Mimi Kapoor Conquers the Himalayas

Our November Vehicle of the Month completes her epic adventure. Earlier this month we introduced you to Mimi Kapoor, our spirited Mini Cooper S, as she set off on a thrilling 10-day adventure through the Classic Himalayan Drive 2025. 🏔️✨ - a rally honouring the legendary 🌄 Nazir Hoosein and 🇮🇳 India's iconic motorsport heritage. 

Well... the adventure is complete - and what a story it has turned out to be. Over the past days, Mimi and her driver Shai took on mountain passes, washed-out Himalayan roads, tigers (well ...almost), altitude, traffic jams, and even festival-delayed customs drama. 

We where lucky to bring you some LIVE and HOT updates as they happened, which you can catch up on here: our social media channels: INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK 🎉 BUT NOW that the dust has settled — quite literally — it’s time to share the full tale from the road - UPDATED STORY AND SNAP SHOTS!

Below is also the unfiltered experience directly from Shai, the man behind the wheel, whose passion and humour captured everything this rally stands for.

A Journey to Remember — From Shai

“It was a nerve-racking start as 13 cars from UK, one from France (a classic Dakar Toyota Land Cruiser) and one from Kenya (a classic Safari Datsun) were held up in customs over the Indian festival of Diwali and endless additional bits of paper that were needed. Anyway, the cars then arrived on three car transporters into Noida - a giant new town next to the capital New Delhi because of clean air legislation our classic cars could not go into Delhi!.

Happily, all the cars started! And with hours to spare we lined up and set off to the first night halt next to Corbett Park, the world’s third oldest conservation park - home to elusive tigers! This was a blast down motorways and hugely amusing to our guests from UK who learnt all about lane (in)discipline!

After the overnight in Ramnagar - and a short, organised safari in the park we started the long drive to Rishikesh - a holy spot which also has river rafting on the Ganges. This drive was also a fast run on the Gangetic plains and so not mountainous yet. But the next day - wow! We started the climb to Mussoorie a famous town during colonial days and a fabulous, restored Hotel - The Savoy. My Mini was set up with raised suspension and hard shock absorbers - so it was perfect for the tarmac drive up. Honestly - you could see me grin from a hundred miles away. The Mini behaved like a Go Kart in terms of handling and with wide and winding tarmac roads - it was a joy! What a car.

Over the two months around September 2025 the part of the Himalayas we were in had been rained on like never before! Small villages had been washed away and much of the glacial moraine had been washed down and acted like sand blasting the banks - causing bits of the road to just disappear. The roads were in horrific condition - with potholes, large cracks, boulders sitting on the road and huge round polished stones strewn everywhere. More than we expected and the cars took a beating. Luckily as I had had new suspension and shocks - we coped - but were beaten up in the car! Next time (always next time) I will consider raised profile tyres as well.

Now we were on the rally roads of the 1980s from which this event was born - aaaah! If it was not for the landslide affected roads - it would have been 100% nicer - but then - we were not going up and down the Motorways in UK - so - it was all part of the challenge and a rather slow 25kph average covering 260 kilometres in 8 to 10 hours depending on your car! In real money that is 140 miles or so! The compensation was when we crossed a ridge at a place called Dhanaulti - there is a restaurant sitting right on top with views of the big Himalayan range in blazon clear sunlight with blue skies. And, not just that - but the Parathas (stuffed breads) with potato, cauliflower, or fenugreek - amazing - the best. It comes with a white butter to spread and pickles and yogurt. A cardiac surgeon's idea of bliss in terms of customer acquisition!!

We then set off to Manali - a mountain tourist resort and saw the most incredible traffic jams! What is going on? It seems that the Indian middle class is growing in numbers and therefore internal tourism has grown, to include visits to snowcapped mountain passes and in more remote locations even skiing. We had to leave our Mini as did other tw wheel drive cars as they were not allowed to the top of Rohtang Pass at 13,000 because the roads had snowy slush and ice. To be honest - those of us who have used two-wheel drive cars in UK on slushy roads could have coped quite easily - but in any case, rules is rules! I had made a hugely embarrassing mistake of lining my offside with the SUV in front when we parked up = only to find I was in the middle of the road when we returned! What a plonker!

Then, that was it for 2025. A long shlep back to the plains and return the cars to the shipping agent and get our flights to various locations. There are some highlights we should talk about.

The organisation of the event was superb, with an App called Virtual Marshall.

The Chairman has built a fabulous team of Clerks of the Course, a full medical back up including an ambulance that ran with the event, flat-bed truck to take stricken cars back, that sadly included the million mile Merc (poor fuel we think) a technical team that got a 4x4 Fiat Panda back up and running for the following morning, a media team and an emergency response team. None of whom were more than half an hour away and attended to us with a smile. Each morning. Amazing.

There were “Apres Rally” events each day and they were so much fun. A whole new blog will be needed for this!! But - just to say thank you as it added so much charm to the event!.

And the grand finale for this blog - the whole bunch of people we met with diverse backgrounds, interests but fully united by the desire for fun, thoroughly passionate about cars, road trips and seeing new places and doing new things!

Would I do it again in the Mini? In a heartbeat!

Watch this pace and if the route is what I think it might be for next year - you HAVE to come!”

As The Classic Himalayan Drive 2025 Comes to a Triumphant Close we salute Mimi, Shai, and everyone who made this incredible journey possible. Her story became one of grit, charm, mechanical bravery, and good old-fashioned Mini spirit.

From washed-out Himalayan roads to the polished tarmac of Mussoorie…
From paratha feasts to mountain traffic jams…
From safari parks to snowy passes…
This rally had it all.

And if Shai’s final words tell us anything:
This is only the beginning. 🚗🏔️✨