The Hindu Business Line : New age entrepreneurs have big crush for vintage cars

New Delhi, May 28 To own a fleet of vintage cars and bikes may be the privilege of Mr Narayana Murthy, Mr Ratan Tata, or Mr Vijay Malaya. But interestingly, now several mid-sized entrepreneurs are also joining the list and are willing to spend their hard-earned money to fulfil their passion for these antiques. And the list cuts across barriers of age, sex and background.

Take a former OTIS employee Mr Jaspal Singh who opted out of his job two years ago to pursue his interest of restoring old classic bikes and cars that date back anywhere between 1902 to the 1960s. Mr Singh himself owns three classic cars — the 1964 Triumph Herald, 1942’s Willy which was supplied to American Army during the World War II, and a 1965 Beatle. He also owns a collection of some of the oldest bikes in the country — the 1902 Swift produced in England, German bike maker IFA’s 1955 model and a 250 cc 1938 Rudge. “This is like a life time investment in which there can never be depreciation but only appreciation,” said Mr Singh.

Similarly, Mr Jasbir Singh, who runs a house restoration business, has in his 9-10 vintage bike portfolio the 1954, 500 cc AJS and the 1957 Norton ES2. “I work in a business owned by my father, so whenever I get funds I try to restore a bike. My wife, fortunately, understands my passion and supports me,” said Mr Singh.

“We have the most diverse set of people as our members coming from all walks of life. And what binds us is our passion,” said Mr Diljeet Titus, Secretary General, Heritage Motoring Club of India, which has around 230 members, most of them owners of vintage cars and bikes. “Now we are seeing members below 35 years who are businessmen with a fascination for such cars. Many women are also becoming part of the club,” he said.

With the growing interest of people in classic cars, the club is now set to conduct the second e-auction in the country. The first one, held in April, saw seven cars being sold at Rs 76 lakh with 35-36 bidders. “Based on the overwhelming response received in the first auction from lawyers, doctors and young businessmen, we are putting 20 cars on sale in July or August,” said Mr Titus. Heritage Motoring Club is expecting the number of bidders in this auction to easily touch 100 with the market value of each car at least three-four times than the cost at which it was bought.

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