Vintage cars present on display

Some things look better with age and Ashvek Vintage World (AVW) – Goa’s first and only vintage car museum- bears testimony to that.

Setup in July 2004, AVW completes four years of successful operations today. The brainchild of Mr. Pradeep V. Naik, it was started to spread awareness about vintage cars amongst the youth. “AVW will serve as education. There is an urgent need to preserve motoring treasures for posterity”, he says. He burns with the passion of inculcating a love and respect for these old beauties which he feels has withered away due to neglect.

Ashvek Vintage World takes up restoration and preservation of vintage cars, and has restored classics such as a 1931Peugeot, a 1948Chevrolet Fleet Master, a rare two-engine Vandall tempo, a 1961Datsun Fairlady, Morris 8 and 1939Mercedes 170 which are currently on display. Some of the cars restored here are in excellent working condition and can be hired out for weddings, movie shoots or simply for joy rides. The money sourced from this is reinvested in maintaining new and existing cars. AVW is also a pioneer in organizing vintage car rallies in Goa with four already under its belt which include the Volkswagen Rally and the IFFI Rally.

They also undertake restoration of vintage cars belonging to other owners. A 1928 Ford belonging to Mr. Rauraje Deshprabhu of Pernem, as well as an attractive Austin belonging to Jaywant Chowgule are just some of the vehicles that have been restored here.

Usually held with much pomp and grandeur, there has been no celebrations to mark its fourth anniversary as Pradeep is currently in USA with Mr. Emerico Gracias, a vintage car collector from Goa, touring car museums. The Hershey Museum and the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit are some of the stops on the tour.

AVW also serves as a great location for parties and get-togethers with a well equipped hall on the first floor.

Article by Siddharth Manerkar.