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MAN AND MACHINE -- PRINCE FREDERICK
Mind your questions, please!
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Devidas Shetty’s 1957 Elegant Fiat will never grow old in his eyes
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Timeless elegance For Devidas Shetty his 17-year-old fiat is modern in most respects
One innocuous question can set off a panic reaction in Devidas Shetty. When asked if he would sell his 1957 Elegant Fiat, he loses his composure. Every time this question pops up, he imagines what it would be like not to have this car. And, he brusqu
ely replies, “Don’t ask me such questions!” At the time this interview was conducted, he was approached by a ‘buyer’. True to form, Shetty snapped at him.
Interestingly, he does not consider this 1957 machine old. Following a minor collision, Shetty reacted angrily when the driver in the other car called his Elegant “that old car”. Shetty has his reasons. The Fiat is equal to present-day traffic, which is why he drives it at least 30 km a day. And it gives him at least 12 km to a litre. For greater mileage (16kmpl), he occasionally uses a Weber carburettor. Shetty says his Elegant surprised a road transport officer with its unbelievably low readings on an emission test. “In disbelief, the RTO ordered a re-test. The result was the same. The officer remarked that the Fiat’s emission level was lower than those of many modern cars.”
To prevent this black car from ‘burning’ its passengers, Shetty has fixed a cera wool top on the roof. Shunning the latest car paints, he has chosen Delco. Was he cutting down on cost? No, he is just a stickler for originality
For the sake of authenticity, he has refrained from making too many changes. For one, he has not installed an air-conditioner. Instead, he tackles sultry days in Chennai with a small fan on the dash. When he picked up this car seventeen years ago, it required extensive repairs. He had the engine rebored — personally inspecting work carried out at the lathe. Along the way, he collected bagfuls of Elegant accessories from Pudupet and G.P Road. “I am glad I did this, because most mechanics today are ‘fitters’. They believe in replacing worn-out parts, and not in fabricating them.”
The animated manner in which he talks about this Elegant shows Shetty’s involvement with it. One of the top guns at Duras Helios India, a group engaged in multiple businesses, he can easily afford a modern car. Yet he sticks to this old Fiat, which he considers modern in most respects.
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