BENGALURU: Going by the car collection of Dr Ravi Prakash, it’s safe to say that he is one of the biggest vintage car collectors in the city. In his recent adventure, as part of an event, he travelled almost 1,700 km across 11 destinations in Gujarat and Rajasthan for over seven days in his 1940 Lincoln Zephyr. The event, which saw 13 participants from across the country with eight of the participants from Bengaluru, was wrapped up on Sunday. The event was organised by Federation of Historic Vehicles of India, headquartered in Bengaluru.
The drive began with a grand start at Ahmedabad, in Gujarat Vintage and Classic Car Club, with Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat, flagging off the entire event. The cars drove through former Princely States that a majority of the cars hailed from. The drive started off from Ahmedabad and went onto Himmatnagar, Mount Abu, Dasada, Bhuj, Dhordo, Mandavi, Rajkot, Gondal and back to Ahmedabad.
Speaking to CE, Prakash, who considers his cars nothing less than family, says he felt extremely terrible to make his car go through this hardship but he shared the secret of how he managed to get through that. “The secret is I spoke to my car. I said, ‘Darling, don’t give way. I know I am putting you through a lot but just hold on’. And guess what it worked,” says the former surgeon, whose words might sound eccentric to many but according to him if one loves something so passionately one should not hesitate to go out of the way to communicate.
Speaking about the experience of the event which he terms as ‘extremely surreal’, the 60-year-old adds, “Everyone whom we hung out with in the group or met were speaking in language which shows their passion for the vintage cars. Even the maharajas spent time with us and took us through their car collections.”
The participants got a ride through history with private tours by the Royal families,. This included a tour of the 11th century Dilwara temple by Maharaja Daiwat Singh of Sirohi, Dowlat Villas Palace and a glimpse of the private vintage car collection by Maharaja Bhagirath Singh of Idar and more. But the highlight of the tour had to be when the participants got a special permission for the very first time to enter the salt pans in Rann of Kutch, which was situated 30 km from the Pakistan border. Driving a vintage car might sound fancy but driving in scorching sun isn’t for the weak hearted. “At one point we started feeling jealous of tech support team who were travelling with us in AC vehicles,” says Prakash, who owns close to 200 vintage cars.
Cars in the rally
Chevrolet Eagle Phaeton(1933)
Chevrolet Master Deluxe(1938)
Lincoln Zephyr(1940)
MG TC(1947)
Buick Super 8(1947)
Oldsmobile Dynamic 76 Series(1948)
Triumph TR(1956)
Chevrolet Bel Air(1959)
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Coupe(1962)
MG GT(1966)
Humber Hawk(1967)
Peugeot 304 Cabriolet(1970)
Cadillac(1979)