The air was abuzz with excitement as the gathering shared notes on engines, brakes and speed. A family of four from Mumbai wanders around the hall as they take snaps standing in front of the beauties. “This is a Computer Car. This is a Football Car. This is a Formula Racing Car. This is a Brinjal Car. This is a Computer Car...” As a young guide goes around the museum giving details of the exhibits, K. Sudhakar, wearing a cap walks in. All eyes are on him as two children want to take a photograph with ‘the uncle who makes crazy cars'. We are at Sudha Cars Museum in Bahadurpura, where the display is a veritable delight. Cycle train, Beach Buggy, Kings's Carriage, Cartoon Car, Fun Cart…the bevy of beauties housed in this museum are all showstoppers.
It was destiny
It must have been destiny that his parents named him ‘Sudhakar' as he has become popular as ‘Sudha car' (also the name of his museum). A car for a season and a reason can be summed up as the passion for Sudhakar, who began modifying bicycles when he was a teenager. Creativity can be found in strange places and in Sudhakar's case, it was found in a heap of scrap. “What was junk to people was my door to opportunities,” he says later sitting in his office. ‘I was like any other youngster who wanted to design their own bikes,” he says. His father being a businessman encouraged him too.
At 14, he designed a bicycle and his journey of innovations began. “People would be stunned with the outcome but for me it was just fun,” says Sudhakar. The hobby grew bigger and he made his first ‘easy rider motorbike' and followed it with a Dune Buggy, his first car.
In '91, when he was in the US, he saw a promotional Volkswagen car and he got an idea and made a skating shoe car. “I realised these wacky cars drew instant attention and brought in a smile on peoples' faces,” he says.
So does he plan the shapes in advance?
“No I don't,” he retorts and adds, “For example, the Brinjal car was not planned. It was made after a popular comment in Hyderabad. People here say ‘ Are kya Baingan ka shape banaya ' for things which do not come out well. I overheard one conversation and made the car,” he says. If there are some cars like the toilet car (“Two girls from Haryana said out of fun that there is only a toilet car missing in the collection. I made the car and whoever passes by it inadvertently smiles”) which have been created on the spur of the moment, there are some crazy cars which have been made with an intention. The condom car is another eye catcher but it was created to bring in AIDS awareness. The football and the cricket ball cars were created to commemorate the 2006 FIFA football world cup and cheer the team India for the 2003 World Cup or the recent ICC Cricket 2011 car.
You would be surprised to know that this maker of innovative cars is a commerce graduate! “I never studied automobile engineering to understand the nuances. My knowledge is practical and comes from observing and the interaction I have with the local mechanics,” he recollects. He makes a special mention of Babu Khan, a mechanic who was illiterate but knew the A to Z of automobiles and shared his tips with Sudhakar. Is it an expensive hobby? “The cost factor is not much but one should have an eye to pick things. There are around 50 junk yards around Bahadurpura where I pick my stuff. At the junk shops, they break everything – from cars, rail engines to buses. I go there and buy what I want. It's an in-born talent and one cannot read and learn these things,” he says. The exhibits might not be high-priced but needs constant care.
“Every month we run at least 20-25 cars and the vehicles have to be cleaned regularly,” he says. Sudhakar's collections have been part of the road shows at the Tank Bund and Necklace Road. When he is not planning the next design of his car, Sudhakar is busy looking after his family business of running a printing press.
Sudhakar is planning to have a wacky display of his collection on the Necklace Road in November.
However, it is future projects which will interest the Eves. He is planning a stiletto car, ladies shoe car, lipstick bike and a jewellery train - What an idea, sirji !K. Sudhakar holds a Guinness World Record for making the largest tricycle in the World. The Tricycle is 41 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 3 tons with the wheel diameter of 17 feet. It is 37 feet 4 inches long. The Tricycle is powered by the pedal, chain sprockets and gears.
