Gautam Sen’s The Automobile, tales from here, there, everywhere

H Kishie Singh

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From the first car on Indian soil to how the automobile has influenced the country socially, culturally and commercially, Gautam Sen’s latest book — unputdownable and a delight to read — is a cornucopia of automobile knowledge. Like how a Maharaja, miffed at the rather indifferent reception by a Rolls Royce salesman, bought three vehicles, got them shipped to India and then used them as garbage disposal vans!

The first chapter, ‘A Love Affair Begins’, traces the first car that came to India. Maharaja Rajinder Singh of Patiala imported a French De Dion-Bouton in 1890. About 900 Rolls Royces came to India, mostly for the rulers of princely states. The book has a history of the cars and their owners.

Parsis started the car craze in Bombay. The Bengali Brown Sahibs in Calcutta followed. ‘The Affair Continues’ traces many cars that were imported, stored, deserted, found and restored.

In 1963, Rony Khan, at 16, founded The Vintage Car Club of Bombay. Pranlal Bhogilal was one member. Sen visited him and estimated about 200 cars in his collection. The Statesmen Vintage & Classic Car Rally in Delhi inspired the movement in North India. Collectors Tarun Thakral and Diljeet Titus have set up museums. Other well known collectors are KC Anand, Kishore Gidwani, the Jaiswals, Sudhir Choudhrie, Ramchander Nath and Madan Mohan, who has about 450 cars.

An entire chapter is devoted to sports cars and convertibles. For some strange but gratifying reason, these cars increase the heartbeat. Sen plays the doctor and tries to explain why.

Two important motorbikes came to India almost a century ago. Jawa and Enfield are now making waves again. The author traces their origin to 1815 when George Townsend in Worcestershire, UK, was manufacturing sewing machines. From that to rifles, the Lee-Enfield. This is where the slogan ‘Made Like a Gun’ originated. The word ‘Bullet’ was a biological baby!

The Jawa came from Czechoslovakia in 1929. It has resurfaced recently and is an international brand today.

There is a whole chapter ‘Make in India’ and another ‘A Car for the People’. The first attempt to make a car in the country was in 1902 by John Green, an Englishman in Madras. It was not a successful venture. There were others, the most serious effort being Maruti by Sanjay Gandhi. The project was a non-starter. Sanjay died in an air crash. Maruti was acquired by the government. After much searching for a joint venture, Suzuki was selected. A great success story!

Tata launched Indica, Daewoo the Matiz, Hyundai the Santro. Hyundai became the second largest auto manufacturer after Maruti. Along came Nano from Tata, the cheapest priced car in the world. Launched in 2008 at Auto Expo, it took the world by storm. Alas, the Nano had too many teething problems. A great attempt, but not a success story!

The final chapter, ‘The Art of The Automobile’, is very interesting. The first sketches of the automobile date back to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The idea was always there, it gelled centuries later! Emile Levassor and Rene Panhard, both French, and Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler from Germany made the first working cars.

Soon enough, cars became an object of fascination and glorification. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the French artist, produced a lithograph, ‘The Automobilist’, in 1896.

Paintings and sculptures flourished. Cameras were invented. Photographs captured the thrills and spills of motorsports. Cars were photographed in exotic locations.

In India, the Shekhawati Havelis, which had traditionally shown people in ‘howdhas’ on elephants, in horse carriages and in trains, started to include cars.

Paintings and photographs naturally led to the movies. The first Indian film to feature a car was ‘Ajantrik’, meaning the ‘Unmechanical’, by Ritwik Ghatak. Another hit film was ‘Chalti ka Naam Gaadi’. A superb example of promoting a product was the movie ‘Bobby’. No amount of advertising could have done what this movie did for the Rajdoot GTS 175.

Hollywood made full use of the American muscle cars. Bullitt, Vanishing Point, Grand Prix all show what the cars are for and what every car owner years for — speed!

An enjoyable, informative, fun book, a delight to read. Go and buy two copies, one for yourself, one to gift to a good friend!