Mumbai, Jun 10 (IANS): In an eye-popper, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde hopped onto a gleaming vintage 1930 Rolls Royce-20/25 open-to-sky car to inaugurate the second phase of the toll-free Mumbai Coastal Road, here on Monday.

Shinde in the front seat, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in the back seat, alighted from their official bullet-proof vehicles to board the roofless vintage steely-grey beauty, to traverse the length of the phase 2 of the MCR.

A highly-priced, well-maintained, and 94-year ageless wonder, the Rolls Royce-20/25 was loaned by its proud owner, Raymonds Group Chairman Gautam Singhania from his personal collection for the big event of the modern-day marvel, MCR, and the three dignitaries drove the entire length during the inauguration, said an official source.

Shinde threw open the south-north arm of the MCR for traffic, which will be allowed from June 11 (Tuesday), which will slash the commute time from Marine Lines to Haji Ali to barely 8 minutes, compared with one hour now.

Roughly 10.5 km long, the first phase of this stretch, the north-south arm from Worli to Marine Lines, along with the twin tunnels, was inaugurated on March 11 and has proved immensely popular with motorists.

Shinde said that the new stretch inaugurated today has been equipped with all the modern amenities and will be a boon as it shall decongest traffic to and from south Mumbai to the northern parts of the city.

The Chief Minister said that the MCR, named after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, will be fully completed (the southern phase) by October and would entail huge savings of time, fuel, and pollution, plus other benefits, besides easing traffic congestion in both directions.