Amid a throng of dazzled onlookers, rally director Conrad Birch and John Brigden, in their 1972 MGB Roadstar, and Paul Kane -- the most experienced in the group -- in his crimson 1954 Jaguar, were the first to pull up in front of the Heritage hotel's front door a full four hours behind schedule.

Out of the 10 vintage cars in the rally, only four -- the others being Stephen and Barbara Jones in their 1964 MGB Roadstar and John Birch in a 1965 Volvo Amazon -- arrived at the resort for the first night halt of the 6,400-km tour, which will cover most of mainland India in 25 days before it ends at Chennai on February 17.

Six other participants, including the lone Indian -- Pramod Talera of Pune in his Ford -- got stuck in the highway traffic and had to spend the night at a hotel in Surat. A broken throttle of the Alfa Romeo SZ (1962) driven by Robert-Jan Fetener van Vlissingen prevented them from getting beyond Surat.

A thrilled Conrad Birch said on arrival that the drive from Mumbai was ``hard but very exciting'' through the ``hills of the Western Ghats and then through the busy highway traffic''.

All cars in the rally are pre-1974 made but in Rajpipla the blood-red Jagaur was the cynosure as all and sundry posed to be snapped with it. Its proud owner Paul Kane said it was a ``long, hard day. We started in the mountain roads and then got on the highway. Along the way I broke a throttle linkage and it took about 45 minutes to fix it up''.

The 52-year-old painter from England, who was born and spent most of his life in the US, has been participating in car rallies for the past 10 years and loves old cars. ``I love to own and drive old cars, they have more character than new cars,'' said Kane who owns, besides his 1954 Jaguar, a 1966 Jaguar, two Porsche machines (1957 and 1965) and a 1966 Mustang.

All cars in the non-competitive rally are pre-1974 made and will travel in convoy from here to Dungarpur in Rajasthan and onwards to Dungarpur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Kanha National Park, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore Mysore, Ooty, Trichi and Pondicherry before they reach Chennai.

Birch said he selected India for this rally, supported by the Vintage and Classic Car Club of India and the Western India Automobile Association, not only because he has been associated with the country for 15 years but also because ``India is a very large country, you can motor the entire rally in one country, there is great diversity, almost everything you need''.

He said, ``today whenever we had a problem and had to stop, people were so incredibly helpful, forthcoming and obiging'' and that the rally would be a very good experience for all the participants.

The Jewel of India prize will be given to the person exhibiting the most ``sporting behaviour''.