JOIN USThe 1937 Morris Tourer was bought by Babu Kumar, exactly 20 years ago. The grand old lady has survived the test of time and has been restored to her original charm and glory.
Babu recollects that he first brought the car home in bits and pieces in a gunny bag.
“It took me one and a half years to get the car assembled and put it back on the road,” he says. “I used to regularly go to automobile spare part dealers in Shivajinagar to source the original parts of this car. After a couple of visits, I managed to get the exact match without compromising on the quality,” adds Babu, whose wife Veena and son Thushal, has also taken a keen interest in maintaining the car.
Babu explains that he didn’t want to tamper with it to give it a new look. “Most people redo old cars with a full-paint job and body work, but I wanted it to look original,” he adds.
Talking about where he first spotted the car, Babu says, he bought the Morris Tourer from an old Anglo-Indian family who lived in Fraser Town. “I first saw the 1937 Morris Tourer, parked inside the compound of a house in Fraser Town. I gathered enough courage and asked the owner if they wished to sell the car. The lady who owned this car was initially reluctant to part with it, and said that she had kept the car as a remembrance of her husband, who had passed on a few years ago,” he recollects.
He adds, “But a few months later, the lady rang me up and asked me to come and take the car. I was thrilled.”
Babu recalls that he found the car in a dismantled condition when he first went to pick it up.
“Her son had dismantled the car, hoping to fix it back but he never found the time to do so. That’s how I brought it home in pieces. This car is special to us not only because it is a rare make but also because we got it built it from scratch,” he says.
Babu says, although, he bought the car for Rs 15,000 those days, he spent more than a lakh restoring it. “The most attractive part of the car is the front grill and the headlights — both are made of pure brass. The top black cover of the car and the engine cover are foldable which is also a rare feature of this car,” he says.
Another interesting feature, adds Babu, is the hand signal that slides out. “There’s a red stripe on both sides of the car that slides out whenever the vehicle is taking a turn. It is, in fact, the indicator of the car,” he says.
The body of the car is maroon which is it’s original colour, informs Babu. The family takes the car out for a spin on the weekends when the roads are relatively empty. “On August 15 and January 26 every year I drive around in it for a longer time. It is impossible to drive it regularly on the chaotic city roads. The brakes are weak and it isn’t easy to suddenly apply the brake,” he informs. Babu says that he always had a soft corner for vintage and classic cars.
“I had earlier wanted to buy a Morris 6 in which Gandhiji is said to have travelled. The owner was quoting a high price and those days, I didn’t have the required money to buy the car. That was a big miss,” adds Babu.
Nina C George