Vehicles like an early 70s Ford Fairlane with a V8 engine and the evergreen Premier Padmini are part of this massive collection.
BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Don’t we all love vintage cars? Looking at them lets us know what our roads would have looked like decades ago, they give us an idea of how far we’ve come in terms of technology and, more importantly, they evoke emotions in a way that modern cars don’t. not. For most of us, owning and driving such a car is a distant dream, thanks to factors such as prohibitive costs, scarcity of parts, lack of time and colossal effort involved in driving such cars.
That’s why for a vintage car enthusiast, the best way to spend a Saturday is in a place with cars from a bygone era. Most of the places in India that display vintage cars don’t really have a wide range of cars. Most of the vintage car exhibits that we see in India are in hotels, malls, tourist spots, etc. and are usually made up of one or two automobiles. Of course, there are museums like the Heritage Transport Museum in Gurgaon, the Hyderabad Nizam Collection and the famous ‘Auto Worlds’ Collection in Ahmedabad, but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. In addition, most of these museums have received support from their respective state tourism departments.
The collection I’m going to talk about here is a little different from those mentioned above. What makes it unique is the fact that it is led by a one man army, a very passionate man who genuinely works to preserve and spread the automotive history of this region. Mr. Palash Deka, an engineer from Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited spent his own salary for the preservation of these vintage cars. A keen enthusiast, he has a very wide range of vintage cars, bikes, artefacts, war items, clocks, radios, gramophones and much more to display. However, maintaining such a large collection is not an easy task, especially for one man. As a result, even though he has a great collection, some cars desperately need a little love and care. Nonetheless, it was a very enjoyable visit for me – a collection of vintage cars on display amongst natural beauty is something you rarely see. What Mr. Deka was able to accomplish on his own is something that really needs to be appreciated. Some of the items on display at the museum are also extremely rare.
The museum is located in Sonapur, Kamrup (M) Assam, about 45 minutes from Guwahati. It is on the way to Shillong.
Definitely worth a visit for vintage car enthusiasts and car enthusiasts.
Cars
Please note that the cars are not in the condition we would expect from a typical “museum”, but please consider that here it is one man doing all of this out of his own pocket. Some of them are also in working order!
Standard-10:
Standard Herald:
A Hilman Minx from the 1970s:
One of the first American cars: (Chevy?)
A Standard Phase III Vanguard:
An old Oldsmobile that literally had to be pulled out of the ground:
An Austin A40:
An early 70s Ford Fairlane. This one has a V8 under the hood!
The First Evergreen Padmini:
Reverend Citroën Traction Avant. According to Mr. Deka, this one still works!
A Morris Minor:
W115 Benz:
An Austin-7:
A Datsun 1000 from the 70s:
An old Skoda 120. I had never seen a Skoda before this one:
A convertible Morris Minor:
A Ford Prefect with relatively less rust. Most of the toppings also seemed complete:
Morris Mini 1000:
Vauxhall 14/6:
Fiat 500 and Renault 4CV:
Keep reading Sanidhya mukund’s experience at vintage car collection for comments, insights and more information from BHPian.
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