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-   -   Karnataka Vintage & Classic Car Club (KVCCC) - 40 years and counting (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintage-cars-classics-india/195152-karnataka-vintage-classic-car-club-kvccc-40-years-counting.html)

The Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club (KVCCC) was formed in 1979. This was a brainchild of a few friends driven by Shri Anand Rao and Shri Balram Kandige. Joining them was Shri Premanth P S, Shri Prithvinath K G, Shri Nataraj Shetty, Shri Anil Kumar Lakhani, Shri Ganesh Rao and others. The primary object of the Club was to "Promote and encourage collection, preservation and use of vintage cars in India". The Club remains one of the oldest and premier vintage and classic car clubs in the country. KVCCC is also one of the two clubs in the country to be a member of Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA). KVCCC is also the primary founding Club to help in the establishment of the Federation of Historical Vehicles in India (FHVI)

My Father, Shri Prithvinath K G in consultation with his lawyer friend, prepared the Memorandum and Rules and was instrumental in completing the registration formalities in 1979-80.

Here is the front cover of the original Memorandum and Rules. You will see that it also sports the first logo of the Club,


Here is the first Badge of the Club.


Here is a picture of the Ex-Mysore Daimler DB18 with the original KVCCC Badge. This was a sedate looking badge


The Founder Members of the Club are those who took up membership till 1980. There are 12 such member and include Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni, Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Eranimos V P, Mr. C George, Mr. Premanth P S, Mr. Ashok Agrawal, Mr. Natarajan K S, Mr. Prithvinath K G, Mr. Sudarshan Malpani, Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, Mr. Gouse Mohiyadeen and Mr. Babu N V

The first Office Bearers of the Club were

1. President - Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni
2. Vice President - Mr. Balram Kandige
3. Hon. Secretary - Mr. Premnath P S
4. Hon. Treasurer - Mr. Eranimos V P
5. Committee Member - Mr. Natarajan K S
6. Committee Member - Mr. C George
7. Committee Member - Ms. C Saroja
8. Committee Member - Mr. C K Venkatachalaiah
9. Committee Member - Mr. A Swamynath

Over the years, the following have been the Office Bearers of the Club

President (not necessarily in order, as some had multiple terms)
Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni, Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Premnath P S, Mr. Ashok Agrawal, Mr. Prithvinath K G and Mr. Sulaiman Jamal (current)

Vice President (not necessarily in order, as some had multiple terms)
Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Premnath PS, Mr. Natarajan K S, Mrs. Sabeena Prakash (current)

Hon. Secretary
Mr. Premnath P S, Mr. Ravi Kumar C, Mr. Nandagopal, Dr. Ravi Prakash and Mr. Balachandra Yadalam (current)

Hon Treasurer
Mr. Eranimos V P, Mr. K C Ashwath (Jt. Treasurer), Mr. Subramani K and CA Subbaiah K P (current)


The Club was largely a hobby club for many years. Some well known collectors who are/were members and contributed to the Club's growth included the Late C Ravikumar, Dharmaadhikari Shri Veerendra Heggade, Dr. Ravi Prakash, Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, The Khodays Group, The UB Group and so on. Stalwarts like Balram Kandige, C Ravikumar, Raman K S, Natarajan Shetty, Prithvinath K G, Anand Rao, Ganesh Rao, Satyan B K, Papu Ramaswamy, Girish Nayudu brought experience and knowledge to the Club.

Currently, a lot of youngsters are working on their cars themselves, long drives are regularly happening and the Club's functioning is getting more formalized. Interest shown by the youngsters in actively restoring their cars is a very positive sign for the future of the Club.


Cheers

KPS

Over the years KVCCC has conducted and participated in many a rallies and events. Most of the recent rallies have been extensively covered in TBHP.

However, here are some examples of the contribution of the Club to the Vintage movement in Karnataka.

When my father Prithvinath K G was President, the Club was successful in getting a reduced Life Time Tax structure for Vintage and Classic Cars.


It is important to note that in 1991, to get such tax exemption, the car had be duly certified for genuineness by KVCCC. This was changed in 1993, as the Govt. felt that KVCCC was not a statutory body and it was not in the interest of the public at large, for compulsory certification by KVCCC.


Here is and example of Certification Process follow by KVCCC till the Rule change in 1993







Here is a brochure of a Rally in the 1980's. This was given by Dominator and posted by Karl sometime back.






































Here is some newspaper clippings from a 1993 Rally








Cheers

KPS

To commemorate the 40th year of KVCCC, the Club was fortunate to get the support of India Post. So on the World Automotive Day, India Posts,Karnataka Circle, launched First Day Covers with KVCCC background and KVCCC special cancellation.

The members participate enthusiastically for this event. Keeping mind the historical value of these First Day Covers, there was fantastic demand for the same.

Dr. Charles Lobo. I Po.S, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle was the chief guest. Century Club, Cubbon Park was kind enough to host this event and be the venue for the release of the first day covers.

Here are the First Day Cover with the KVCCC background. This beautiful background was designed by Ms. Rupali Prakash, kudos to her.




The back of the cover also details KVCCC


The special stamp cancellation with KVCCC Logo.


The function at Century Club. Two founder members Mr. Premnath P S and Mr. Prithvinath K G were seated on the dais and honoured with a flower bouquet respectively.

Seen in the pictures are Mr. Premnath P S, Mr. Rakshit S P (President - Century Club), Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, Dr. Ravi Prakash, Dr. Charles Lobo (I. Po.S, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle), Col. Arvind Varma ( I. Po. S, Postmaster General, Bangalore HQ Region), Mr. Subramani K, Mr. Prithvinath K G, Ms. Sabeena Prakash, CA Subbaiah K P and Mr. Balachandra Yadalam.


The Release of the First Day Covers with special KVCCC cancellation at Century Club.






Honouring India Posts, I thought it was apt to add the picture of the still functional vintage postbox at Taj West End, Bangalore




Cheers

KPS

Members enthusiastically participated in the event by bringing their cars and bikes. Here are pictures of some the member cars and bikes

The bikes are lined up


Norton


BSA




Ariel


Royal Enfield


Triumph Speed Twin 500CC


The cars on display








The Morris bunch




Beautiful Jag and Chevy together attracted a lot of eyeballs






Rare sight to the see a 1967 Hillman Minx and 1966 Sunbeam Minx



Cheers

KPS

Some of the cars are detailed below

This 1949 Buick Super has been a one family car


1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster


Chevrolet Impala


1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster


1955 Dodge. The last of the small fins


Ford Model Y


Ford Mustang


Rare in India is this beautiful Lincoln Coupe




Hindustan 14


Hindustan Mark 1


The Ex-Nizam Humber Limo


The beautiful Jaguar E Type




Jaguar XK140


1928 Lanchester Straight 8


This early Morris has been with one family since new




Morris Bulldog


1957 Plymouth


1966 Sunbeam Minx. The Bulletboys Car, which I drove for the event


Triumph TR3


Wolseley 8


Cheers

KPS

We did have a small drive to the Postmaster General's House, past Vidhana Soudha and GPO

AT the Postmaster General's place




Quick group photograph


From the small drive that we had


Feels nostaligic!


Past the GPO, Karnataka Circle.




My mother and sister enjoy the evening


Some of our wonderful members


I join this group of youngsters for the picture, the future of the Club is bright.


In the Press




This report has been prepared with pictures taken by various KVCCC members, including myself. Hence would like to thank all the members of KVCCC for the active participation and support for making this event a grand success.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it

Thanks

KPS

KPS,

Thanks for posting this. This is not only a wonderful description of the event held by KVCCC and the Department of Posts but this post is a fantastic summary of the club itself. Reading this post allows one to appreciate the efforts of the stalwarts who put in so much effort in bringing this club to the status that it enjoys today. It must have been a personally proud moment for your family to see your father being honoured and also for you, your mother and your sister to attend. There are some truly wonderful cars in BLR such as the e-type, the Lincoln etc. Your Plymouth and Daimler are rare cars and would have only enhanced the show by their presence. Looking at the post makes me regret missing it even though it was on a Monday afternoon. I do hope to attend the next one.

MN

KPS,
Thanks for sharing this. The Event apart, you have shared details of the wonderful history of the club which has been started with a wonderful foresight. I was not aware of this though I am from KA until you shared this. Really great indeed clap:

Of course those lovely beauties in Bangalore roads, takes you decades back to this city's glorious past !

KPS, thank you for creating this thread with the history of KVCCC. As important as the cars themselves is to also have a record of these associations. It takes quite a bit of effort and dedication to first establish, then run, then fund such bodies not to mention government interference and tugs and pulls amongst members and so on. May the KVCCC thrive for many more decades.

Dear KPS,

Thank you for the very detailed and informative article about KVCCC. Learnt a lot of things i did not know! A couple of pictures from my side with the cars waiting outside the PMG's home and in front of our assembly. It was a lovely drive with both my cars. It was a fantastic event with a lot of good cars and good friends coming together just to drive for a common cause.







Regards,

Srinand.

Since this tread will feature old cars from Karnataka, I thought it is important to post the the details on vehicle registration series too.

MY - Mysore State
MYA - Bangalore, post MYB series
MYB - Bangalore from 1945
MYC - Chikmaglur
MYD - Commercial Vehicles
MYE - Bellary, around 1958
MYF - State Road Transport
MYG - Mangalore, post MYX series
MYH - Hassan
MYI - Bidar
MYJ - Bijapur
MYK - Kolar
MYL - Belgaum
MYM - Mysore
MYN - Mysore, post MYM series
MYO - Bangalore
MYP - Gulbarga
MYQ - Bangalore
MYR - Raichur
MYS - Shimoga
MYT - Tumkur
MYU - Chitradurga
MYV - Bangalore
MYW - Dharward
MYX - Mangalore
MYY - Bellary
MYZ - Coorg (Kodagu)

Post the MY series we have had the following numbers

ME Series - 1970's, MEA,MEB,MEC,MED,MEE etc
CA Series - Bangalore, as K series was in Kerala, CAA, CAB,CAC, CAD etc
CN Series - Largely out of Bangalore, CNZ,CNX
CT Series - Largely out of Bangalore, CTO,CTX
CK Series - Mainly Bangalore, CKA,CKD,CKL, CKM etc
KA Series - On computerization of numbers in 90's

Cheers

KPS

Thank you, KPS for this lovely thread on the club. I enjoyed reading the detailed info along with the pics of the vehicles.clap: Looking forward to more such threads from you.


Quick question, isn't this the Morris 8 series E? I wasn't aware that it was called the bulldog.

Cheers!

For some reason the Morris 8 Series E is always referred to as Bulldog Morris, probably for easy identification. This reference to Bulldog is a legacy, but not sure if it is restricted to India only.

Some of old pictures taken from FB: Bangalore- Photos of Bygone Age of a Rally in the 1990's

This is a vintage rally, but not able to authenticate if the KVCCC was involved. However, I have posted this, as the 1928 Dennis Fire Engine has participated in a few KVCCC events and in all probability of this too being a KVCCC rally is high.


This massive Austin Landaulette was eye catching, as most of us were used to seeing small Austins. The car was owned by the Late Ravi Kumar. I understand that this car is currently in a Mumbai collection.


This Jaguar E Type was also owned by the Late Ravi Kumar. The car survives and is currently in Rajasthan. In the background one can see the Chevy Woody of Khodays, which still remains with them.


This is a beautiful Morris Cowley Flatnose Doctor's Coupe.


The car survives and remains in Bangalore







Some more pictures of a Rally in 1990's.

Seen here is a Buick, then owned by our Founder Member Natarajan K S and is driving the same. On the passenger seat is another Founder Member, Prithvinath K G. This car survives and is now in Hyderabad.



Our Founding President Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni seen driving his Ford A. This car too survives



The first car in Dr. Ravi Prakash's (Doc) vast collection, is this Sunbeam Talbot. He is seen in the picture, driving the same. Doc has made some significant contributions to the Club and for many years held the Club together.



Daimler DB18 of another Founder Member Sulaiman Jamal. This car remains in the family


This Sunbeam Limousine, is Ex-Travancore and was under the ownership of the Sajjan Rao Family. Currently the car is part of Doc's collection.


Cheers

KPS

Here is a great story of a KVCCC member car restoration. This story is about the amazing guts shown by the owner to get into this project and the tenacity of the restorer to take up the project. I have done a detailed story here. I am reposting some parts of the same story, as this car significant lifted the profile of the KVCCC member cars, beyond Bangalore.


In 1991-92, Mr. Papanna a successful business man had been bitten by the vintage car bug having witnessed the resurrection of his 1947 Riley car by Mr. Sripathi, which incidentally won an award in a KVCCC event for restoration. Knowing Mr. Sripathi's knowledge of cars and expertise he placed his confidence in his judgement and mandated him to find more rare cars. They were able to buy the 1934 Ex-Kolhapur Sunbeam.

Mr. Papanna expressed his desire to own a Veteran car. Hence when Mr. Sripathi went to Delhi to buy the 1937 Buick 8 of Purnea (now at the Manjusha Museum), he started to make enquiries for any artillery wheeled vehicle. One of their acquaintances informed them that there was a very old car in Bikaner, a 1903 Renault in dismantled condition and the owner was willing to sell if he got the right price. The owner of this car was a manganese mine owner at Bikaner. So from Delhi Mr. Sripathi went to Bikaner saw the car in completely dismantled condition. It was believed to have been dismantled more than 50 year before. The car was orginally owned by the Maharaja of Bikaner, HRH Ganga Singhji. It was believed that he gifted this car to one of his ministers in the late 1920's after he acquired a period car. We do not know how the car came to the mine owner. Anyways, after he made his offer he returned to Bangalore as they could not settle on an acceptable price. However he left his correspondence address in case the owner changed his mind.

In early Jan 1992 they got a telegram from the owner that he was agreeable for the quoted price if they come and take the car before a certain date in Jan. Mr. Sripathi immediately left for Bikaner from Bangalore and acquired the car.

Since the car was in a completely dismantled condition, it was decided to hire a vehicle in Bikaner and drive through to Bangalore. Hence they hired a Willy's Wagoner and filled its rear with all the loose parts, engine, radiator and wheels! The chassis and bonnet were loaded on the roof!

The picture shows that the whole 1903 Renault fitted in this Jeep Wagoner, for transportation to Bangalore


The bonnet and chassis on the roof


The bits and pieces were just bundled into the Jeep


Chassis


Gearbox


Engine. Note the corroded aluminium shell. This was fixed, after the moulds were made of wood and a new aluminium shell was cast.


The completed engine


Sripathi exploring the gear box


The body style they decided to adopt was the Double Phaeton Body. It get the proportions right, the same made was made in paper and the measurement taken to finish in wood.


Paper to wood


One gets an idea on the shape of the car


The restored carclap:




The proud owner Mr. M S Papanna (now late) and the restorer Mr. N Sripathi pose proudly with the car.



This restoration was very important as it significantly lifted the profile of KVCCC member cars. Other members understood that cars can be resuscitated. Papanna had some great cars in his stable including Sunbeam, Buick, Riley, Skoda and this wonder Renault with Bouton engine. Most of these cars are now at the Manjusha Museum and Riley is in Chennai. The Sunbeam went on the win awards when KVCCC members participated in a rally in Hyderabad.

Cheers

KPS