“Is emotion a sack of potatoes, so much the pound, to be measured out? Am I a machine?” to borrow a line from Chapter XXVII of E.M.Forster’s 1924 novel, A Passage to India. Well, there was plenty of emotion shown over machines at the 2018 ’21 Gun Salute International Vintage Car Rally and Concours Show’ held in New Delhi.
This magnificent event was a romantic mix of ‘A Drive of the Lutyens’, named for the architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869 -1944) who laid out so much of the administrative heart of the new city; black tie dinners at the homes of Maharajahs; traditional and unique dance entertainment from the regions of India; the National Railway Museum; motorbikes and scooters; culinary delights such as Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, Machher Jhol; Rogan Josh, Sorpotel, Meen Vevicahthu (do not question, just eat!); and last but certainly not least well over 100 Veteran, Edwardian, Vintage and classic cars including international entrants from the USA, Australia, the Seychelles, Italy and the United Kingdom.
As well as the international entrants held in such high regard locally, there were participants from Delhi, Kanpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
Best in Show was the Gurney Nutting all weather Rolls-Royce cabriolet chassis number GR048, supplied new to HH Maharajah of Drabhanga, and which made everyone’s draw drop in appreciation when first seen in the mist of early Saturday morning at India Gate.
