A New Day, A New Dawn
There is a surprise for the readers. A special Poila Boishakh gift from none other than West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Who has written a piece for this special edition.
Delhi’s vintage car owners and fans are gearing up for “The Statesman and VCCI Vintage and Classic Car Display” which will be held on 6 March. The display, which will be held from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Statesman House in the heart of the capital, will feature a bevy of automobile beauties.
Ahead of the show, Asheesh Jain’s newly restored historic ex-Baroda 1937 Rolls-Royce, Phantom III coach built by Kellner, France was unveiled today at a function organised by the Heritage Motoring Club of India (HMCI) here.
Apart from the unveiling of the newly restored vintage car, there was a presentation of the Motoring Legend ‘Automotive Hall of Fame’ Plaques to V P Singh Badnore, former Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT Chandigarh, and K T S Tulsi, senior advocate and MP. Diljeet Titus, General Secretary of the HMCI, was also present on the occasion. When Jain acquired this Rolls-Royce, it had deteriorated badly over the years.
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The vehicle was turned over to Sandeep Katari, who is one of India’s leading restorers of high-end classic cars. Talking to The Statesman, Katari said, “It took around two and a half years to restore this vintage car.”
Katari carried out an extensive research-based restoration of the car, including an overhaul, repair, and service of the entire mechanical, bodywork, paint, upholstery, chrome work, electrical work, woodwork, and then the final finishing to as close as possible to the Rolls-Royce factory specifications and to the coachbuilder Kellner of Paris customisation, as originally ordered.
This Rolls-Royce is a testament to the passion and enthusiasm of Jain who after acquiring it, spent hundreds of hours over the years in researching its build history and provenance so as to restore it correctly and then devoted a substantial amount of time working with experts in India and in the United Kingdom on various aspects of its restoration. Most of the restoration was carried out by Katari over the past two years in spite of the difficult Covid times and restrictions.
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