Restored to roar: 1966 Mustang turns heads at The Statesman Vintage Car event

From Mercedes to Bentley to Rolls-Royce, the 59th edition of the ‘Vintage & Classic Car Rally 2026’ witnessed a vivid collection of automobiles. However, the one car that caught the attention of most of the visitors was the well-known American muscle car, the 1966 Ford Mustang.

Shiva Jatti, a car restorer and the proud owner of the iconic vehicle, informed this correspondent, “This is a 1966 Ford Mustang V8 manual transmission. It has a convertible body shape, and it has a 289ci engine. In terms of cc, it is about 4700cc. It was totally restored a few years back.”

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Talking about its maintenance, he stressed that it was not difficult.

“If you maintain it regularly, there is not much of a problem. Cars are available all over the world. There are specialists available, and it is not a very complicated car because it is almost 60 years old now. It is very simple engineering, so it is not so difficult,” he added.

“Quite a few parts are available all over the world. There are specialist suppliers in Europe, the USA, and all over. The parts are available. If they are not available, we will have to get them fabricated,” he further said.

When asked about how he landed in this car restoration business, Jatti said, “Well, as a hobby, I started restoring cars, and now I restore them for a few friends. I’ve been doing this for 30 years.”

He further said that he has restored about 200 cars in his garage.

In a response to a question about the Delhi government’s vehicle ban policy, Jatti said, “Cars should be judged by the condition. They can have stringent tests like all over the world, like in the western world – Europe, England, the USA, and Singapore. They give a 5-year certificate after testing the car. Similar things should be done here.”

Over a hundred vintage and classic cars participated in The Stateman’s ‘Vintage & Classic Car Rally 2026’ event on Sunday.