Mumbai – a city with a rapidly rising skyline, dreams, aspirations, ambitions and hopes of over 12 million inhabitants. In the city that never sleeps is an iconic low-slung Porsche 356 SC that stands out from the sea of cars on roads, and starts a frenzy of people clicking photos wherever it goes.
Yes, there are plenty of classic cars in India, but this is one is a little bit more special as it is probably the only one in the country. Even more so, because it is the love of its current owner Rajendra Kumar Jain, who goes by the name Raj.
Raj lives and works in London and is an OCI card holder, which stands for Overseas Citizenship of India, an official status for Indians residing outside the country. His business makes him travel the world and yet, being unable to stay away from his Porsche, he finds the time to visit Mumbai every now and then.
Instead of parking the car near his home in South Kensington, he shipped it to Mumbai. He usually goes there twice a year on business and to visit his family—and now to visit the Porsche too. This 356 is not the first of its type in India. The Maharaja of Sawantwadi is reported to have brought a rare pre-series model of the 356 A to the country decades ago. Old photographs clearly show the car—but in the meantime, it seems to have disappeared, so Raj considers himself the owner of the country’s only known working 356. Like any exotic bird that thrives on attention, the car throws the odd tantrum. But mostly it runs smoothly.
To keep the Porsche in good working order, Raj used to have it thoroughly checked every two years by Barry Curtis, a renowned British specialist in 356s. Curtis would stay in Raj’s home and work on the car in his well-equipped garage.
“Barry used to overhaul the engine, strip every part, every nut and bolt, and rebuild it,” says Jain. “I installed an air conditioner in the garage so he could work even when it was extremely hot outside.”
Then, about two years ago, Barry passed away. The car still seems to miss him. Sometimes it refuses to start, on occasion it misfires, and it generally seems a bit sullen these days. As the keeper of the car’s soul, Barry is memorialised on the cover of its engine fan in the form of his calling card. Made of extremely thin metal and embossed with his name, it adds a very individual touch.
With a smile on his lips, Raj dives right into the organised chaos of traffic in Mumbai. Manufactured in 1965, the 365 is considered to be one of the most iconic Porsches ever. It is even considered by some as the car that Porsche on the world map.
The 935 kg car is driven around in the intense Mumbai traffic and the car manages to pull through. Now this love affair, separated by 7,192 kilometres, may not have a villain or a mind boggling climax before the two come together like the Bollywood movies, it sure is a story that will touch the heart of any car lover. Those who “take a walk around the car” to simply gaze at the beauty it holds, whichever car it may be, often fall in love with their cars pretty much the same way. Remember feeling something similar with your first ever car?
As for Raj, he says “This car was meant for me.”
(By Srinivas Krishnan, Photos by Bengt Stiller. Text first published in the Porsche customer magazine Christophorus, No. 376.)
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