Vintage and Classic Car Club of Pakistan

VCCCP as the Vintage & Classic Car Club of Pakistan is known started laying its foundation way back in 1979 -1980 when a teenager got immensely interested in certain jewels as he saw them but what others saw as heaps of rusted steel not even fit for scrap. The heaps were actually a couple of old cars, one a 1949 Mercedes Benz SV 170 and a 1920's Daimler Limousine with Sedanca coachwork.

The seeds of passion were sown and that teenager managed to raise Rs.5,000 and bought a 1949 Mercedes which laid the foundation of this club's impressive 150 vintage and classic cars collection. Mohsin Ikram is regarded as the pioneer in introducing the hobby of restoring, driving and collecting classic and vintage cars in Pakistan . Although there were some others as well who had some passion for vintage & classic cars but none as enthusiastic as Mohsin.

After his first car the Mercedes Benz SV 170 which didn't last very long with him as his father objected to his owning the car at such a young age and thought it would affect his studies but soon after he bought a spectacular 1952 model Citroen Traction Avant, the most advanced car of its era which he still owns. This Citroen was his daily transport during college years and till the early years of his married life. He subsequently bought a 1950 Jaguar Mk V, an Austin Healey Sprite 1958 and a MG TD 1950 model. Mohsin currently owns a very rare 1947 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet V12 (ex-King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan's car), a 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible 289 V8, a 1954 Austin Healey 100 convertible, a 1952 Citroen Traction Avant (formerly N.Eduljee Dinshaw's car), a Fiat 500 besides 3 classic motorbikes, two with sidecar outfits. Mohsin has had the honor of being invited as chief judge of two classic car rallies in India . One a 3 day event organized by the Heritage Motoring Club of India', " Delhi to Simla Heritage Drive " in October 2005 and a 'Mumbai Classic Car Fiesta 2006' in February this year organized by "Vinatage & Classic Car Club of India".

In and around 1984, Mohsin's cousin Imad got bitten by this passion and Mohsin got his friend to sell his 1968 Triumph GT 6 (ex-Nawab of Bahawalpur 's car) to him. The car is still with Imad along with an impressive and one of the best collection of classic cars in the country. His stable includes a 1959 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II, a 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible 289 V8, a 1965 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, a pair of Triumphs, GT 6 and a TR 250, an Austin Healey 3000 Mk 1, a Jaguar E-Type series 1 Coupe etc.

In 1986, Jim was passing by a workshop in DHA and stopped to see a classic Jaguar which was being restored by Mohsin. They had a brief chat and Jim went on his way. A few days later, Jim overtook a classic Citroen and saw that it was Mohsin driving it. They both stopped on the road and exchanged numbers more or less laying the foundation of the club. Jim had a passion for cars but started off his hobby with a couple of extremely rare and desirable bikes, a 1942 Indian Chief and a 1949 Harley Davidson 'Hydra Glide'. Mohsin had struck a deal to buy a 1949 Riley Roadster from late Admiral Ahmed Zameer's collection but on Jim's insistence let him buy the car instead. Jim still owns this car and is his pride and joy. This Riley is one of the most beautiful cars around and is extremely rare as only 531 were made. Mohsin and Jim became good friends and formed VCCCP. Jim being the elder of the two, became it's first President and continued till Mohsin took over in 2004.

The club has progressed tremendously in the last couple of years. It launched this website last year which among others also contains very interesting pictures of cars discovered 'as is where is' across Pakistan . Majority of these pictures are the personal collection of Mohsin and he takes offense if anyone downloads these for other websites without his permission.

The most historical car in the club is a 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost formerly Nawab of Bahawalpur's car but now lovingly owned by Karim Chhapara who has brought the car back to its glory by painstaking restoration. This car was used for transporting Quaid-i-Azam and Lord Louis Mountbatten to the now Sindh Assembly building on the 14 th of August 1947 to sign the declaration of Pakistan.