NewZNew (Chandigarh) : The eleventh edition of the Chandigarh Vintage and Classic Car Club’s annual rally—called the Baisakhi Drive— was held this Sunday, April 12th, 2015. Around 20 vintage cars, bikes and scooters, were rolled down from the Leisure Valley (Opposite Government Museum and Arts Gallery) at the Eiffel Tower parking lot, Sector 10, Chandigarh to Kasauli.
This rally/Baisakhi Drive was jointly organised by Chandigarh Vintage and Classic Car Club and www.indieicons.com (IndieIcons Media).
The rally was be flagged off from the Leisure Valley by the club’s founder president Brigadier (retd) J S Phoolka. Vintage beauties Mercedes, Sunbeam Talbot, Ford Capri, Morris, Hillman, Dodge, Volkswagen, Austin, Triumph and a Chevrolet Fleetmaster, among other noteworthy marques, besides a few cars from the Heritage Motoring Club, Delhi, drove through Chandigarh; making their way through a pre-determined route, passing the Chandigarh Arts Museum, Red Bishop and Timber Trail resorts to halt at Kasauli, before heading back to Chandigarh. All the participants were hosted to a lunch by Kasauli Resorts at Kasauli in HP.
Said the club’s founder president Brigadier (retd) J S Phoolka, “We aim at acquainting the youth to the rich heritage and culture of cars in Chandigarh and North.”
“This rally, held every year for a decade now, is one of the premier classic motoring events in the North. However, this year, it’s being organized on a grander scale. Besides ensuring a delightful weekend for the automobile enthusiasts, our vision is to place Chandigarh & HP on the tourism map, when it comes to vintage cars and heritage motoring history,” said Anandita Gupta, CEO at www.indieicons.com (IndieIcons Media).
Anandita’s website www.indieicons.com & company IndieIcons will be looking after the club’s image management and marketing strategy from now on!
“Through the rally, we are looking at preserving the old beauties, which are the heritage of the country. The awareness about these vintage cars has come very recently,” added Baljit Singh Mancko, Founder Secretary of the Vintage and Classic Car Club.
The event was organized to make the city get a view of a bygone era. Also it’s to honour the proud owners of these unique wheeled beauties; who have painstakingly maintained these cars to keep the nostalgia alive. “After all, the restoration, maintenance and re-registration of these cars aren’t easy,” smiled Phoolka.
So this Sunday, Chandigarh was transported back to an era of chrome bumpers, white wall tyres and semaphore indicators. Through this rally, the people of the city got a glimpse of an extensive range of vintage cars ranging from 1936-model Dodge car, Morris 1948, Baby Hindustan 1958, Chevrolet Master 1938 and Humber 1931. A few participants were dressed in period correct attire to go with their respective classic and vintage vehicle!
