Bombay Fiat Club returns to Pune with over hundred vintage Fiats

More than a hundred vintage Fiats arrived from Mumbai and Pune at Radisson Blu, Hinjewadi, Pune for Bombay Fiat Club's annual meet for vintage Fiat enthusiasts, where attendees got to acquaint themselves with and appreciate some of the best examples in the country. Every year, the club trustees and founding members, choose one of the classic Fiat models for felicitating the best example at the showcase. The election of the winner is done via a poll conducted among the members of the club, with no intervention from either the founders or the trustees.

The 2026 edition was dedicated to the Premier Auto Limited (PAL) 118NE and 138D. Naturally, the public showcase had some stupendously restored cars alongside meticulously preserved, bone stock originals. Having said that, the owners had a shared philosophy of, “Cars are meant to be driven, and not to be mere garage queens,” and instead of raising ’brows at the blemishes on their prized possessions, they rather welcomed those imperfections as patina, earned over several decades.

Apart from the cars of the hour, there were also imported Super Selects, with their novel front front-hinged / suicide doors, 1100s and our homegrown Padminis in all shades and specifications imaginable. It felt like a jar of skittles had spilled all over the Radisson premises, with Padminis dipped in vibrant candy paint finishes such as Sunburst orange, Solarbeam yellow, Cobalt blue metallic, Cherry red, Seaweed green metallic as well as a recreation of Verde Scandal as a cheeky nod to the bright green colour, popularised by the Lamborghini Miura.

Also present was a fairly original Premier Padmini Starline Safari, donning a two-tone paint scheme, sparkling silver and pearl black as a base colour. Circling back to the 118NE, there was a particular example which was retrofitted with parts and branding to emulate a Lada 2107, a Russian derivative of the Fiat 124 sedan.

All the cars present at the meet were felicitated with medals and certificates of participation, but only a close to pristine condition, Ivory white 118NE owned by Neeraj Rittikar, took home the halo trophy which was in fact an heirloom that originally belonged to the grandfather of Sambit Patnaik, Founder, Bombay Fiat Club. Patnaik is a qualified surgeon by profession and a Fiat enthu-cutlet by heart. He carries the legacy of his family forward by way of BFC, which unlike many gatekept communities is famously very inclusive and imposes no membership fees or participation fees, letting him to incubate an unbridled environment for those who live and breathe classic Fiats.

The winner of the 118NE class, Neeraj had taken his NE from Pune, all the way to Ladakh and had completed the journey entirely under his NE’s power as he had sworn that his Fiat won’t have to see the sight of a flatbed. Despite some setbacks from a burst fuel line, Neeraj didn’t yield and carried overnight repairs and successfully got his 118NE back in the game, even waded through flooded roads without any hiccups. The event concluded with the classics lining up to roll out, making their way back to the club’s namesake, the present-day Bombay.