Dr. Ravi Prakash, a former Cardiac surgeon, is a three time National Rallying & Racing Champion between 1981-1984, Managing Director of Rushe Safetek, a company that offers safety and security systems for the armed forces, a collector and restorer of over 200 vintage cars and 100 bikes, secretary of the Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club AND a father of two petrolhead daughters. Phew, now I can take a breather.
So when Dr. Ravi asked his mechanic, Mr. Jokim D'Souza, to give me a tour around the garage while he attended to his daily morning obligations, I felt like I was on a treasure hunt to find that Jaguar E type and the Alfa Romeo Series 3 Spider. It's only after I went around his collection that I began to understand and truly appreciate the pre-world war cars. The little boy inside of me wanted to raise his arms in the air and triumphantly scream as he entered those hallowed gates of his estate.
Doctor. Racing Champion. Car collector. I don't see them as different professions. There is no stopping if you make up your mind on something.
Dr. Ravi emphasises his fascination for British cars and rightly enough, there are a plethora of British manufactured jewels. Wolseley, Jaguar Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 5 3.5L, Mark 7, XK 140, E type, Austin Healey, Sunbeam Talbot 2 Litre, the Alpine, Mini Coopers and at least a dozen Rolls Royces, are just some of them. The Brits also share the garage with lots of Germans, especially the Mercs. The Doc also has a fair share of American classics like the Studebaker, Plymouths, Fords, most of which are from the first half of 20th century. In my opinion, this might have been the only era that emblazoned America's true automotive beauty.
As Mr. D'Souza worked his way through the various garage shutters to unveil the revered classics, I worked through my camera lens shutter, clicking endlessly over the beautifully crafted front grille of the 1937 Ford V8 convertible. It was at this moment, I looked over my right shoulder to find the Jaguar E type Series I in its classic stance. As I walked towards it, this giant lump in my throat wouldn't let me answer D'Souza's question about my favourite car of the collection so far. I merely managed to point towards the driver's seat. He grasped my emotions with a subtle smile, and let me have my moment. As I sat in the driver's seat and clutched on to steering wheel, I could feel the legendary Malcolm Sayer's presence around me. The wind blowing in through the lush estate carried whispers of Enzo Ferrari's quoted words, in 1964, when he first saw the E type- "The most beautiful car ever made". My tryst with the Jag E was finally complete.
K2: I was disappointed to not spot the E type at the Vintage Car Rally yesterday.
Doc: My daughters are so attached to the Healey and the XK 140. I told them that they should've driven the cars that were shot in "Bangalore Days". The movie stars the Sunbeam Alpine and the Austin Healey from my collection and I went to the theatre only to watch the cars. I don't even understand Malayalam except for a few slangs that I picked from my Malayalam friends back in the medical days. The movie is so good that my wife, Sabena and Rupali went back to watch it for a second time. Anjali Menon, the director has done a marvellous job.
K2: Do you fancy Muscle cars?
Doc: Not really. I was only into Brit and European cars. Only in the early 2000's did I start picking up the other cars. If I had the money in the 90's I would have collected some fabulous cars. But anyway, I don't regret my decisions.
K2: Now that you mentioned it, which cars are still on your shopping list? Which ones would you yearn to have?
Doc: I own around 9 Rolls Royce but I don't have a Silver Ghost. I want to pick up a nice Silver Ghost and a WO Bentley to add to my collection.
K2: I just overheard you talk about your museum. Could you share more details?
Doc: The museum is going to be around a 3 lakh sq.ft classical building in Bangalore, which would house around 450 cars and 150 motorcycles. This museum is going to be the largest in the country. It will contain cars showcasing the entire evolution of the automotive industry. Work should begin in about 2-3 months and should be completed by 2016. 75% of the cars in the museum would be from my collection. I also have around 17,000 odd car books, journals, magazines and automobilias that will be showcased there. All my cars actually belong to a Trust. So part of the money that will be earned through this museum will go into the maintenance of museum itself, and the rest of the money will be spent on treatment of road traffic accident victims. I'm also looking into this mega project, a wishful thought, which involves parking a chopper at the museum to serve as an air ambulance in the city. The first of its kind.
K2: The first time I heard about you was in the news when your took part in the Pebble Beach Concours D'elegance in 2012. A phenomenal feat. What was the experience like?
Doc: It was one of my lifetime ambitions to be present at Pebble Beach. Honestly, I didn't envision being a part of such a classic event. Their Maharaja class gave us an advantage. My 1930 Delage D8 was formerly owned by the Maharaja Holkar of Indore. The best part was that my 1907 Locomobile was selected on its own, which is a piece of history that I will reminisce all my life. Incidentally, in the history of Pebble Beach, I was the first entrant from India who had two cars selected for the event. Not just that, my daughter Shefali Prakash navigated and lead the whole parade in Pebble beach in the 1907 Locomobile while Rupali Prakash drove it. So it was a huge honour for the entire family.
K2: So at the Pebble Beach event was there a car that you pried on and wished you had that in your collection?
Doc: You know, sometimes my mind just wanders around. I don't have a Ferrari, Aston Martin or any of the latest supercars. Although I'm basically a Mercedes fan, these are some of the cars I would like to buy. Sometimes I feel like I should retire, but this obsession for cars will never let me retire. So somewhere down the line, I will pick up a Ferrari.
K2: Indeed. A Ferrari 250 GT would beautify your collection.
Doc: One Ferrari that I feel has beautiful lines is the Dino. I like the Ferrari Dino as it resembles my Corvette Stingray. So yeah, I think a Dino would be one of my first Ferraris. I also want to buy Mercedes 540K. This obsession for cars leaves me wanting so much. Hopefully, my kids will be able to carry on the legacy and after the museum is built, they can probably add these cars to that collection.
K2: True, and it's an advantage that your family embraces your passion as if it's their own.
Doc: I would rather call it a blessing in disguise. I have seen many of my friends' collections limited to only one generation. I thank god that both my daughters and wife have this passion. My wife used to drive a lot in the Vintage rallies and that sort of triggered the kids to have this passion too. Probably ours is the only family that is involved with cars. In fact, ours is the first Indian family (consisting of father, mother and two daughters) who are passionate about cars and drove the F1 drivers parade. I have seen many father-son bonding through cars but rarely do you ever hear of father and daughters sharing an automotive passion.
K2: Speaking of your family, what car does your wife, Sabena Prakash usually like to drive?
Doc: She drives around the E type quite a bit. She also drove the 1933 Mercedes 320. Her first drive was the 1937 Sunbeam Talbot 2 Litre. She has driven that car to at least a dozen events.
K2: You mentioned the Sunbeam Talbot 2 Litre. There's some sort of legacy that's attached to it, isn't it?
Doc: Yeah! I had been to Sholavaram for the races. As I was driving back, this car passed by and I said to myself "That's a very nice car". My friend mentioned that the car was advertised in the papers recently and we managed to procure the details of the owner, General Mahadevan. I called him up and spent time with him the next day and we spoke about cars in general over a couple of beers. He quoted around INR 40,000 and back in 1979 that was a huge sum. When I called him back to thank him for the afternoon, his wife said he was admitted to the hospital as he slipped while walking back upstairs. Couple of months later I received a telegram mentioning his passing. I visited the family to pay my condolences. Four months later, his wife calls me and asks me to collect the Talbot 2. That was one of the hardest days for me because I had to arrange that kind of money when I only was a student back then. So after borrowing a couple of thousands from a dozen friends, I went to Chennai. The lady gives me the car keys and the letter and tells me that the car has been willed to you. As much as I insisted that I would like to pay the full amount for the car as I've been able to arrange for the money, she told me that its not just her husband but her own wish too to give me the car. She even went out to say that "if we had a daughter, we would likely give her hand in marriage to you also". It truly was one of the most touching moments of my life. That was my first car and from there on my journey began.
K2: You mentioned of visiting Chennai for the races, and I remember reading about you being a National Rallying & Racing Champion. What's that story all about?
Doc: I was into racing and rallying, driving stock Ambassadors, Group I Ambassadors and then stock Fiats. I raced in Sholavaram, Chennai and Byrackpur, Kolkata and I won both the races. Byrackpur was the Ambassador hub as it was manufactured there and many veterans like Ravi Kumar, Rishi Kumar, Niaz Ali were in competition back then. I beat them all in the Sprint and the GP events and headed the National Championship. The FMSCI awarded me with the presidential award for three consecutive years from 1981-1984.
K2: That's just amazing. How did you manage to achieve all of this in the midst of being a doctor? Did you have a racing background?
Doc: No, I didn't have a racing background and I was a final year student in medical school. However, when you will your mind to achieve something, you will, inevitably, make time for it.
K2: So then I stand corrected that you were a National Champion for three years from 1981-1984. But what was the racing scenario back then in the 80s in India?
Doc: I had a good season for those three years. I had MRF, Sachs shock absorbers and many others who started sponsoring me. In the 80s there were big guys who used to bring in fast cars- Maharaja of Gondal had a Formula 5000, Vijay Mallya had a F3, I think. Coimbatore boys used to have highly modified group II cars. There were some notable ones from Mysore. The boys from Mumbai modified Heralds with overhead cams and what not. We were basically into stock and modified Ambassadors and Fiats. I finally hung my racing gloves in 1984.
K2: Did you inherit this obsession for cars from your parents? Was your father an equally passionate car guy?
Doc: My Dad certainly enjoys good and comfortable cars. But I wouldn't say that he was passionate about them. Although, we would modify our Ambassadors quite a lot. We would get bucket seats from Koyas in Coimbatore, and a Diesel Engine fitted with Coimbatore Auto Garage. This is during the 70's. I used to modify quite a bit of the car myself by adding spacers, mag wheels, altering dash boards and whole lot of things after my medical school. So yeah he enjoyed quite a bit of modifications I/we used to do together.
K2: From being a doctor to a racing champion to a car collector. Such contrasting professions, but do you find a subtle similarity between them?
Doc: Yeah there are a lot of similarities. The functions of both the heart of a human body and the carburettor of a car are the same. I used to fiddle around with my bike a lot before I got under the hood of cars. I was nicknamed "Honda Kid" as I used to have a Honda 125cc twin when I was 16. I have pulled out my bike's engine and gearbox, disassembled and assembled it many times so its a type of a surgery itself. You just need to have that inclination. I don't see them as two different professions. If you have your mind set on a goal, there is nothing s stopping you.
K2: But did you always aspire to be doctor?
Doc: Yes, very much. I always wanted to get into the medical field. I have been criticised for not practising the medical profession ardently, but I have never looked at it that way. What I learnt as a doctor will remain with me for the rest of my life. I also moved into developing security systems for the defence services like armouring vehicles and tracking systems. As a result of this, lot of jawaans' (soldiers) lives have been saved. So I don't have regrets about my past or my present. I believe that at the end of the day one must spend time and money on the less fortunate people in society.
K2: Being a car enthusiast and a Bangalorean for a long time now, you must have seen the gradual change of the city traffic. What was it like to drive your cars/bikes four decades back?
Doc: Oh certainly. In retrospect, I remember riding my Kawasaki GPZ 400F in 1985 at 160 kmph at around 7pm on the MG Road stretch. The same road today wouldn't even let you go past 10 kmph mark on your speedometer.
Camera: Canon EOS 1000D.