Classic cars and bikes

Pioneering automotive journalist, author and enthusiast Adil Jal Darukhanawala’s 1949 Fiat 500C Topolino bagged top honors in the Indian Heritage Car class, at the third edition of the Cartier "Travel with Style” Concours d’Elegance held in Bombay on February 9 and 10, 2013 at the Taj Lands’ End hotel. Darukahanawala, who is editor-in-chief of Zigwheels of The Times of India Group, sent Parsiana a write-up about the event.

Darukhanwala’s winning Fiat;

Jehangir Faroogh on his vintage bike with Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read

There was a strong Parsi presence at the show where entries are selected nearly four months in advance, the critera for selection being originality, pedigree and provenance of the vehicles. Naturally, they have to be in top condition to be invited to participate, the write-up notes. This year there were 70 cars, and for the first time the event featured motorcycles as well, with 30 classics on show. Adjudged class of the field was Bombay bike enthusiast Jehangir Faroogh’s 1926 AJS 350cc Clubmans racer, only a handful of which are known to exist worldwide. The fine manner in which Faroogh had restored it and the way it fired and moved elicited a great deal of appreciation from the judges. When Faroogh acquired the bike it was in a sorry state, but he was determined to restore it to its former glory and his efforts have paid off handsomely, the write-up mentions.
Rustom Jeejeebhoy’s 1949 Bentley Mark VI with Mulliner drop head coupe cabriolet coachwork was first runner up in the post-war European Classics class, while Capt Pesi Bhujwala’s 1956 Studebaker Flight Hawk was judged the second runner up in the class for post-war American Classics. Jeejeebhoy’s was originally one of a fleet of five or six identical Bentley Mark VI cars, each one with a different type of coachwork, ordered by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore. "This car has been in my family for over 60-odd years,” Jeejeebhoy recalled. "It was acquired by my father purely for the pleasure of motoring after the portly Maharaja couldn’t get in and out of the car easily.”

Capt Pesi Bhujwala, Adil Darukhanawala, Roger Werner, Rustom Jeejeebhoy

The jury in Bombay this year comprised some "living legends” checking the cars and bikes, giving advice, receiving feedback and admiring not merely the vehicles on display but also the men and women who had "nurtured them to top shape just as if they had rolled off the assembly lines!” the write-up mentions. Heading the jury was Prince Michael of Kent, revered in motoring circles around the world for his passion and integrity and others including former race driver Sir Stirling Moss, actor Peter Fonda of Easy Rider fame, Fiat’s Agnelli family scion Lapo Elkann, world motorcycle champions Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read, along with many others.