What led us to think of this article is the upcoming Vehicle Scrappage policy by the Government of India. The move aims at imposing a green tax on old vehicles to curb pollution and also calls for scrapping vehicles that are unfit for the roads.
There are n numbers of classic car and bike communities in India that have jitters over it.
Each jalopy is a cherished and prized possession of its owner, of which some have won accolades in international events like Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Cartier Concours d’Elegance. A lot of these vehicles also belonged to the erstwhile kings and royalty of India and contribute to India’s rich history as well.
The historical significance and emotional value of these vehicles call for respect and scrapping them would be nothing short of murdering the heritage.
With growing concerns, recently Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that vintage cars will not be affected by the upcoming Vehicle Scrappage Policy, giving a sigh of relief to the vehicle owners.
We got in touch with Goa Vintage and Classic Vehicles Club to learn more about the love affair with antique four-wheelers.
The Club was formed three years back by Mr.Gautam Pai Kakode, Mrs. Rupa Deshprabhu, Mr. Bryan Soares, Mr. Krishnakant M. Kamat, Mr. Upendra Gaunekar, Mr. Anil Dalal, Mr. Vaibhav Tamba, Mr. Varun Albuquerque & Mr. Ninad G. Kamat, as its Trustees.
The members created the club to preserve the heritage and for that, they have been conducting shows and showcasing models on their social media handles over a couple of years.
Goa itself holds a lot of heritage that adds to its beauty and the cars that the members own adds more to it.
A few days ago, the club held “PALACE TO PALACE VINTAGE & CLASSIC VEHICLES DRIVE” in which several vintage car owners across the nation took part and drove from one Palace to other in Goa.
There were a variety of magnificently maintained vehicles in the drive like Austin 1933 & 1934 which were some of the oldest. The others included Morris 8 -1937, Jaguar, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz limousines, varieties of Volkswagen cars, varied types of foreign Jeeps, Dodge, Fiats, Premier Padminis, Ambassador, and a showstopper – Leyland Bus -1961!
Speaking to LifeBeyondNumbers, Babu Kamat, a trustee of the club said that, “We do these events only to make sure that people realize the value of these vintage cars and restore them.”
They have also had similar events in 2019 and are looking forward to doing even more in the future.
But how they manage to maintain and get the spare parts of these bygone vehicles was a question that struck us. To this, Kamat said, ”There is an interconnected fraternity of vintage car owners across India. You will find clubs in each state in fact. These owners often help each other by providing contacts of persons who are into vintage repairing. There are replicas of old vehicle parts available with the Indian and Foreign dealers and also some parts are acquired from old vehicles before they are dismantled for scrapping. That’s how we get to keep the wheels running and you wouldn’t believe how well the job is done by the professionals. Although vintage, some of these vehicles are as good as brand new”.
The ministry of road transport and highways has revealed that over four crore vehicles older than 15 years are plying on roads across India, which will come under the green tax. The Vehicle Scrappage Policy exempts vintage cars which means cars which are over 50 years old are safe. Provided that all this has been proposed on the basis of environmental policies, we enquired how these old cars may or may not pose a problem to the real motive.
Even the draft published by MoRTH states that the use of these vehicles would be restricted to vintage rallies, exhibitions, and maintenance purposes only.
In a recent news report, a person from Bangalore was an aid to convert an old car into an electric vehicle. We asked Kamat about his take on vintage car modification.
With the Vehicle Scrappage Policy, India will lose a large chunk of its motoring heritage. These cars need to be saved so that the vintage and classic car movement in India continues to evolve.
Let us hope that the new Vehicle Scrappage Policy will consider not just the history of the Indian automobile but also the evolution of the same.