Thanks for the clarification suren & speedy. Wow, that does sound convenient!
And now here's a very original 1-owner mk1 I know of here, which I totally forgot to mention until now!
The owner (who is nearing 80!) has had it since day 1, having bought it new in 1964 in Bangalore, where he was working for HMT. Then he got transferred to Hyderabad in the 60s where the car was re-registered with an APF regn. Then he got promoted to GM and again transferred to bangalore in the 80s where it got re-registered again as CAN 1525!
Then finally on retiring he moved back to Hyd. in 1989 following which the car finally got its current regn.!
He doesnt use the car anymore, except for driving it out (with the help of an acquainted mechanic) to renew its pollution test regularly!
He does have it washed and start it up once a week so the battery doesnt go down and the car doesnt deteriorate. He did say it has some problem with the clutch though.
This is one complete, "unmolested" car, barring the rust along the door bottoms (I hope they get attention soon!) the dashboard, which has been replaced with a locally made decolum one with later guages, and the seats also have been slightly "upgraded" to be more of creature comforts, probably for his age! Check out those lovely jalwa type horns btw!
Also the original plain hubcaps of the car are actually kept safe in the boot! I'd seen it with those on (also the wheels were in the original cream colour) when I first saw this car back in 2005.
The owner, who lives alone in his house with his wife, currently runs a charitable trust society in his home. He doesnt want to ever part with the car as long as he lives. However, much as he loves his car, it seems that his inevitable senility is slowly but steadily getting the better of him. He told me on my last visit to him recently, that he plans to leave his entire property to his trust after he's- you know-, and (to my shock!) that INCLUDES THE CAR!
I tried to reason with him saying that whoever runs the trust after him would have no use or regard for it as he does, and he himself agreed to it! He said "yes, they may sell it off"...."may?" "will" is the right word, and no doubt as to how they'd sell it!
:sigh:
Still, considering that he now considers me quite close to him, I "might" be able to persuade him to change his mind, not too soon, but someday!
For the time being, I'm just content that the car is where it is!