16 March,2018 11:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Shunashir Sen
Nitin Dossa with an award-winning vintage car
Vintage cars can sometimes have a phoenix-like quality, in the sense that they can rise from the ashes. What we mean by this is that all too often, these cars seemingly outlive their utility and are consigned to the junkyard, only for an astute enthusiast to notice their unfulfilled potential and restore them to their former splendor. And that is exactly the case with some of the vehicles that will now be on display at Nehru Science Centre, where a vintage car and motorcycle exhibition will be launched for the public today.
Cars that will be on display at the exhibition
The event is being held under the aegis of Nitin Dossa, executive chairman of Western India Automobile Association (WIAA). He tells us that India is home to some of the best vintage cars that still exist in the world today, because our erstwhile royal families had a habit of importing them to add to their pomp. He adds that the organisers have now made arrangements for schoolchildren to visit the exhibition, in an effort to ensure that future generations have the same sort of drive, literally and figuratively, that present-day collectors have. We pick three of these majestic automobiles that will be exhibited, and tell you a bit about their history.
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Bristol 1946
Dossa tells us that this one is a rare car from England, which the Sapre family found in a junk condition in Andheri. "The owner then restored it with a lot of care and brought it back on the road in just one year. And other vintage enthusiasts were shocked at this feat, because the earlier owner had neglected the car for over 40 years, which is why it had become junk in the first place," he says.
Bentley Mark 6
Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar of the Mysuru royal family considered this car to be his favourite when it was under his ownership, Dossa tells us, which gives credence to the fact that Indian royalty had a significant role to play in the procurement and upkeep of vintage vehicles. "He would use the car regularly," he adds, making us envision how incongruous it would seem in the modern age when a king, dressed in his finery, hit the streets in his grand, old automobile, while commoners lined up on the sides of the roads to catch a glimpse of their patron.
Rolls Royce, Phantom II
This car, manufactured in 1938, also has a regal history. The Patiala royal family owned it and brought it for all their functions, before selling it to a media entrepreneur. But the luxury car company has a more famous - and rather embarrassing - history with a different Indian king, the late Maharaja of Alwar, Jai Singh. Singh had once been strolling around the streets of London dressed casually, when he chanced upon a Rolls Royce showroom and walked in to check out the vehicles there. But the salesmen assumed him to be an Indian of insufficient means, and turned him out with a few insults thrown in. Incensed, Singh went back to his hotel room, called up his servants, and told them to inform the showroom that the Maharaja of Alwar was expected there.
The same salesmen, now excited, prepared themselves for the wealthy visitor, even rolling out a customary red carpet. Singh arrived in due course, this time dressed in regalia, and proceeded to purchase all the six cars on display, with the now fawning salesmen eating the words they had earlier insulted him with. The salt, however, was yet to be added to their injury. For, what Singh did next was transport the vehicles to Alwar and donate it to the municipal corporation, with specific instructions that the cars be used to clean up the city's waste. The news spread. Rolls Royce became a laughing stock in the market. And its executives eventually sent a letter to the Maharaja that was dripping with apology, offering him six more Rolls Royces for free, and presumably also telling the company's salesmen to never judge a book by its cover ever again.
On: March 16 to 31, 10 am to 6 pm
At: Nehru Science Centre, Worli.
Call: 249326670
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