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Except for the three Ferraris (GTO, 250 Testarossa and 250 Le Mans) in my Bburago collection of historical machines, I have finished driving all except one, the AC Cobra. But that also should get done in some time... Yup. Okay, my scale model collection is not that impressive in size, but having driven most of these legendary cars in real life is a seriously impressive feat, even if I say so myself. That too, in India.
I’ll let you in on a secret on how to make your dreams come true: wish really, really hard. No, I am serious; it’s worked for me. And that’s not just with cars. Many years back when I used to actually watch a bit of television, I saw a programme on Discovery on the Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. Exquisitely shot, the visuals of this fantasy castle were accompanied by Wagner’s overture from Tannhauser. At that moment, I desperately wanted to visit Bavaria, see Wagner’s patron Ludwig the Mad’s architectural monstrosity and hopefully, get to see Hitler’s favourite composer’s house as well. It happened. Then I read about the gorgeous Alhambra castle in Granada, Spain and wished I could see it as well. Events connived, and you guessed it, I managed to see the Moorish wonder. No, I am not showing off, I just wanted to give two almost impossible instances becoming possible.
All of my colleagues, past and present – and maybe many of you who are reading this – know about my famous announcement: after I drive the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, I will retire. As you have seen on the cover of this issue, a very, very old dream of mine came true – I drove the car of my dreams, finally. This column was written well before I wrote the other two stories in which the 300 SL stars, but I know right now that no words can do justice to this all-time great machine. But that doesn’t mean you don’t read the stories, okay? So is it time for me to retire? Shucks, that announcement of mine sounds hollow when I say that there are still so many cars that need to be driven, including (heh, heh) the 300 SL Gullwing. So the answer is – no, I am not retiring yet, but things from now on will always be pre-300 SL and post-300 SL. It is as significant an event in my life as the birth of my son, so allow me to unabashedly gush on this page.
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