The lawns of The Saturday Club in Calcutta turned resplendent on a balmy Sunday morning recently as the establishment with a near 150-year heritage hosted the Historic Vehicles Display in association with the city’s Classic Drivers Club and t2. In a way, this event signalled the beginning of another season — typically winter with bits on either end — of events organised around heritage vehicles in the city.
Initially, the venue was to be the club’s car park, but it was shifted to the lawn as the numbers of enthusiastic heritage vehicle owners who wanted to participate in the event grew to the mid-30s and more space was needed.
The oldest vehicle was a Renault (8hp) from France dating back to 1906 and the newest was a Land Rover Defender from 1987. In between there were vehicles, mostly of British make, with a smattering of American, Indian, Italian and Japanese cars thrown in for good measure.
There were two-wheelers on display as well with rides that included a UK-made Royal Enfield, a 1936 James with a Villiers engine, a 1956 Lambretta and a 1974 Rajdoot GTS that had become famous as the ‘Bobby’ bike after it featured in the hit film starring Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.
The show ended with each of the enthusiasts being given a memento for participation and with the idea of making this an annual event.
The organisers of the Historic Vehicle Display in association with Classic Drivers Club and t2 (l-r) Saturday Club president Rahul Johri, secretary Lt Col Gautam Nandy, and vice-president Shayak Gupta pose with the oldest car on show, the 1906 Renault Freres
ORGANISER SPEAK
The Saturday Club president Rahul Johri said:
“Saturday Club being a heritage club, this is the first time that we are having a heritage car display. We will continue with this and the next time have it in winter. We have a very good turnout, we have three Rolls Royces and 33 or 34 cars have come today and about eight vintage motorcycles. Some of our members are members of Classic Drivers Club and Darshan (Sanghvi of CDC) came up with this idea.”
Shayak Gupta, vice-president, The Saturday Club, said:
“Saturday Club is not the first club to have a vintage car show and event, but it is the first vintage car exhibition that we are having in the monsoon season! That was a big risk that we took and we were on the verge of cancelling it but luckily things started clearing up and we could have it. Heritage motoring fits in with Saturday Club being a heritage club. Having a heritage building with us, we value traditional values.”
Abhijit Mitra