a story Tonrag, this is what which make the V&C movement so enjoyable. This car was legally exported as a family heirloom.

It is amazing how things fall in place. When Raghu first told us the story, it was natural for us to try and recollect the registration number, search for old pictures, if any etc. Much as we tried, there was no recollection or pictures.

Then the magic happened, when we got access to the Associated Press coverage of the Statesman Rally, Delhi from 1964. From the video, we were able to get the following screen shots of the car! Sporting its Delhi registration!









Now the old mystery is fully solved !

Cheers

KPS

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by tonrag

An old mystery solved, but in a bitter sweet way.

In a way the beauty has gone home!

I recall the car well. Any visit to Brunton Road in mid 1980s was incomplete with out a peep over the wall to see if we can see the car. Also sightings at Koshy's was regular.

Thanks for bringing her story in

Ram

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by tonrag

. Mrs. D, who lived there, was a gracious lady and she welcomed me in, leading me to the garage, slightly sunken below ground level with a gentle ramp to the outside. There I saw it; a pre-war Riley sports saloon. It was absolutely original, and looked well run in. The engine had a few oil leaks, and the paint had that well worn but cared look. The leather upholstery was crackled, but shiny in parts; clearly the car had run hard, but always returned to that safe garage to be cossetted.

I used to see the car occasionally, sometimes parked near Koshy's - Mrs. D would visit the British Council library often.

She used to run a small art gallery opposite Bowring Institute. I actually went to meet her in London once when she was staying with her daughter, somewhere near Wimbledon if I recollect. (Had to pick up something that my mother had sent).