If you thought Goa was only about beaches and vacationing, you couldn’t be more wrong. The state has no dearth of car enthusiasts and this also includes enthusiasts who love owning and preserving vintage cars. The passion of these owners was on display last month thanks to a special event — a vintage car rally. Goa Vintage and Classic Vehicles Club, a registered trust in Goa, conducted a heritage drive titled ‘GVCVC — Palace to Palace Vintage Drive’ where some of the oldest cars in India were driven from Adil Shah’s Palace in Panaji to Rauraje Deshprabhu Royal Palace in Pernem.
There were two main reasons that inspired the organisers to conduct a drive of this sort. The first reason was to create awareness among owners of such vehicles of the gems lying in their garages and also make people aware about the existence of these historic automobiles in Goa and other parts of the country. The second reason was to pay tribute to GVCVC’s trustee, late Jeetendra R Deshprabhu, the scion of the Rauraje Deshprabhu Royal family of Pernem. The 59-car convoy included some of the most beautiful vintage and classic cars including a 1922 Austin, Mercedes-Benz W108 and W123, Chevrolet Chevy II, Wolseley 1500 Mark I and the OG Volkswagen Beetle, among many others.
The drive was flagged off by Mauvin Godinho, Minister of Transport, Goa and there was an overwhelming response from car enthusiasts from around the state who gathered in big numbers to watch the evergreen beauties being driven on Goa’s streets. Enthusiasts even drove all the way from Pune and Bengaluru to participate in this heritage drive. We hope that GVCVC continues to spearhead drives of this nature so that mere mortals like us can witness these rare and timeless beauties while they’re preserved in all their glory.