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But of course, the Jayaram GT isn’t just about looks. How could it be, when it was built by someone instrumental in establishing motor racing as a sport in this country? Bobby lifts the hood of the car to show us just what makes this a beast of a wolf in stylish sheep threads. The Jayaram GT is powered by what was once a Herald engine, except it’s been worked on so much, it now has a capacity of 1.4 litres as opposed to the original 948cc. It puts out 140 bhp, comes fitted with racing cams and twin Webers, all of which go towards helping it cross the double tonne with ease. And then he fires the car up. The engine makes a deep, powerful, bellowing noise, he sort of sound you’d hear and turn around expecting to see a drag racer - what you see is this beauty instead.
Soon I’m sitting in the passenger seat, while Bobby expertly manoeuvres the car through traffic so we can get to the next location for our shoot. Following us in a turbocharged Civic are Bobby’s son Sharan, and Kartik who’s hanging out the window, an eager shutterbug. 'He wants to go fast,' Bobby says eyeing the Civic in the rear-view mirror. So he slips out from behind a couple of slow moving vehicles, changes gear and zips past them, making it far more interesting for Sharan to keep up. The funny thing about him shifting gears is that I can just about make out the shifts, but Bobby’s hand is nowhere near the gear lever. Then I see the tiny switch to the right of the driver that he is flicking back and forth. The car has eight forward gears, four of which are electronically controlled, which means all you need to do is flick the switch – up for a higher gear and down for a lower gear. It boggles the mind that this was made in 1973, and at home at that!
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