My friend boasted that one time while walking down this street downtown, she experienced being in the presence of classic cars which were in some sort of parade. She was amazed and in awe at how the classic vehicles looked.

There could be quite a number of people from Mumbai, India who could also felt the same way that she did. See, just last Sunday, a pack of vintage vehicles were seen driving through the city’s streets. This would be part of the Haig-VCCCI Vintage Car and Motor Cycle Fiesta which is in its 21st year. The Vintage and Classic Car Club of India (also known as VCCCI) is behind this event and it has gotten some help from the Western India Automobile Association as well as from the Mumbai Traffic Police.

It is very unlikely that a Chevy Nova was part of the pack but the organizers have disclosed that there were classic vehicles all throughout the history of the automobile industry. Some of the cars were produced even before the 1940s. There were Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, Mercedes units, Porsches, Audis and Ferraris.

Nitin Dosa is the head of the events and is a member of the VCCCI. Dosa disclosed, “We have received more than two hundred entries and it’s an Indian record. You can expect in the future a few more rallies. We are coming out with an International Rally next year and it will be good.”

“The Bomb.”  That is the codename given to a convertible British two-seat sports car that is considered as a national racing champion.  In fact, according to classiccars.com, sold were about 300,000 units of the vehicle in just two decades.  Launched in 1962 at the Earls Court Motor Show, the Triumph Splitfire got its name from a popular World War II fighter plane.  By then, catalytic converters aren’t pre-requisites in European streets yet.

According to wikipedia, the car was produced by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, 145 inches long, with a 57 inches width and 48 inches height when hood is up.  It comes with a four-speed manual and an overdrive optional transmission.

However, years after its debut, the Triumph Splitfire, like most vintage cars, had lost its charm to modern car buyers. Compared to the new era vehicles, the Triumph Splitfire with an engine size of only 1147 cc, now has an ultimate speed of not more than 90 miles an hour.  That means, 17 seconds of driving before you get to reach 60 miles an hour.

But the Triumph Splitfire MK3 and MK4 have already underwent changes including an improved interior, full-width dashboard and a smart detachable hardtop, reclining seats, and others.  It then later on released the Splitfire 1500 in 1974 which accounted for being the most popular Splitfire of all.  In fact, most Splitfires for sale nowadays are from the 1500 variant.

A car that looks good going slow as it does going fast.  The Triumph Splitfire’s race in the auto market continues.  As its advertisement signifies, with the Triumph Splitfire, “You not only get a car and a girl but a piece of history.”

Fruits do not stay fresh that long. That’s why to make its life last longer, they are preserved. Like jams. And dried fruits. And canned fruits.

That’s the way it is with everything - nothing stays young for long, nothing stays new for a period of time. Unless you do something to make it look young or new.

And if you love old vehicles which still look fairly new, then you must travel to Palm Springs and get the thrill out of looking at the best classic cars which are still in good condition and looking fairly well. There should be no Audi parts studded vehicles here for Audi is a fairly new brand and when I mean classics, I mean really old.

The event would be known as Desert classic Concours d’Elegance and it sets out in Palm Springs O’Donnell Golf Club this March 1st from 9 in the morning up until 5pm, mydesert.com reported. You should attend, you know. You would not only get to be in the presence of these classic cars but you would also be able to help raise money for some local organizations.

Every flick that we’ve seen on the big screen usually features great cars and out of this world vehicles. In the advanced world of movie-making, they usually feature cars that embody the future and latest cars of the century - if you could notice that. A good example is the Audi RSQ, which was featured in the iRobot sci-fi flick. Aside from the RSQ with the advanced oil filter, a lot of ultramodern vehicles have already been introduced in several blockbuster Hollywood movies.

During the twentieth century and the early years of the 21^st, movie makers boast of their own special celebrity cars that totally rocked the big screen. And most of them are classics from way, way back! The appeal of classic cars has never run out of gas for decades now. The universal appeal is still there - that’s why several ground-breaking movies featured vintage vehicles to add a little bit of spice and color to the story.  

Let’s all take a refresher course on movie cars 101, shall we? Check out all the vintage cars featured on film from various timelines:

American Griffiti - 1956 DeSoto Firedome Seville

Back to the Future - DeLorean

Big Fish - 1967 Dodge Charger

Bullitt - 1968 Dodge Charger 440 R/T and 1968 Ford Mustang

Blues Brothers - 1974 Dodge Monaco

Blade I and Blade II - 1968 Dodge Charger

Big Fish - 1967 Dodge Charger

"Christine" - 1957 Plymouth Sport Fury

The Choppers (1961) - ‘59 Buick convertible

Cobra - 1950 Mercury

Corvette Summers - Customized Corvette

Duel - 1970 Plymouth Valiant

Dirty Mary, ,Crazzy Larry - 1969 Charger R/T 440, 1966 Impala

Dragstrip Riot - ‘55, ‘56, ‘57 Corvettes

The Car - 1969-1971 Lincoln Mark III

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot - 1973 Plymouth Fury

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) - 1971 Ford Mustang Bos 302

Gone in 60 Seconds - Ford Shelby Mustang

Fireball 500 (1966) - SSXR Barracuda (’66 Barracuda), 426-powered

‘66 Belvedere stock car

Green Hornet - ‘66 Chrysler Imperial

The Love Bug - VW Beetle

Two Lane Backtop - Hemi Cuda, Dodge Daytona

LeMans - Gulf Porsche 917

Smokey and Bandit - 1976 Pontiac Trans Am

Grand Theft Auto (1977) - Rolls Royce

Rebel Without a Cause - 1949 Mercury Coupe

Italian Job (2003) - Mini Cooper S

The Wraith - 1986 Dodge Daytona turbos and Dodge M4S concept car

Last Angry Man - 1947 Buick

Little Ceasar - 1926 Cadillac

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (1981) - 1973 Ford XB Falcon coupe

Vanishing Point (1971, 1997) - 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T

White Lightening (1973) - Ford LTD

xXx - ‘76 GTO

I love analogies. You know, asking myself questions like, “What do cars and humans have in common?” 

I remembered one instance when I discussed Forrest Gump’s “Life is like a box of chocolates, you’ll never know what you will get,” with a friend who is equally weird as I am.  We ended up quipping, “What else but chocolate?  Not unless something else was put in the box.  Well, that’s another story.”  Seriously, this one intrigued me a lot.  A vintage car rally for tigers?  Why?  What do vintage car and tigers have in common, anyway?  Was there ever an instance that a vintage car all-equipped with an Acura legend mud flap crouched on the street like tigers do?  Or did anybody discover a centennial-old tiger?

Last weekend, a three-day vintage car rally, participated in by more or less 13 vintage cars was held from Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, 500 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, India to Dudhwa National park, one of the main wildlife sanctuaries in Northern India, to promote tiger conservation. The area serves as home for about 80 tigers, threatened to be extinct due to humans’ incursion to their natural habitats.