Barons Jaguar MkV

 And they're off...

Sunday March 18, 2001

During his first day on the road, Jo is struck by the parched countryside along the route, and slightly overwhelmed by the attention which the Jaguar received.

Here we go! All 15 cars left Udaipur this morning on the first leg of our 6,000km journey. The Maharana of Udaipur waved off the cars from the City Palace, and throngs of locals lined the roads to watch the spectacle and wish us luck. Within minutes we were heading into the countryside and away from all the noise and pollution of the city centre.

Everyone we passed along the roads waved and smiled at us, and when we stopped for petrol along the route we were surrounded by hundreds of people, ranging from beggars holding babies to teenagers wanting to know our names and test their English. After a while it became quite intimidating, and made me think how claustrophobic it must be to be famous and constantly recognised.

The fields which border the roads are very dry at the moment - there hasn't been a proper monsoon for more than three years - but while the scenery is dominated by muted browns, the womens' saris light up the countryside. Whether they are building roads or tending to their children, the women invariably dress in the brightest oranges, greens, lilacs and pinks. It's a fantastic sight.

While all the cars made it the 90 miles to Dungapur, our average speed was only around 25mph. In places the roads are potholed, and we constantly have to look out for sleeping policemen, designed to slow lorries , which can do serious damage if hit at speed. Luckily, when we stopped for lunch, we noticed that one of the wheels on our Jaguar had come loose - it would have fallen off if we hadn't spotted it in time.

We are staying the night at Udai Bilas Palace at Dungarpur, which has the stuffed head of hundreds of tigers, lions, bears and antelope adorning the walls and lying on the floor. It combines a faded charm with a great view over what is left of Gaidsagar Lake.

Tomorrow we leave very early to cover the 350 miles to Bhopal.

Things that go bump

Monday March 19, 2001

Although Jo and his Jaguar team survive the second day of the rally without sustaining any injuries, a number of his fellow drivers aren't so lucky.....

Despite spending a gruelling 18 hours on the second leg of the rally, we covered a mere 350 miles from Dungapur to Bhopal. Around 40 miles of the journey were spent on roads which had all but disappeared. It was like driving through a quary where the sound of our sump guard bottoming out was the background to the day. Many of the cars sustained some damage on the extremely bumpy surface. Most serious was that suffered by the 4.5 Litre Bentley driven by Robert Ashworth, which caught fire after the battery broke loose. Luckily, the team mechanic was travelling behind and managed to save it from destruction. He also sustained other damage and was the last to roll in after over 20 hours on the road, looking battered and exhausted. Among the other cars that took a heavy toll were the low-slung  MG, which had its whole underside repeatedly battered, and the Rover P5B Coupe, which overheated on several occasions.

Another accident occured when Christopher Ray of lighting fame knocked down a pedestrian who walked in front of his car. Luckily she wasn't injured at all, and the enormous crowd that quickly gathered at the scene were friendly and waved him on. Two of the cars were also involved in minor crashes with three-wheel auto-rickshaws.

The journey through the Indian countryside was a real joy, the highlight being a meeting with an entire nomadic tribe and their enormous herds of sheep, on the move together to new pasture lands. It took us about 20 minutes to wade slowly through all the animals. Halfway down the line were the camels, laden with all the tribe's possessions (the beds had been converted into seats for the duration of the journey), and right at the end was a group of women and children herding all the little lambs.

Because this journey was so much longer than expected, the final section took place at night. Even with the new Ciba driving lights the experience was a scary one because many of the lorries, rickshaws,  don't have any lights, and those that do have them constantly switched to full beam, effectively blinding the oncoming traffic. Fortunately for me, however, I passed the evening in the front seat of an open-top Bentley. Staring up at the star-filled sky while being driven along in such a beautiful old car was a wonderful feeling.

Tomorrow we need to cover about 160 miles to the old British hill station of Pachmari.

Green and pleasant

Tuesday March 20, 2001

We finally left the dusty plains behind and headed for the hills, where the dry earth gave way to cornfields and green grass. The parched riverbeds were replaced by flowing water, and for the first time we saw sprinklers in some of the fields. Alongside water comes wealth, and not only were the houses better built, but many had their own courtyards which were kept spotlessly clean.

After the harrowing 20-hour journey to Bhopal Pete, our team mechanic, had declared the Mk5 fit and well with some impressive scars on the underbody shield that JD Classics had so carefully fitted. There was no repeat of the awful roads on this stretch. Even at best, however, the country lanes are very uneven and look like patchwork quilts due to the thousands of repairs they have undergone to keep them from disintegrating. This meant that we were limited to a maximum speed of around 40mph, and in many places are obliged to go much more slowly. It's punishing on the car, and some have already broken down, but whenever that happens an Indian mechanic is never more than a few minutes away.

Dealing with old trucks and other ancient vehicles is their livelihood, so these mechanics are the perfect people to keep vintage cars on the road. If parts are needed, they disappear off to the local bazaar and return miraculously within minutes, either bearing the right piece of equipment or having found someone to replicate the broken part - and all for the equivalent of a few pence. Bob Ashworth's Bentley broke down five miles outside the nearest town, but soon afterwards the owner of a local garage drove past, stopped, located the fault, went into town to find a specific bolt, put the car back together, and would not accept any money for the service. "It is an honour to assist you," he said. This is all a far cry from the situation in England, where it could take weeks - and possibly hundreds of pounds - to locate the right part for a classic car and have it fitted.

The final part of the journey to Pachmarhi, one of the former British hill stations, was an exhilarating  drive that took us up to a height of 1,000m through lush forests and through plenty of hairpin bends. The suspension had not yet collapsed and the mountain roads suited the Jaguar and we made great progress.

 

Tomorrow we head to Khana National Park.

 

In the jungle

Wednesday March 21, 2001

Not content with classic cars, the group take a day's break from the road and find an alternative mode of transport to take them into the heart of Kipling country

Today we headed for Khana National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh which, with one of the highest concentrations of tigers in India, was the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories.

At dawn we went on safari in the reserve. After a night of heavy rain, the air was fresh and heavily scented with the flowers of mango trees. As we headed down a steep hill, the sun was just beginning to rise and cast its light over the mist-shrouded trees. The park is a real delight, and within minutes we had seen Indian bison, monkeys, deer and many varieties of birds, from the golden woodpecker and white-crested kingfisher to the crested serpent eagle and several vultures. But what everyone wanted to see were the tigers in the wild - and we were not disappointed.

In the early morning, trackers go out into the jungle to find the tigers, and then tourists are able to mount elephants and go through the jungle to the site where they have been seen. Despite their size, the elephants walk virtually noiselessly through the undergrowth, and they have an entrancing, rhythmic quality to their movements. We were led up the side of a steep hill, and then suddenly, directly in front of us, lay a tiger with its kill - an antelope. We were able to move to within a few feet of it before it turned and growled at us.

We are staying at the Kipling Camp, home to Tara, the 40-year-old elephant made famous by Mark Shand's book, Travels with my Elephant. After Mark had taken her 750 miles across India to the Sonepur Mela, the world's oldest elephant market, she was brought to Kipling Camp. In the afternoon after we had spent the day giving NKN 325 a well deserved service we took Tara down to the local river and swam with her, and then scrubbed her down. It was a privilege to spend time with this gentle giant.

Tomorrow we head towards Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India.

The going gets tough

Friday March 23, 2001

Although the contestants expected their time in Varanasi to be one of the high points of the trip, events take a sudden downturn when several cars are damaged and one of the drivers finds himself in court.

Rebellion broke out in the ranks of contestants of the Jewel of India today after the organisers route forced the cars to go down roads that even a four wheel drive vehicles would find challenging. After the difficult journey to Bhopal on the second day of the rally, we had been told that the roads would improve significantly, but the journey to Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India, was even worse. We were promised a journey of just six and a half hours, but the roads were so awful that we were unable to reach Varanasi  that day.

The two  Jaguars and the MG, found the going particularly tough because they sit relatively low and cannot cope with the deeply pitted roads. For about 30 miles today, the roads was non-existent and were littered with lorries that had themselves been unable to negotiate the roads and had broken down. 5 miles an hour over rocks and through rivers where bridges had collapsed is certainly testing on any car and it was here that the front suspension settled happily to a new low about 4 inches above the road.

Visiting the ghats in Varanasi, where worshippers come to bathe in the Ganges and where the dead are cremated and their remains tipped into the river, is the highlight of any tour to India. Thousands of Indians come to Varnasi to die because they believe that they will reach instant enlightenment and will not be forced to carry on the cycle of birth and death.