The Shaman Youngtimers' first meet of the year was on April 22, 2018 and saw Autocar India columnist, Perseus Bandrawalla, conduct a session on what makes youngtimer cars both special and collectible.
The presentation by Bandrawalla saw the highest number of participants at a Youngtimers event, yet. The interactive session covered topics on how to go about buying your youngtimer and detailed insights on maintaining, repairing and also restoring your one-time dream car.
He spoke about why youngtimers and modern classics are currently the toast of the collectors’ community and also discussed the distinct character of modern classic cars and what makes them attractive and collectible. This even included how usable they are, even by modern car standards.
The event attracted a large number of youngtimer and modern classic enthusiasts, as well as some of the who’s who of the vintage and classic car community in Mumbai, including VCCCI president Nitin Dossa and eminent collectors like Viveck Goenka, Amal Tanna, Jagdish Thackersey and Dinesh Lal, among others. Well-known vintage car restorer Marespand Dadachanji and India’s fastest female racer, Sneha Sharma, were also in attendance.
Amongst the people in attendance, those who were new to modern and classic cars walked out with more confidence in buying and restoring them. Meanwhile, the vintage and classic car purists left the seminar with thoughts about the credibility of collecting modern classic cars and youngtimers.
Group Shaman, one of the largest automobile dealers in Mumbai, launched Shaman Youngtimers in 2016 as an initiative to engage with owners of cars especially from the 80s and 90s. While Shaman Youngtimers is largely Mercedes-Benz cars focused, attendees also include owners of BMWs and Audis of that era.
Regarding the initiate Group Shaman Managing Director Amar Sheth said, "There is an incredible amount of passion that owners of these 'youngtimers' have for their cars, and we at Shaman Mercedes-Benz Mumbai are really happy to support them in getting to know these cars better, and also help with keeping them going for many more years.”
As parting words, in the closing of his presentation, Perseus Bandrawalla encouraged enthusiasts to buy these cars now, before prices rise as they are currently either at their lowest, or just beginning to rise.
After the event on April 22, Sheth said that he was delighted with the turnout and hopes that the Shaman Youngtimers event gains momentum in the increasingly popular youngtimer movement and we hope to see more of this type of car being rescued, restored and on the road soon.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Dipan Sur
Dhruv Dhaka
Saptarshi Mondal
