The lady with a legacy

As a young boy, Javeed Mehkri would watch his father spend hours with his favourite car — a 1950 model of Morris Oxford, better known in India as the Hindustan 14. Javeed not only learnt about the car and its mechanics but thoroughly enjoyed the drive in it to and from school.

The passion for the Morris Oxford is living on through four generations with Javeed now transferring the ownership of the car to his 22-year-old son Junaid Mehkri. Junaid shares as much passion for the classic beauty as his father.  

The car has an interesting history to it and Javeed gets nostalgic when he settles down to talk about it. Javeed says, “My grandfather, AK Mehkri, purchased it. He was working as the superintendent of engineering in the Shimsha hydro-electric station in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. The car was initially registered and used in Mysore for three years, after which my great grandfather moved to Bengaluru. The car has been with us since,” explains Javeed. 

Almost every member of the Mehkri family has driven the car. Those who revelled at its wheel include MG Mehkri, private secretary to the Yuvaraja of Mysore; Dr MS Mehkri, founder of the Bangalore Medical College; and ME Mehkri, a freedom fighter and a well-known philanthropist. “In fact, the landmark, Mehkri Circle, is named after ME Mehkri,” adds Javeed.  

Decades after, the car has been restored with some of its parts being replaced and brought to perfect working condition. “The car was taken care of by Rasheed Mehkri, my late uncle. Rasheed passed away in 2013 and wasn’t there to see the car in running condition,” says Javeed.

However, he admits that the biggest challenge, is to maintain the car. “Spare parts for the American-made vintage and classic cars are available online but you will never find perfect spares for British classic vehicles in India. I got some of the parts replicated here but again you have to personally supervise it to make sure you are not taken for a ride. It is an expensive and time-consuming process to maintain these cars,” he says. 

Javeed says among those who were drawn to his car was former prime minister of Nepal, Tulsi Giri. “There’s a church just opposite our house and he used to visit the church whenever he was in the City. Once, he saw the car parked outside my house and he asked me why I didn’t do anything to get it back on the roads. When he returned six months later, he again asked me the same question. I got the same advice from my cousin Sajjad. All this hastened the restoration process,” adds Javeed.

Among Javeed’s prized possession is also a 1960 model Lambretta Scooter — his father’s first purchase. “My father rode it and I used to go to college on it. Now, my youngest son Uzair gets dropped by the scooter once in a while,” he says. Like other youngsters of their age — Junaid and Uzair — love swanky cars but they value their two prized possessions more. 

The Morris Oxford has been a regular at Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club rally for the last two years. And Javeed loves basking in all the adulation the car draws. “It was during one of the rallies that a lady in a car stopped beside us. She asked me: ‘How old is she?’ I said 65. She smiled and said: ‘She’s my age’. Total strangers admire and compliment me on the car,” he narrates. 

(Javeed can be reached on [e-mail])