Vintage car rally showcases Hyderabad's rich heritage

Hyderabad: Classique Motor Vehicle Association (CMVA) on Sunday held its first edition of ‘Classic and Vintage Automobile Show’in collaboration with The Park Hyderabad.Nearly 50 vintage cars and classic motorcycles were on display.

The event was flagged off by K Sreenivasa Reddy, Police Commissioner Hyderabad. The vintage carstook out a rally driving around the Hussain Sagar and The Secretariat.They were later put on display at The Park.

Speaking to Hans India, B Shashidhar, president, Classique Motor Vehicle Association said that the oldest car on display is a 1932 Austin and the oldest motorbike is 1932 James. The showstopper of the show was the most expensive car an eight-cylinder Dodge Custom Royal,brought down from Mumbai by the owner Harit Trivedi.

“At one point of time Hyderabad was the home for the best and expensive vehicles in India. Nizam of Hyderabad had 15 Rolls Royce which even the Queen of England did not own. Currently the status of these Rolls Royce is not known. However, one can be witnessed at Chowmahalla Palace, but I am not sure if it is the same. Hyderabad is home to more than 1,000 vintage cars. Beyond these that are in service, some cars are standing still at the Rajgharanas due to unavailability of spare parts,” the chief said.

The list of other vehicles on display included 1959 Dodge Custom Royal, 1926 Austin 7, 1932 Ford Model A roadster, 1938 Plymouth, 1936 Austin 10, 1938 Austin 8, 1948 Triumph 1800, 1932 James, 1946 James, 1952 Norton and 1952 Matchless. The members of CMVA and the car owners were felicitated by Ajit Singh Garcha, Area GM, The Park Hotels.

Seeking the State government’s support to ease them from hassles of owning a vintage vehicle, Shashidhar urged for replacing yearly fines (tax) with that for a five-year payment. “Vintage and classic car owners have to pay a one-time fee of Rs 2,000, and yearly fine of Rs 6,000 to the State. The Vehicle Scrappage Policy with a special section for vintage and classic cars is a concurrent subject. But there is no convergence between the Centre and State rule.Due to fear of loss of revenue the State is slow in moving ahead with the policy,” he said.

The State Road Transport Authority (RTA) issued rules in 2017 laying a fine of Rs 500 levied every month on the owner who has not renewed their registration of a car older than 15 years. He pointed out, “When we go for re-registration, we face lack of understanding from authorities to acknowledge these cars as classic and vintage. Most of the work is outsourced to people who have not even seen these cars. They ask questions like where the seat belt is for a 1960s made car. We are willing to interact with the concerned department and help them in regularising the framework.”

The task of making government authorities understand the value of ‘heritage in mobility’ has deterred car owners from getting their vehicles reregistered. According to Shashidhar the government data has registered 385 classic and vintage cars in Telangana, while the number is much higher at 16 lakh.As he states, “Most of the cars are not functional due to lack of finding the right spare parts, besides restoring these cars is an expensive affair. Those numbers can however shoot up if owners come forward to reregister.But, today if I take my car for re-registration, the unique registration number will get replaced with Telangana registration wiping off its authenticity. Hence, we are asking the State government toopen two counters, each at Khairatabad RTA and Tirumalagiri Secunderabad RTA with a senior officer heading it, who has the knowledge about such vehicles.”