Vintage car and bike enthusiasts from Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal are set to relive the nostalgia of colonial times at the second edition of Jamshedpur Vintage and Classic Car and Bike Rally on Sunday.

The daylong event will see 12 cars and bikes from Calcutta, two from Keonjhar (Odisha) and over 50 from different parts of Jharkhand travelling 14km on steel city roads as part of the rally based on the theme “Colonial India”.

A large turnout from Jharkhand has prompted participants from the state to form a vintage car and bike club of their own.

“We are the only city after Calcutta in eastern India to be hosting a vintage car and bike rally for the second year in succession. We had a talk with several enthusiasts to form a club and include other members who have similar collections and help organise similar rallies in other parts of Jharkhand,” said Gurmukh Singh Khokhar, a businessman based in Chaibasa in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district.

Khokhar has been participating in the Vintage and Classic Car Rally in Calcutta since 1992.

Khokhar, who has won trophies in various sections of the rally, will participate with Austin 7, a 1933-made British four-cylinder car. His son Rounak will take part with his 1942 British-made Welbike Villiers bike.

“This bike has no gear and no shock absorber and was used by paratroopers during World War II. Maintaining such an old classic is expensive but those having passion do not think much about the cost factor. We are glad that Tata Steel has come forward to organise this rally and the soaring number of participants shows its popularity. With more members from Jharkhand, we might plan similar rallies in Ranchi and Dhanbad as well,” Khokhar said.

Calcutta-based architect Saikat Dutta, who is participating in the rally with his British 1963-made “Triump Spitfire-4” car, agreed that an overwhelming response from the enthusiasts in Jharkhand was a positive sign.

“It is a positive sign to see such large numbers of participants from a city like Jamshedpur painstakingly restoring vintage cars and bikes to their original glory and hitting the road in the city,” said Dutta.

The rally will begin with the inspection of vehicles by the jury on Sunday.

The vehicles were exhibited to the public at Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur on Saturday.

The jury members include Sourajit Palchoudhuri, Prithvi Nath Tagore and Biswanath Basu from Calcutta and Col Arup Ratan Basu from Jamshedpur.

Tata Steel CEO and managing director T.V. Narendran will flag off the rally at 8am. The rally will conclude after nearly two hours at The United Club after cruising along landmark locations of Jamshedpur.

A reel contest is also open to the public, wherein participants will have to submit a one-minute reel during the event and upload it on their personal Instagram handle. They will have to tag Tata Steel @ TataSteelltd and use hashtag #RetroWheels2023.

The inaugural edition of the rally had nearly 40 participants, all from Jharkhand.