Auto writer and enthusiast Adil Darukhanawala's coffee-table book tracing the motor racing history of the iconic Mercedes-Benz also holds a treasure trove of information on the car's India journey, says Amy Fernandes
While others may tell you it's about the race, automotive historian and writer Adil Jal Darukhanawala says it's about winning them. Which is what his large, 400 page, glossy coffee-table book is about. It comes with a tagline too: Mercedes-Benz WINNING!
Underscoring these sentiments, he explains the title. "The book commemorates winning at the highest level and Mercedes Benz has been in the winning position since 1894 when the first motor race in the world was run from Paris to Rouen. And in modern times, Lewis Hamilton (who has written the Foreword for the book) won the Formula-I World Championship for the first time after 1955 for Mercedes Benz in 2014." He continues, "Also, my first motor sport event was from Sydney to London, which was won by Mercedes Benz. So, everything gelled together. When I met the CEO of Mercedes Benz, I told them that while the brand has great equity, very few know its history. Especially of their time in India. And they encouraged me to go ahead with the book, because I love history and automotive history is my passion. And so, here's the book."
As historical journals demand, research is the backbone of this book. While it took him about four years to do the book, Darukhanawala says, "The research has been continuous. I have not just collected material, I have also photographed moments of history. Some, of course, have come from my grandfather's uncle's archives. In my search, I met people who parted with some facts and archival material because they did not know what to do with them. Close friends of Classical Cars committee also chipped in here in India but Mercedes Benz gave all the images for the motor sports section. About 4,000 to 5,000 images. Their archives must have about 5 million images.
But, they did not have any history on Mercedes Benz India! I think I can still go to the archives, spend another week there and can dig up quite a lot of information."
While we let the pictures do the talking, it's interesting to note that about 120 pages of this imposing book are based on the car's history in India.
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