Reviving the wheels of time

Subodh Nath’s heart races to the sound of the automobile engine, to be precise vintage engines. He and his son Abhishek are proud owners of a fleet of vintage cars and a special motorcycle. Recently, the family’s 1912 Indian Light Twin 680cc motorcycle has won the ‘Best in Show’ prize at the prestigious Cartier Concours d’Elegance 2013, one of the finest vintage vehicle shows in India. 

Nath says, “I love motorcycles and adventurous motoring. During the 1970s and ‘80s, I rode my Jawa from Ahmedabad to Nepal, covering as much as 600 km in a single day. At that time motor sports like extreme rallying was growing in India, with the launch of the Himalayan Rally in 1980. To prepare for the first Himalayan Rally, me and my friends participated and won the Indian Automotive Racing Club rally. This helped me know how to prepare my Mercedes 220 for the Himalayan Rally. It was hard participating in early 1980s in the Himalayan terrain with a saloon car but it was the only one I had that was good enough for the rally. Despite the challenges, we were finishers.”

The Nath family’s collection includes vintage and classic models like the 1947 Buick Roadmaster Convertible (once part of the Kishangarh royal fleet), 1948 Oldsmobile, 1947 Armstrong Siddeley and a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. All of them, Nath proudly says, are ready to be driven at immediate notice and even his classic bike can be started with one kick.

During one of his visits to Jodhpur to look at vintage cars that were up for sale, Nath saw Moolchand Pratapchand Soni’s 1912 Indian Motorcycle. Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 in Springfield, USA. Production of the Indian began before Harley Davidson and it was upgraded from a cycle with a motor to the kind of motorcycles we see today with a loop frame and a torpedo-shaped gas tank by about 1909. The Indian performed brilliantly in motorsports in the 1910s, and the factory team took all the three places in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. “Being a motorcycle connoisseur, I was excited about owning the 1912 model of the Indian. While today Harley-Davidson inspires the feeling of awe and imposing Americana, the Indian was the first American motorcycle and enjoyed a reputation for its power, styling and high-speed stability in the early-20th century,’’ explains Nath. According to a Jodhpur Bikaner Railway document, this Indian came from Walter Locke & Company Ltd, Kolkata to Jodhpur in about 1915, and was owned by Pratapchand Soni of Jodhpur.  The owner was unable to use the motorcycle in the 1920s because of non-availability of tyres. “We have letters from Good Year, the Dunlop Stockist, Firestone and Kolkata-based Motor Works to Pratapchand Soni stating that they do not have the requested tyres. In 1982, I bought the motorcycle from Pratapchand Soni,” Nath says. In 1989, Nath sent the motorcycle to Sajan Auto in Indore for restoration. The motorcycle was restored and returned in 1997 after the 28X3 Coker Tyres for vintage bikes was procured.

Abhishek says, “We sent the motorcycle for further restoration in about 2007. This got the Indian ready for the   Cartier Concours d’Elegance in 2013. The third edition of this event, called Travel in Style, had participants with superbly restored vintage and classic automobiles, with classic motorcycles included for the first time. Even the judges and foreign visitors said they were pleasantly surprised to see the standard of restoration that is being attained in India in recent years. It was exciting to hear the elite invitees and judges praising the mint condition and sympathetic restoration of our pre-war classic motorcycle.”

Abhishek says that the biggest problem that owners of vintage and classic cars or bikes face in cities like Ahmedabad is in getting spare parts. In order to solve that, his family with other car enthusiasts, like the Tarapore family and Punja Wala, who belong to an erstwhile feudal family, decided to form the Gujarat Vintage and Classic Car Club. The club’s initiatives like Vintage and Classic Car Rally, followed by Ahmedabad Heritage Car Show has got a good response. Abhishek says, “We have identified around 10-15 vintage and classic motorcycles in Gujarat, and hope to bring them and more together for sharing of essential information about good restorers, workshops and supply chain for parts.” Abhishek is now getting together fellow owners of vintage and classic vehicles for short drives on Sundays. “Once the interest builds up in Gujarat, we may have shows with upstate participation so as to increase our exposure to the best in class vehicles from around India,”  he enthuses.