Emotions are an invisible but essential component of any classic or vintage machine. It was about time someone made them visible, right? Ready to go on a Joyride?

Once upon a time, I wrote extensively about classic and vintage cars. Most of the features I wrote made the car the hero, as I exclusively focused on it rather than its provenance or its ownership, which was inevitably a passing mention.

- by SRINIVAS KRISHNAN

The idea was to celebrate the automobile and place it in its historic context, and importantly, drive it to understand what made it different and special. Some of the cars I featured include the Beetle, Mini, Citroen 2CV, Fiat 500 and 600, Jaguar SS100 and E-Type, a host of incredible Mercedes-Benz automobiles including the Type K, Nurburg, the 300 SL Gullwing and Roadster, the Pontoon, the Pagoda SL, W123, W124, W140, Porsche 356, ultra-rare ones like the Bristol 400, Invicta Black Prince and an S-Type Low-Chassis, and Detroit Iron like the Corvette, Mustang, Cadillacs... And of course, numerous, mind-numbing Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. Phew. Should have written a little encyclopedia when I had the energy. Anyway, a major chunk of the cars I featured were part of large collections of big-shot owners, which was good, because I could focus only on the car and didn't have the owner hovering around nervously with me in the driver's seat. Many cars, many articles — memorable ones too... But you know what, not many stories!