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After Nathuram Godse drove his 1930-model Studebaker car to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, when it was stationed outside the Tughlaqabad police station for several years, no one thought that this “killer car” would ever find a place in the news columns again. That was until Mohammed Pervez Siddiqui bought it, restored it and brought it to the attention of vintage car enthusiasts recently. “For two months I had forgotten that a world existed beyond the four wheels of my car,” says Pervez.

Photos: S. Subramanium

The prized possessions Mohd Parvez Siddiqui and Gyan Sharma with their vintage cars

Most vintage cars have similar tales of rising from oblivion. After 50 years in exile, locked up in an elephant’s cage, when the 1932-make Riley Lynx eventually saw the light of the day, it sailed through Delhi’s roads sporting the Bharatpur trophy this year. “But the makeover was not easy,” says Raj Kishen Sharma, its owner. “For 10-12 years I had to spend several hours to restore this ‘Mexican wild cat’. Now, it has eventually got into shape.”

This story of perseverance is not true of Raj Kishen alone. Every owner of a vintage car in the city has had to struggle equally to try and preserve some of our past glory.

Who would have thought the Maharaja of Panipat’s forgotten richness would ever be remembered again till Tara Chand’s 1926-make Austin hit the roads in 1972?

Ask them what these pieces of history mean to them and prompt comes the reply. “We consider it as a part of our family,” say Tara Chand’s sons, Shiv and Inderjit. “As a kid I heard several tales about this car from my grandmother and every bit of it fascinated me. So in 1998, I finally decided to buy this car and I did not mind the money I had to shell out for it,” says Pervez. The passion is evident.

However, none denies it is an expensive hobby. “Apart for being a rather time consuming process, restoration of these cars means spending a few lakh rupees,” says Gyan Sharma, who is a restorer by profession and also has an array of such cars (Morris Cowley Austin 7, Singer to name a few).

Saying that the spare parts market for such cars is gradually shrinking, he adds, “All vintage cars had 6V batteries that you don’t find these days, so people try upgrading them to 12V.” Availability of the right tyres is also an issue. “There is always a need to import them at a price four to fives times more than that in India,” says Raj Kishen.

But come February, time for The Statesman’s Vintage/Post-War/Classic car rally, such worries won’t bother the enthusiasts. All of them will be out on the roads showing off their beauties, including the 73-year-old Prem Chanda, who may be leading a retired life otherwise but still refuses to retire from being a part of this rally.

This venture that took off way back in1964 still retains its charm and is a much sought after event on the calendar!

Age doesn’t wither the spirit.

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