A brief history of our time
The Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club (KVCCC) was formed in 1979. This was a brainchild of a few friends driven by Shri Anand Rao and Shri Balram Kandige. Joining them was Shri Premanth P S, Shri Prithvinath K G, Shri Nataraj Shetty, Shri Anil Kumar Lakhani, Shri Ganesh Rao and others.
The primary object of the Club was to "Promote and encourage collection, preservation and use of vintage cars in India". The Club remains one of the oldest and premier vintage and classic car clubs in the country.
KVCCC is also one of the two clubs in the country to be a member of Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA). KVCCC is also the primary founding Club to help in the establishment of the Federation of Historical Vehicles in India (FHVI)
My Father, Shri Prithvinath K G in consultation with his lawyer friend, prepared the Memorandum and Rules and was instrumental in completing the registration formalities in 1979-80.
Here is the front cover of the original Memorandum and Rules. You will see that it also sports the first logo of the Club,
Here is the first Badge of the Club.
Here is a picture of the Ex-Mysore Daimler DB18 with the original KVCCC Badge. This was a sedate looking badge
The Founder Members of the Club are those who took up membership till 1980. There are 12 such member and include Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni, Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Eranimos V P, Mr. C George, Mr. Premanth P S, Mr. Ashok Agrawal, Mr. Natarajan K S, Mr. Prithvinath K G, Mr. Sudarshan Malpani, Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, Mr. Gouse Mohiyadeen and Mr. Babu N V
The first Office Bearers of the Club were
President - Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni Vice President - Mr. Balram Kandige Hon. Secretary - Mr. Premnath P S Hon. Treasurer - Mr. Eranimos V P Committee Member - Mr. Natarajan K S Committee Member - Mr. C George Committee Member - Ms. C Saroja Committee Member - Mr. C K Venkatachalaiah Committee Member - Mr. A Swamynath
Over the years, the following have been the Office Bearers of the Club
President (not necessarily in order, as some had multiple terms) Mr. Anil Kumar Lakahni, Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Premnath P S, Mr. Ashok Agrawal, Mr. Prithvinath K G and Mr. Sulaiman Jamal (current)
Vice President (not necessarily in order, as some had multiple terms) Mr. Balram Kandige, Mr. Premnath PS, Mr. Natarajan K S, Mrs. Sabeena Prakash (current)
Hon. Secretary Mr. Premnath P S, Mr. Ravi Kumar C, Mr. Nandagopal, Dr. Ravi Prakash and Mr. Balachandra Yadalam (current)
Hon Treasurer Mr. Eranimos V P, Mr. K C Ashwath (Jt. Treasurer), Mr. Subramani K and CA Subbaiah K P (current)
The Club was largely a hobby club for many years. Some well known collectors who are/were members and contributed to the Club's growth included the Late C Ravikumar, Dharmaadhikari Shri Veerendra Heggade, Dr. Ravi Prakash, Mr. Sulaiman Jamal, The Khodays Group, The UB Group and so on.
Stalwarts like Balram Kandige, C Ravikumar, Raman K S, Natarajan Shetty, Prithvinath K G, Anand Rao, Ganesh Rao, Satyan B K, Papu Ramaswamy, Girish Nayudu brought experience and knowledge to the Club.
Currently, a lot of youngsters are working on their cars themselves, long drives are regularly happening and the Club's functioning is getting more formalized. Interest shown by the youngsters in actively restoring their cars is a very positive sign for the future of the Club.
Over the years KVCCC has conducted and participated in many a rallies and events.
Here are some examples of the contribution of the Club to the Vintage movement in Karnataka.
When my father Prithvinath K G was President, the Club was successful in getting a reduced Life Time Tax structure for Vintage and Classic Cars.
It is important to note that in 1991, to get such tax exemption, the car had be duly certified for genuineness by KVCCC. This was changed in 1993, as the Govt. felt that KVCCC was not a statutory body and it was not in the interest of the public at large, for compulsory certification by KVCCC.
Here is and example of Certification Process follow by KVCCC till the Rule change in 1993
Here is a brochure of a Rally in the 1980's. This was contributed by Kersi Bastawalla
Here are some newspaper clippings from a 1993 Rally
