CHENNAI: The annual flagship event of the Madras Heritage Motoring Club is a chance for car and bike enthusiasts to see vintage cars and bikes from the 1920s to 1980s.
The prestigious Chennai Heritage Auto Show will take place on Sunday and will showcase cars such as Rolls Royce, Jaguar, MG, Dodge Brothers, Chevrolet, Ford, Peugeot, Austin and Mercedes Benz presented in the glory they would have been produced in. Vehicles will be judged by experts for authenticity, restoration, and mechanical systems and prizes will be distributed in several categories to the owners.
“There are over 140 vintage cars and 50 bikes that will be on display at the show,” said Kannan Kumar, secretary of the Madras Heritage Motoring Club. “This year, for the first time, we have participants from Bengaluru, which is one of the main highlights this year. This is the 18th year of the club’s existence and with every passing year, the number of cars and bikes on display is rising. We have 120 members and many do restoration services and add new cars to their collection every year.”
A 1957 model Dodge Kingsway owned by the late chief minister MG Ramachandran, a 1938 model Vauxhall owned by the founder of AVM Studios AV Meiyappan and a 1956 model Vauxhall Velox owned by SS Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios are the highlights of the show. The event will be inaugurated by actress Revathi at 9 am. V Sumantran, chairman, Celeris Technologies, will give a talk on ‘A historical view of automobiles and transportation in Chennai’, in association with INTACH Chennai Chapter as part of the Madras Week Celebrations at 11 am while Vinod Dasari, CEO, Royal Enfield will distribute prizes at 12.30 pm.
The event is being sponsored by TAFE Motors and Tractors, Sundaram Motors, Timelinks and Devendra.
Visitors can also see a good collection of cars which have been featured on celluloid. The event will be judged by Raha Mookerjee and Partha Banik, who have judged a number of vintage auto shows including the renowned The Statesman Vintage and Class Car rally in Kolkata.
The event is taking place at Sri Ramachandra Convention Centre, 1/31, South Avenue, Vasudevan Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur and the display will go on from 9 am to 1 pm. For details, call 8939643969.