The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : City a hub of vintage beauties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 06, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

City a hub of vintage beauties

K. Srinivas Reddy

Hyderabad has a large collection of vintage cars and bikes

Photo G. Krishnaswamy

PROUD OWNER: Lt. Col. Boppana Shashidhar shows off his 1200 cc heritage bike ‘India Chief’ made in 1944.

HYDERABAD: Ever heard of a motorbike with a reverse gear? Or for that matter the Sedan Rover, better known as the poor man’s Rolls?

Do you know that the Russians began manufacturing their own BMW motorbikes and cars?

Ask Inderjeet ‘Sherry’ Singh. With a benign smile, he would tell you that you need not Google search them to know more details about them.

All these vintage vehicles and many more are in Hyderabad.

With a dedicated band of vintage vehicle enthusiasts scouring over the countryside, many a vintage vehicle has been found and restored to its glory.

Because of these handful enthusiasts, Hyderabad can now boast of being one of the cities in the country with the largest collection of vintage cars and bikes.

Rare models

Hyderabad now has a Norton Manx, a 1954-model bike, of which only five are known to exist.

It is now the proud possession of Gurudev Singh. Another classic vintage bike, Indian Chief, (1200 CC) is owned by Col. Shashidhar. Rajesh Khendry, another Hyderabadi, owns a Sunbeam and Triumph Mayflower, both vintage motorcars.

It’s not just them. Abdul Rashed Qayyum has the biggest collection of vintage cars – about 40 of them right now. Nawab Shah Alam Khan, Inder Krishnama, Capt. KF Pestonji, Deepak Kant Gir, own a wide variety of cars, including Rolls, Cadillacs, Buicks and Chevrolets.

Among the vintage motorcycle collectors, Gurudev Singh is credited with having as many as 200 vintage bikes which include a complete range of Norton, a Kawasaki Conqueror and Sunbeam. Other avid collectors of vintage bikes include Arun Pupali and Najaf Ali Mirza.

They have extremely good collection of more than 40 bikes each.

Mr. Pupali has a rare Square Four. The 1000 CC British bike got its name because of its square-shaped engine. Inderjeet Singh has this Cossack 750 CC shaft-driven bike with a horizontally placed engine, with a reverse gear.

‘Ban shipment’

These beauties are taken out on the roads only on National Days, when the Deccan Heritage Automobile Association (DHAA) organises programmes.

The association president, Inderjeet Singh, says that plans are afoot to organise the biggest display of vintage vehicles during the World Military Games slated to be held in Hyderabad in October.

Mr. Singh is however worried sick about the foreigners buying the vintage vehicles at exorbitant rates and shipping them away.

“Government should immediately enforce a ban on shipment of vintage vehicles from the country,” he argues.

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