Vintage and classic cars have always occupied a special place in everyone's heart.
Vintage cars are all time passion. Apart from being a passion, some enthusiastic also collects and preserve as treasures. Some people are the preservers of living examples detailing the evolution of mechanical engineering, designs and development in the history of transportation of humankind.
India saw its first car in the year 1900 and after few years cars were imported in to the country and with in 10 years several thousand models poured in, which were driven by our Maharajas, Princes, Industrialists and Philanthropists in the country.
India does have goodly number of vintage cars, which belong to Rajas, Maharajas, and Nawabs. And to keep up their charm and to popularize them, vintage car rallies are held from time to time drawing fairly good crowds.
In the words of Mr. Nithin Dossa, honorary secretary of the Vintage and Classic Cars Club of India, an association of 150 car owners "We get at least one request a week for cars" there is so much demand for these cars that people do not mind spending any amount of money for special occasion like films, wedding, hospitality etc. Vintage cars can be more expensive than modern-day styles. For instance, if a Mercedes E class rental cost Rs 10,000 a day, you can easily double the amount for a vintage car. The rental vary from model to model ranging from Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000 a day for a Rolls Royce and Rs 15,000 a day for a Cadillac and Buick, while an Austin can be hired for between Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000.
Experts say, the total number of vintage cars available in India is not more than 1,000-3,000 valued at Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion). India has some of the vintage car collectors are collectors -- Pranlal Bhogilal of Ahmedabad, Sharad Shanghi of Indore and UB group chairman Vijay Mallya, owning 350-odd vintage and classic cars between them and their collection include the rare Mercedes 540 K and the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, both valued at over Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million).
People's awareness about the vintage cars is increasing with more car rallies, media attention and museums.
