No one could really compete with the gleam on these lovingly polished vintage automatives, but with a star-studded guest-list like this one, it was a close contest. Every year, Cartier brings together a collection of magnificent machines and the people who love them for the Concours d’Elegance, French for ‘competition of the elegant’. The fourth edition in India was held at the Jaipur Polo Grounds, New Delhi on March 14.
These positively aristocratic cars and bikes are judged by the quality and authenticity of restoration they have gone through. The humans at the event, on the other hand, were judged by the ease of their style, the weight of their lineage and, in some cases, the personality of their hats.
The event meandered over lunch and high tea, attended by royalty, both Indian and British, industrialists, socialites, models, and the most prolific Indian collectors of vintage cars and motorcycles. British TV presenter Alan de Cadenet hosted the awards ceremony and the event was curated by one of the country’s leading experts on classic automobiles, Manvendra Singh Barwani.
