It was the first time that supercars in the city hit the red carpet, all 43 of them, providing a treat for Mumbaikars who were left wide-eyed as they lapped-in the svelte Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis , Porsches, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, BMWs, Audis, the Lotus Elise and the higher-end range of Mercedes on parade on Sunday morning.
Clad in a blue A1 Team India shirt, India’s first Formula 1 driver Narayan Karthikeyan flagged off the inaugural car for the rally that stretched from Kala Ghoda to Prabhadevi and back. Karthikeyan himself zipped around the city in a dark grey British-built two-seater sports car called the Ariel Atom 3.
Driving close behind Karthikeyan was Jerxis Vandrevala in his shiny, black and customised Rolls-Royce Phantom. Six bodyguards donned in black stood close to the Royce making sure no one touched her.
Raymond chairman Gautam Singhania, the brains behind the car rally that was marketed by Autocar India, was looking forward to organising the event annually in coordination with Maharashtra Tourism.
Many used their cellphones to record the sounds of the V8 and V10 engines zipping past.
Organiser and chairman of the Western Automobile Association Nitin Dossa said that there were 169 vintage cars and 60 vintage bikes that rallied till Dadar’s Five Gardens and back to Nariman Point.
