Mumbai: 70 vintage Mercedes-Benz cars glide in classic car rally

Around 70 MercedesBenz cars built decades apart glided elegantly from the Taj Lands End in Bandra to Worli and back as part of the rally on Sunday morningOrganised by Autocar India in association with MercedesBenz the ninth edition of the MercedesBenz classic car rally first held in 2014 was flagged off by Vishwas Nangre Patil Joint Police Commissioner Law and Order and Martin Schwenk MD and CEO of MercedesBenz IndiaThe MBCCR featured some extremely special cars which sparkled in the mild November sun this morning These included publisher and collector Viveck Goenkarsquos SClass collection Pratapsinh Gaekwadrsquos 230SL Pagoda Gautam Singhaniarsquos 300S Adenauer cabriolet and Yash Ruiarsquos 1929 Nurburg A throng of admirers also savoured the entire range of W123 W124 and W126 in all body styles ndash from coupes cabriolets and limousines to estates SWB and LWB sedans ldquoThe passion for classic cars in the city is very evident thanks to this magnificent showrdquo said PatilMartin Schwenk said the rally was a celebration of the manufacturerrsquos rich history ldquoI have been witnessing the rally since 2018 and each year since then it has kept exceeding my expectations in terms of the cars on display and the sheer passion of the owners who celebrate MercedesBenzrsquos heritage It is a pleasure to see our customers come together as one family to celebrate and drive these icons of luxury on Mumbairsquos streetsrdquo said SchwenkAlso Read Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal blessed with twinsThe ninth edition of the MBCCR also saw the organisers grow the pool of participating cars by allowing every MercedesBenz assembled and sold in India up to 2002 to be eligible for the Star Classic category And so on display were familiar icons such as the entire India range up to the W203 CClass W210 EClass and even the W220 SClass The rally also had all seven generations of the groundbreaking MercedesBenz SClass on display to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the car that has shaped the future of the automobile Yashvardhan Ruiarsquos 1929 Nurburg one of the few in the world was the oldest automobile at the eventldquoI look forward to the MercedesBenz Classic Car Rally every year because I get to see so many cars that I havenrsquot seen before It is one of the finest rallies of its kind in the country and extremely wellorganisedrdquo said Viveck GoenkaMBCCR 2022 also saw participants from several parts of the country including Rajkot Goa and Kochi ldquoThe MBCCR has played a key role in raising awareness of the joy of owning a Mercedes classic carrdquo said Vivek Lathia who drove in from Rajkot in his W123 240DRally curator Perseus Bandrawalla said that MercedesBenz has become the most popular classic car brand in India and for good reason ldquoNo other carmaker has as many classic cars on our roads nor the official factory support for spare parts and restoration While we take pride in the fact that the MBCCR has grown to become a much awaited globally recognised event whatrsquos as important is that it has fostered a vibrant community and ecosystem of collectors and restorersrdquo said Bandrawalla