Today, watch Phantom roll by in Mumbai

If the last place you saw ‘‘Phantom’’ and ‘‘Ghost’’ together was in the pages of an Indrajaal comic,...

If the last place you saw ‘‘Phantom’’ and ‘‘Ghost’’ together was in the pages of an Indrajaal comic, consider standing opposite Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on Sunday morning.

From the rare 1922 Silver Ghost to the spanking-new 2004 Phantom, an array of 15 swank Rolls-Royce cars will be yours for ogling. The R-R party celebrates 100 years of the luxury automaker’s existence, with owners of vintage and classic Rollers bringing out their pristine machines for a rally to the Grand Hyatt, Santacruz.

There will be a selection of stiff upper lips on parade: The Silver Ghost, the oldest car in the rally, has been specially brought up to mint condition by collector Dr Vijay Mallya; Ramesh Thakkar’s as-new 1928 20/25-HP, Sandra Shroff’s ’79 Silver Shadow (the first Rolls to be imported post-Independence), Silver Wraiths and Silver Spurs.

Story continues below this ad

The Vintage and Classic Car Club of India event is the only Rolls-Royce centenary celebration in India, says club Honorary Secretary Nitin Dossa.

Ramesh Thakkar’s 20/25-HP, meanwhile, will be clocking up the miles coming in from Pune for the event-considering it is one of the, if not the, lowest-mileage Rolls-Royces in the world. ‘‘Can you imagine, after sitting idle for 60 years, the car started up within one hour,’’ muses the 63-year-old senior partner of Metro Estate Co.

Leading the pack, literally, will be the BMW-built 2004 Phantom, on display in the country for the first time. Sharad Kacharia, marketing director for BMW’s authorised Indian dealers, says a buyer is already waiting for the Rs 3-crore-plus tank.

‘Grave insult to wounded people’: Cong lashes out at PM Modi amid his first Manipur visit

India26 min ago

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Manipur for the first time since ethnic violence hit the state in May 2023, the Congress on Saturday called it a “farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people”.

View all shorts

Live Blog