Hyderabad: The Falaknuma Palace was in a time warp on Saturday evening. Set against the opulence of the Palace, vintage cars that were on the long Southern Trails Road Trip were on display on the front lawn.
Most of the cars — which included Mercedes 220S, Studebaker (1957), Buick (1949), Rolls Royce (1936), Mercedes 250 SL, Buick 8 (1941) Chevrolet (1937), Belair Convertible (1957), Belair (1961), Mercedes 250 SW108,Morris (1948)VW Camper Van, Fiat 1100 R, Dodge Convertible (1954), Packard Clipper(1946), Plymouth(1957) and Herald (1964) — had been on the road all the way from Mumbai, as part of a yearly drive that a group of friends take.
Dinesh Lal, the owner of a convertible, 1941 right hand drive model Buick, explains, “It’s a yearly tradition that we as a group of friends do. It’s not a club, we are just friends, and we drive.”
Last year, the Southern trails covered the Mumbai- Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Surat- Mumbai route and this year, the route was Mumbai- Hubli-Coimbatore-Coorg- Bengaluru-Hyderabad- Sholapur-Pune-Mumbai.
So how do vintage cars fair on long drives? “These cars are from the bygone era, when there was no traffic; they are particularly easy to drive. In my Buick, I can do a 120 km, which is very good. In case of a break down, we just help each other out,” says Dinesh.
Few of the city’s best cars were also on display. Known for his collection, Captain K.P. Pestonji of Cherma’s retail chain says, “I started collecting very late — between 1990 and 1994. The number of cars I had picked, that I felt I wouldn’t have time to restore them all.”
On the city’s love, he adds, “Hyderabad had the best cars, but unfortunately, today they don’t exist. I know a scrap dealer, who has scrapped seven Rolls Royces and the highest he has paid was Rs 4,000!”
But not everything changes in these cars in the name of restoration. The idea is the subtle balance of keeping the original, while adding the new.
“In 1951, the Nizam decided to upgrade into a new line. He picked up nine Dodge Kingsways. He chose one for his own use and he used it the last 15 years of his life. The only change he made was to attach the clock he had in his Rolls Royce to this dashboard. Even today I have not touched the paint and you can see the wear and tear of the seats. So these are choices you make on how much you want to restore and how much you want to save,” he says.
