[ajmat]

After Rajeev's visit (link to his report), a trip to this museum was on my mind. Fate intervened when a cousin whom we were losing hope on getting married, (sounds like someone else we know) did the deed. I had packed my SLR with the Museum in mind, After a slap up lunch at the Kerala club, it was a great opportunity to spend time till the evening reception. After wondering about taking an Uber, I drove and parked outside the museum (this is Coimbatore, not Bangalore!)

You pay your humble Rs 50. This is used more for staff upkeep and lighting methinks! One walks down a long tunnel (actually a ramp) into the basement of the building. As I was the only visitor at the time. The lights suddenly were swtiched on. MY ticket was examined and I was alllowed the run of the place along with instructions not to touch the cars.


You are greeted with posters and pictures of the evolution of the wheel and the automobile. You then are greeted by a replica 1890 Benz



This is not a replica from the Mercedes factory (there is one with the Bangalore Mercedes dealer). This was created by the UMS technologies apprenticies.



You only realise the talent and precision that this group has when you examine the working replica engines and components as shown below

[ajmat]

Key unique cars as deemed by the Museum

Once you enter, you are greeted by what they call the 5 most unique cars ever built



I missed out the Model T Ford but the ubiquitous VW Beetle (yet another in boring Herbie livery). Car in good condition except for the wipers parked the wrong way.


VW Type 2 cutaway. This car was in the Nilgiris for a long time. It was abandoned next to the Stanes Garage in Ooty for a long time





Citroen 2CV on UK plates





Fiat 500




Mini circa 1970

[ajmat]

We then move on to the British cars

Bull Nose Morris Oxford



Morris 8 (my Dad's first car!)



Austin 7


Austin 8


Austin Sheerline - on loan from K Santhanan


Wolseley 8 (note it is a badge engineered Morris 8)


Ford Cortina Mark 4 (although the posters harp about the Mark 1 - if I am right, this is an ex UK High Commission car - they imported loads of these back in the 80's


Ford E83W Van . Koshys bakery in Bangalore had one of these, I wonder what happened to it!

[ajmat]

Rolls Royce

GD Naidu had an obession about how Rolls Royces were engineered. He even spent 3 days in the factory understanding the manufacturing process. He bought the Rolls Royce 20 aand kept opening it up to teach students about the construction methods. He actually went all the way to discard the body and retain the chassis for teaching purposes

[ajmat]

Micro and Mini cars

Messerschmidt Bubble Car



Goggomobile



A Mini van with botched up windows added



DKW F7



BMW 700



Hanomag - this was for sale for a ridiculous price. This was discussed here (Classic Cars available for purchase)





Note the "original" patina on these cars. Hope they get restored. I also missed out on the Hansa parked next them

[ajmat]

The American Collection - The placards list all their details

[ajmat]

The Cadillac Collection

The Cadillacs are modern stuff. The stretch limo was sitting gathering dust in Trivandrum. Again, you heard about it here (Trivandrum - Workshop Scam Alert). Am not sure if it actually works or if the papers are Kosher. The paint has plenty of swirls which would distract Vid6339 for life. I think the white Cadillac is an ex-Sanjay Khan one

[ajmat]

The Few Germans

The Merc 170D was gifted to G D Naidu and used by him in Germany. It was one of his favourite cars







BMW 528i E28 - This was a gifted by K Santhanan. Car has been well used and has the odd scuff. Wish I could have picked this up if it had been on the market. It would have been a classic beater car!

[ajmat]

The French

Call it the Pondicherry effect but Tamil Nadu loves French cars. A lot of Peugeots were sold in TN. Just go to OLX and you will see.

Citroen Dyane



Citroen XM - this car was on sale in Auto India. I had my eye on it but no money. It belongs to the LGB group who gifted it to the museum


Peugeot 504 -a n old favourite - This was donated by an MP



Peugeot 604 - now a very rare car. A lot of them rusted away or were starved for parts. Again, these were popular with the mill owners in Coimbatore. Based on the 504, it even uses the same doors

[ajmat]

A few Japanese and ECO cars

Toyota Sera


Mazda RX8 - I think this has odd paperwork as it was for sale for a long time,


Subaru Rex

[ajmat]

Here come the Indians



This is supposed to be V Sumantran's personal car (they made it out as if he was the father of the Nano)





Some of Coimbatores finest creations for the track

[ajmat]

The Crown Jewel of the Collection - The Hispano Suiza



All in all, an afternoon well spent. The cars are not all totally pristine but again maintaining such a collection whilst collecting very nominal fees means one cannot expect too much. It is a wonderful testament to GD Naidu's passion for cars and engineering

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Classic Car Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Coplay]

Wow. Having lived in Coimbatore for almost 6 years and not knowing this museum existed, I feel dumb.
Maybe sometime soon.
Thanks for sharing. Such wonderfully crafted and engineered vehicles.

[ShashankSRS]

I did my Automotive Service Course in GTTI. Course was on understanding most of the mechanical parts of the vehicle, dismantling and assembly, etc. Since we did the course there, we were taken on a tour inside the museum. This place is a Treasure in the basement. Amazing collections for display. G. D. Naidu was a hardcore Automotive head, hence so many items on display and the VW Group Training Centre association with GTTI.