Vintage car rally organised from Chandigarh to Kasauli

Kasauli, April 19

Chetan Singh Jauramajra, a Minister in the Punjab Cabinet, today flagged off a vintage car rally, ‘Baisakhi Run’, from Chandigarh.

Twelve vintage cars ranging from white and blue Morris models from 1960 and 1950, a white Volkswagen from 1950, Fiat from 1958, Hindustan 14 from 1952 and Mercedes 190 from 1986 were driven from Chandigarh to Kasauli.

Although more car owners were keen to participate in the event, given the poor condition of the road in Kasauli, only a few cars were found fit to negotiate the potholed roads, said Baljeet Singh, secretary general, Vintage and Classic Car Club, Chandigarh.

In a bid to preserve vintage cars, owners are urging the government to allow their fresh-registration. The process has already begun in Delhi after 30 to 40 associations of vintage and classic cars from across the country met the Union Minister for Surface and Road Transport Nitin Gadkari and requested for the same.

Brigadier JS Phoolka (retd), founder and president, Vintage and Class Car Club, Chandigarh, who was here for the annual ‘Baisakhi Run’ said these cars had been exempted from the Vehicle Scrappage Policy.

India’s Vehicle Scrappage Policy was introduced in April 2022 to phase out old passenger and commercial vehicles to reduce air pollution, increase road safety and give a boost to sales of automobiles.

Passenger vehicles older than 20 years and commercial vehicles older than 15 years have to pass a fitness and emissions test to keep their registration. Vehicles failing the mandatory test are defined as end-of-life vehicles and lose their registration certificate. Owners are advised to scrap these vehicles.

Phoolka said, “Since cars that are older than 50 years cannot be used, it had become imminent to seek the exemption to preserve the old heritage of these classic cars. A large number of them date back to nearly nine decades.”

The owners face a major challenge in maintaining these cars as their spare parts are often not available in the market and it is an arduous task to keep them in working condition.