MUMBAI, Febraury 28: ``And that beta is an Opel,'' explained the man.``Opel Astra papa ?'' asked his son, perched on his father's shoulder.Wrong question to ask. For the occasion was the Eighth Castrol Vintage and Classic Car Club of India's (VCCI) annual fiesta. But then Rasul Hussein, owner of the 1960 Opel Rekord which the father-son were admiring, would not have minded too much. For, the elder of the two enthusiasts was probably not born when the car was manufactured.Nariman Point's Sunday morning peace was shattered by the roar of Adil Limbuwala's 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle, one of the record 164 entries received by the VCCI this year. The rest purred with the dignity of one born ages ago, and with the silence of one made yesterday.Delayed this year due to another vintage rally held in January, the event saw a change in route from the usual Nariman Point-Dadar-Nariman Point to one via Juhu. The suburban civilians got their turn to stand on the roadside and gape at what many considered a``circus''.Close to roasted under the rising city temperatures, saw people driving open-air models. As Niloufer Eapen, driving a Ford Model A with her trousers folded up, quipped: ``Now I have the hottest legs in town!''There was plenty of waving, cheering, hooting along the way as the cars made their way through traffic and some empty lanes. Several young boys on Ballard Estate felt cheated of their regular Sunday afternoon gully cricket as the cars chose to pass though their `playground', letting out a blast of their ancient voices.JV Kotwal turned up at the half-way stage at Ramada Inn, Juhu, to take a look at a 1947 De Soto which was once owned by Homi Bhabha. ``I had travelled from Bombay to Guntakal in that car in 1961 when I was working in the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. I saw a picture in the papers yesterday and I wanted to see what it looked like now,'' said the retired secretary.The car, belonging to VCCI secretary Nitin Dossa, was not the only one that drew attention.Dossa's 1932 Ford Model B, once owned by Sir Richard Attenborough and used in the film Gandhi, recreated a scene from that time. Mohan Jahangiani and Bindu Choksi made a convincing Bapu and Kasturba Gandhi sitting in the car and needed no Satyagraha to win the costume prize.A traffic police Gypsy led the entourage for the first time, said Dossa, who praised the city police for their traffic arrangements. There would have been no need for special arrangements if two of the contestants had been allowed to lead the way.Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parambir Singh acted navigator to Nishant Dossa in the latter's 1935 Avon SS while the very traffic-stopping model Namrata Baruwa won a battle for the youth when she grabbed attention from right under the nose of the Mercedes 190SL she was navigating. But only for a little while.For it was that time of the year when a few loyal enthusiasts bowed in homage to the old.
