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| Over the hills |
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| Parked in a huge covered garage was a 1930s Wolseley, an Austin A40 which has been in the family for decades, an Austin 7, a Dodge Kingsway and a Morris 8. |
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By : Srinivas Krishnan | Published : June 10, 2010 |
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There were some surprises in Ooty. I was there last week on a holiday – the first time I was visiting the place – and I thought I would be away from classic machines generally. But, I am happy to report, it was not so. But I was unlucky to have missed something – I landed in Ooty just a few days after a vintage and classic car show was held there, to go along with the tourist season. Never mind.
You get to see quite a few well-maintained Jeeps of WWII vintage, fully kitted out as if a war’s going to break out in the evening. Spades and axes, jerry cans and headlamp hoods, you name it, these Jeeps are wearing those. Wearing the military shade of green but with non-spec fat rubber, the Jeeps look the part on the mountain roads. You get to see lovely Gypsys as well, but the Jeeps are really terrific. Occasionally you get to see a ’80s Mercedes also pass by.
I got talking to the manager of a heritage hotel and he put me on to one of the collectors out there, who unfortunately was travelling but allowed me to visit his home to see the few cars he had kept in Ooty. Leaving my family at the hotel I was staying in one afternoon, I sneaked out to see the cars. Parked in a huge covered garage was a 1930s Wolseley, an Austin A40 which has been in the family for decades, an Austin 7, a Dodge Kingsway and a Morris 8. The collector had more cars that were tucked away in Coimbatore. Amazing. I stepped outside and walked around the house to see a Dodge light truck used as a garden ornament and an incongruously painted yellow UAZ-69 that seemed ready to take on the Ooty Jeeps. A 70s Royal Enfield Bullet and a Crusader that urgently required restoration were leaning about at one corner while a happily used skinny Mofa also was hanging out.
And then there was the 1955 AJS. Immaculately maintained and used every day, the kid of the house had gone riding it to get a haircut. He came back and we started talking – and you can see it in the image above, which I shot with the front camera of my oversmartphone (the main camera doesn’t work and several other things too, as the phone is overpowered by gravity every few hours in a day). All this was just one collector’s bunch of machines.
I could have also seen the collection of a shop owner over there who has quite a few cars of his own – I have heard an Austin of his is parked at the Taj Savoy – but unfortunately I had to leave for Mumbai, so couldn’t see any of his cars. And I am sure there are many cars over there and in nearby Coonoor as well, which could have been discovered had I stayed there longer. I love it - going to new places and seeing old cars. And to think this is work!
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