Jewel of India 1999
The first Jewel of India was an epic journey covering 6,500 kilometres, taking a small but beautiful band of classic cars from Mumbai (Bombay) to Madras (Chennai) via Rajasthan. In Rajasthan we visited Udaipur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. The Rally then headed east to Agra and the Taj Mahal before turning south to Kipling country and the jungle camp of Khana. Continuing south we visited Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Madurai, Trichinopolli and Pondicherry before crossing the finishing line.
An exciting event saw Chris and Jill Wray win the Jewel of India Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the best combination of good humour, patience, reliability and Spirit. The 1936 4.5litre Bentley of the Wrays was not as rapid as the Jaguar XK120 of Paul and Mary Kane but its reliability was the deciding factor.
Highlights of the event proved to be the Tiger “hunts” in the forests, the tranquillity of the old English hill station of Ooty, the morning mist over the Taj Mahal, the desert city of Jaisalmer, the Polo match in Jaipur and the exhilaration of driving the shoreline on the Corramandel coast.
 
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