Roadtrips and old cars

Got my subscription’s first issue and it was awesome as always. I have been wanting to write about the drawbacks of autonomous driving, but one of your articles ‘The Hard Life’ by Ouseph Chacko already covered that. Do tell him that I completely agree with him. A few days earlier I had read about robot driven F1 cars and I made the same face that Ouseph made. Whenever I think of it, I see a vision of cars running one behind another around the circuit just like a train. It feels so dull. I would rather watch the ants in my backyard do that.

The moment I got the issue, I skipped the cover story of the Ferraris to get an update on the GLA Adventure. What a pleasant surprise! I am a big fan of drifting and ’90s sportscars. Seeing the picture of Sirish and Siddharth along with one of my all time favourite cars — the legendary Nissan GTR R32 — gave me an adrenaline rush. But the hazy picture of the GTR doing donuts around the GLA was a bit of a let down. I would be really grateful if you could send me some pictures of that drifting part.

The issue really got me thinking about the good old days. The Zen’s review in ‘Fast Fleet’ section was truly an eye opener. Back when I was little, every Friday at 4pm an airplane landed at the nearby airport. Ocassionally, my father and I would ride there on our Kinetic to have a closer look. Our 800 wasn’t a pretty looking car as it was one of the first models and therefore was not used often. One day, our Kinetic was running low on fuel and we had no other option than to take the 800 out for a drive. The Zen reminded me of the feeling that I used to have. The low stance of the car, the grunt of the engine even at low speeds and the smell of the exhaust fumes (not sure if it was a good thing), it was so amazing. I am not sure if these smooth engined, ‘tall-boy design’ cars of today provide such fun.

But no worries, evo India will keep me notified if such a car enters the market. Keep up the good work! Bhargav Bose