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MAN AND MACHINE
A rally that's been going on since 1963
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Ramanathan Krishnan and his two loyal assistants serve an ace with this Mercedes-Benz 190c Fintail
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Ramanathan Krishnan knows how to say his thanks. When Wheels contacted him for a feature on him and his 1963 fintail Mercedes-Benz 190c, the tennis legend insisted two others be included in the write-up and the photo as well — E Arunagiri and M Manickam. In their own ways, these two are responsible for what Krishnan's 190c is today — a classic that is free from blemishes (that is, if you don't count the air-condition system that was introduced into this essentially non-AC car) and an active four-wheeler that has not had even a minor bump. Probably as active as the tennis star himself, who is up with the lark and dashes off to his gas distribution company in the morning and spends the evening training tennis hopefuls.
Arunagiri and Manickam have `dandled' the Benz, because the former has been its mechanic, and the other its driver from the very beginning. As an employee of VST Motors, Arunagiri had regularly travelled overseas to attend Benz training programmes. He made his expertise available to the 1963 example on Oliver Road (where our star stays).
In 1974, Krishnan's 190c won the "best maintained car" award that had been instituted by the car major itself. Arunagiri was honoured with a medal for his good work.
It's long since Arunagiri has left VST and stuck out on his own, but Krishnan still entrusts the care of his car with this man, "because I have never seen deceit or trickery in him".
Manickam continues to drive the Benz for the same reasons.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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