The classics’ day out

Last Friday saw Dhaka's classic cars and vintage bikes meet at the Italian embassy in Dhaka, organised by Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, in collaboration with penthouse livings, to celebrate the occasion of 50 years of friendship between Italy and Bangladesh. The early hours of the one-day-only event saw DNCC mayor Atiqul Islam paying a visit with his faction of the cacophonous press in tow, hence the decision to visit in the later hours proved to be a wise one.

Members from all sorts of automotive clubs, such as Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Club Bangladesh, VW Fan Club Bangladesh and Vintage and Classic Car Club of Bangladesh took part in the grandiose display of over 45 classic and real steel. The oldest participating car was a 1920s Austin, while the newest car was a Toyota MR2. All sorts of classics, including bikes, were on display for the public from the morning till late afternoon.

The off-road vehicle section saw a pair of Land Rover Series 3, amongst other gems such as a perfectly maintained SWB owned by John Cooper (you probably might have bought something from his bakery) and a Wagon (rescued from the fire service department) mechanically restored and owned by Afraz Hussain with patina for days. John Cooper's immaculate J60 Land Cruiser almost made me drop dead.

But perhaps what garnered the most attention was the only Italian sports car on the roster; Akbar A. Sattar's beautiful Fiat X1/9. Saad Mujtaba Zaman's impressive restoration of his 1968 Triumph Spitfire MKIII in British racing green also held the attention of the crowd. Durjoy Rahman's immaculately restored Chevrolet 210 Wagon had quite a story to tell being part of the presidential fleet and supposedly chauffeuring around both Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman. Over at the BMW corner, Abrar Musa's restomod 2002 sat alongside a 2000 Tilux.

Although in my humble opinion, what stole the show for me was a humble white workhorse corolla E11 Kombi (wagon) belonging to the Italian embassy, stashed quite coyly inside their premises. A close second for me would be the three W123 Benz trio in silvergreen, black and red.

And the group of Beetles. Gotta love the love bug.

Photos: Ahbaar Milky