A bright and sunny Sunday morning provided the perfect setting as The Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally returned to Kolkata after a two-year gap, giving classic and vintage vehicle enthusiasts an opportunity to indulge in their favourite addiction and ordinary Kolkatans a dose of the old world charm that these vehicles, like nothing else, embody.

Over 120 vintage and classic vehicles participated in the 52nd edition of The Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally, assembling in the morning at Fort William’s Eastern Command Stadium in the morning, from where they were flagged off by the GOC-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita, to rapturous cheers from a thousands-strong crowd. The vehicles covered a 28-kilometre long route, extending to Golbari in the north to Tollygunge in the south of the city before returning to the Stadium.

Many of the crowd that gathered at the stadium were as knowledgeable about the vehicles as the owners t h e m s e l v e s.

For many also, the event was selfie heaven. The vintage and classic beauties, with their shining chrome and immaculate paint jobs provided the perfect backdrop for a selfie or two, or indeed a dozen. Some vehicles were immediate crowd favourites, among them a 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost decked up to look like a chariot and Statesman Rally veterans like the 1906 Renault Freres owned by the Late Sashi Kanoria and the beautiful 1913 Gebruder Stoewer belonging to Ananda Chowdhury.

Among the visitors, some were special. West Bengal minister for of I n f o r m a t i o n Technology and Electronics and Tourism, Babul Supriyo, was there and briefly addressed the gathering and even sung a few lines.

Also present was Smita Tharoor, sister of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, back attending The Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally after a gap of 40 years. Ms Tharoor, now based in London, spoke fondly of her childhood, when The Statesman Vintage Rally was one of the highlights of the year. “We used to dress up and take pictures,” she said.

The Tharoors have a longstanding connection with The Statesman; Shashi and Smita Tharoor’s father, Chandran Tharoor, spent 25 years of his career in the newspaper, culminating as group advertising manager.

Among the many categories of awards on offer, a 1933 Austin Ten owned by Mr Chandra Prakash Verma won The Statesman Overall Performance of the Day.

CESC TROPHY for runnerup to the best Overall performance of the day went to a 1935 Austin 8 owned by Mr D K Paul. Mr Ananda Chowdhury’s Gebruder Stoewer drove off with the DVC Trophy for best Road Section performance for Cars Built upto 1922 and the Gainwell Trophy for the Best Maintained Car Built up to 1922. The Statesman Trophy for best overall performance by a Car, built between 1940 and 1975 went to a 1950 Austin owned by Mr D Chatterjee.

In the Indian Heritage section, the trophy for Best Overall performance of the day went to a 1959 Fiat owned by S Roy, while the Pressman Advertising Trophy for best turn-out of car driver and passengers (Fancy Dress) went to a 1970 Volkswagen owned by Brinda Ganguly Sarkar and driven by Suda Kshina Mukherjee. Mr Ravindra Kumar, Editor and Managing Director, The Statesman, addressing the gathering at the prize distribution ceremony, thanked the participants, spectators, event sponsers, judges, the Army and everyone else involved for making the Rally a success. He also noted that suggestions have been made to streamline the organisation of the Rally and pledged to address them.