[vinay kamath]

Deccan Herald 07-10-2015

Car designer Sudhakar Yadav with a large stationary car, modelled on the 1922 Ford Tourer, at the Sudha Cars Museum in Hyderabad on Tuesday. AFP

[vinay kamath]

majestic 'Times of India' photos of KVCCC rally

[vinay kamath]

" The House Of Cars "

Deccan Herald 13-10-2015

After his father’s demise, the Ambassador his father owned was lying untouched and one day he got rid of it. But childhood memories die hard and he regretted his decision. He went on looking for the same model of the Ambassador and his search brought him to the ‘bulldog’ — the 1942 Morris E Series. The adventurous trip to Tirupati in this car with his father came rushing back to his mind and he bought it that very instant. This car created in him a passion for age-old cars. He now owns a fleet of 34 vintage and classic cars along with some sturdy classic bikes!

The 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster, 1946 Desoto, 1984 Volkswagen Van, 1956 Millecento Fiat, 1932 Austin 6, 1982 Beetle, 1962 Morris Woody, 1952 Mercedes Benz 220, 1982 Land Rover, 1952 Landmaster, 1964 Ambassador, 1962 Volkswagen Bug...his garage is a home for timeless beauties. Parked along these beastly and chic beauties are also the age-old bikes including the 1984 Chetak, 1984 Yezdi Roadking, 1956 Java and the list goes on! All maintained in top-notch condition, it is the vintage bug that is passed on over generations, which is alive even in his son Arjun. Says Arjun, “I do share his passion and it is a love for cars. I have also spent my childhood, like my father, with these cars and childhood interests grow. They are all part of our family now.”

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ouse-cars.html

[vinay kamath]

The green old lady

Prajna GR Oct 20, 2015, DHNS
Dependable and sturdy, the 1929 Ford Model A is the sparkle of GB Patankar’s life. A retired senior vice-president of Sienens, Patankar is a self-proclaimed golf addict who also has an unconditional love for old cars, especially his 86-year-old Ford A.

This green beauty, which was the best-selling car of the 1930s, has a hand throttle (hand accelerator) that sounds like the steam carriages of a bygone era. A non-polluting vehicle, she has a vintage hand horn along with a jarring horn


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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...-old-lady.html

[vinay kamath]

Sunshine down the streets

Tini Sara Anien , Bengaluru: Oct 27, 2015, DHNS:
Most vintage cars have a story to tell and an impressive one at that. In a charming house on Cubbon Road lies a canary yellow 1929 Ford Coupe that has an interesting story behind it. This four-cylinder vintage machine of 24 horse power was bought by Jagan Muthanna in 1973.

“My grandmother gifted a similar looking Coupe (in green) to my father and his brother after they graduated. This was in 1929 during the British Rule. My uncle kept the car thanks to his love for history.

to enjoy the complete article,
”http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...n-streets.html

[vinay kamath]

Recreating the World's first car - Times of India 01-11-2015


[SIZE=3][COLOR=#6611cc]Recreating the world's first car[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR=#808080]Times of India‎ [/COLOR]
But the task of redesigning the world's first car was not easy. "We didn't have the liberty to alter the design or specifications,'' says N Ramaraj, ...
Times of India




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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...w/49612016.cms

[vinay kamath]

A date with the grand old lady

Prajna GR Nov 3, 2015, DHNS

Srinand Piedpet’s father was a doctor, who quit his medical career to pursue the passion of collecting and restoring old hand clocks and other antiques. The breeze of antiquity blew on Srinand too, a business man who takes immense interest in cars that ruled the bygone years.

He often watched the vintage car rallies in the City and every time he was there, his fondness for old cars kept growing. The old beauties in the rallies were captivating and he craved, for almost 15 years, to have one of these in his backyard. The wait was worth it and soon, he found the 1952 Morris Minor.

“I wanted to own a Morris Minor for a long time as my father had one. But it was tough to find one in the whole skew of things. Four years back, my friend informed me about the Morris Minor in one of the garages in Indiranagar and I immediately bought it,” says Srinand. Broken doors, traces of rust on the body, missing upholstery and broken floor; it was only after three years that this car started shining like a clear sky and the engine throttled like a blast from the past. “It took me three years to restore this car as I did not know much about the restoration process. I found a mechanic through my friend and worked with him during my free time. It was a tough job and has taken me a lot of learning to reach so far,” he says. The sky-blue beauty now beams with pride with all its parts recreated as per original specifications.

The best selling car for sometime in Britain, Morris Minor might not fall under the elite category of vintage cars. But to Srinand, this car is very special ..(continued)

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...-old-lady.html

[travancore]

Chevrolet Six, 1930

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The lady with a legacy

Nina C George, Bengaluru: Nov 10, 2015, DHNS:
As a young boy, Javeed Mehkri would watch his father spend hours with his favourite car — a 1950 model of Morris Oxford, better known in India as the Hindustan 14. Javeed not only learnt about the car and its mechanics but thoroughly enjoyed the drive in it to and from school.

The passion for the Morris Oxford is living on through four generations with Javeed now transferring the ownership of the car to his 22-year-old son Junaid Mehkri. Junaid shares as much passion for the classic beauty as his father.

The car has an interesting history to it and Javeed gets nostalgic when he settles down to talk about it. Javeed says, “My grandfather, AK Mehkri, purchased it. He was working as the superintendent of engineering in the Shimsha hydro-electric station in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. The car was initially registered and used in Mysore for three years, after which my great grandfather moved to Bengaluru. The car has been with us since,” explains Javeed.

to enjoy the complete article ,
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...dy-legacy.html

[vinay kamath]

The English beauty

Prajna GR, Nov 17, 2015, DHNS:

A neurosurgeon, Dr Ashoka Vardhan is also an enthusiastic rider who has trailed around the country on his two-wheeler. With an ever-green passion for riding, it was in New York that he was introduced to many antique machines at a vintage car exhibition.

New Yorkers dressed in retro style and driving around in some royal-looking vehicles — his interest was triggered and that fascination never left him. A curious cat, he learnt the merit of these machines and instantly wished to own one some day. Later, on moving to India, he joined the Shaym Hospital and Research Centre in Kolar Gold Fields, where he was fortunate enough to meet his interest again.

to enjoy the complete article,
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...sh-beauty.html

[vinay kamath]

Deccan Herald 24-11-2015
Kicking up a childhood passion

Nina C George Nov 24, 2015, DHNS

Rajesh Nair remembers that as a child, he never broke his toy cars or bikes. Instead, he would dismantle them only to reassemble them again.

The habit of creating something new from spare parts lying around the house has stayed with him. A designer of home audio theatre systems, Rajesh now collects and restores vintage and classic bikes.

His passion for bikes started during his college days. “Like every college-goer, I too wanted a bike but I somehow never liked any of the modern machines. Instead, everything classic caught my eye and this is how I made my first big purchase — a 1951 model Matchless G3L 350 cc,” he narrates.

Rajesh vividly recalls having bought a 1962 model, twin cylinder Norton Atlas 750 cc in parts. “I was so eager to see it run that I assembled it and rode it for 18,000 km in total, over the last three years. This distance included one of my bike expeditions to Ladakh,” he says. He also owns a 1965 model Norton 750cc Scrambler, which is yet to be assembled. He hopes to take it up for restoration sometime next year.
read more at
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ssion.html#top

[vinay kamath]

"On a power-packed mode"
Nina C George Dec 1, 2015, DHNS

There’s a glitter in his eyes and pride in his voice when 26-year-old Arjun Prabhakar asserts that he has literally earned his collection of a dozen vintage and classic bikes. “My father saw that I was genuinely interested in not only collecting but preserving vintage and classic bikes. So, he gifted me a bike every year, depending on my academic performance,” Arjun says. It was indeed an offer that he couldn’t resist. “I worked really hard and it is my academic excellence, year after year, that earned me my collection of bikes,” he elaborates.

Like any other 16-year-old, Arjun was drawn to bikes not only because of their speed and strength but also their rich history. This young man prefers to call himself a “complete biker”. The description seems apt for someone who has travelled to Ladakh twice on a bike, to Rajasthan and won umpteen trophies in over 30 races, until an accident applied brakes to his riding. “Even if I can’t ride them as much as I used to, my love for them still remain. I have three bikes parked in my bedroom. Among them, the Yamaha RD350 is something that I have to wake up to and see every morning,”
to read the full article,
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...cked-mode.html

[vinay kamath]

"Basking in the summer of life"
Deccan Herald 3-12-2015

This photograph was taken sometime in the 1970s during our family picnic to Nandi Hills. There were a lot of outings then and all of us never missed a chance to have a family outing as it was filled with fun and frolic. During the picnics, our Ambassador cars were parked leaving a triangular space in the centre, where we used to make tea and coffee. We would then sit around and relish the food. Skimming pebbles was our favourite pastime. My son late Ramesh and nephew Mohan were called upon for everything from driving to looking after the younger ones. The roads were much calmer then when compared to today. It was in the summer of 1953 that we moved to our current residence on Kengal Hanumanthiah Road or famously known as Double Road, the first such road to come up in Bengaluru. Funnily enough the place was called monkey tope, civil station. It was a big joint family. Three families lived together in harmony with a little bit of 'nok-jhok'. Those days Double Road seemed like a long stretch of road, primarily because it was almost deserted. We feared coming out of our home after six o clock. We were quite self-contained, with a couple of cattle heads and a few of us were asked to make curds, buttermilk and butter. The house was on a fairly big plot and we had many trees and plants. Soon after, we planted a wide variety of fruit bearing trees. For some reason, everything was in pairs - two mango trees, two chikoo trees, two guava trees, two jackfruit trees (they are the only ones which have survived the onslaught of time), gooseberries and many more.

As the plants grew into trees, each of the families was getting extended and that is when slowly things started disintegrating. Despite the prosperity, differences arose as time went by. One family left within a few years, while the other two stayed on a little longer. Then it was the turn of another family moving out, they moved up the road, opposite the present BMTC bus stand. The kids would walk it up to their cousins' house in five minutes. And during the rainy seasons, the favourite pastime was watching the rain-choked road. The children would stand there taking bets on which vehicle would get stuck. Bad sport maybe, but no harm done.

Then it was just our family. There have been mixed moments all these years, but Double Road has transformed like anything and it is so difficult to cross the road now. There are fond memories of the deserted road and the peace and the quiet.

The only noise used to be from the kids who played cricket with fielders across the road. Their favourite pastime was climbing trees. The children played tag on the trees. They called the game 'Mar koti'. I guess the competition between the two families made the games that much more interesting.

Living on a VIP road had its advantages. We got to see so many VIPs as they headed to Lalbagh. We saw Queen Elizabeth II as she sat on a ceremonial chair atop a horse-driven carriage. She was so very beautiful. Much later we got to see Pandit Nehru and then Indira Gandhi, both of whom had an aura of sophistication and power. The roads would be all spruced up. The corporation workers and officials would descend early morning no matter what time the motorcade would pass. We would rush through the cooking and house work and come out neatly dressed. Much camaraderie would happen in the neighbourhood, even across the road! The cops would start clearing the roads, going whistle-happy, rushing the few vehicles off the road. As the VIP motorcade moved closer, the excitement of seeing them up so close had its own thrill. All of us, irrespective of age and gender, would wave at the VIPs with much gusto.

The pilot cars would make us crane our necks towards the beginning of the road. The VIP would be in one of the open-hooded cars (Impalas, Plymouths) and the kids would count the number of cars that formed the motorcade. It was some kind of a major activity waiting to see a VIP pass and it kept all of us occupied and in good neighbourly banter. The kids would sit in the compound for longer, hoping there would be some more action, while the women of the house would get back to their chores.

Thanks to Lalbagh, we got to see the VIPs so close. But for us Lalbagh always held some charm. An early morning walk to the hillock was a must for my husband.

The kids would jog along in the cool dawn air. Bicycles were the norm and there were hardly any motorised vehicles, so there was no pollution! They would climb up the hillock and do some exercises below the Kempegowda tower. Tired, they would head straight for the main gate and the famous MTR.

Early in the morning, my husband and his group of friends had a table reserved for them at this crowded joint, and when the kids went, they too were accommodated. Masala dosa and by-two coffee was their all-time favourite. After the sumptuous breakfast, the walk back home seemed to take forever. As the kids turned into their teens and adult years, Double Road too transformed rapidly, becoming a fully commercial place. It was time for us to follow.

The trees were hacked and the bank building came up, kids moved on and some stayed. I stay alone with my children stopping by often. But it's an empty nest nevertheless. Guess, I shouldn't crib. They are all there when I need them, yet I have my space - on Double Road.

Gangu Bai

(The author can be contacted on nimsrao@gmail.com)

[vinay kamath]

" A way with the wheels "
Prajna GR Dec 8, 2015, DHNS

Wolseley, Herald, Ambassador, Fiat, Austins — Sheshi Gundu Rao’s childhood was a ‘polished’ one as he grew up with these sophisticated beauties

However, in 2001, when he returned to India, he wanted to convert some of these miniature machines to real wheels. This longing of owning one of the vintage cars was fulfilled when he saw an advertisement in a newspaper. “The 1934 Austin 7 was for sale and I did not think twice. Luckily, the person who sold this car to me brought along a mechanic who was well-versed in repairing these machines. This was my first tryst with a vintage machine and I have learnt a lot about them through my passion,” he says. He also owns the 1938 Morris Tourer, which he bought from the same person. “The guy who sold the Austin became a close friend of mine and he happened to sell me the Morris owned by his father,” he adds.

Both the cars were in top-notch condition and all he had to do was to maintain them well. While many vintage car owners groom their cars just before the vintage rallies, Sheshi gives these beauties a weekly bath, not with water but with diesel. “I wash them with diesel as it prevents them from rusting and gives them a shine,” he explains

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ay-wheels.html

[anjan_c2007]

A picture of the shootings in San Bernardino, California during early December 2015 showed an early Chevrolet Impala. ( ? )



George Barris a custom car maker for Hollywood films and TV programs passed away in California during late November 2015. Mourners drove in customised cars to pay tributes to him during his funeral at Glendale, California.