Treasured Wheels atop hill!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 2: Meet this man, Piklu Deka, whose hobby is collecting vintage cars and the issue is his hobbyhorse. The very spot is Pathalipaani, atop a hill at Sopur on the outskirts of Guwahati. London Museum, Deka claims, did offer him Rs 18 crore for the museum – Treasured Wheels. “I, however, rejected the offer outright,” Deka said.

A junior engineer in the ASEB, Deka has a proud collection of over 50 vintage cars and over 40 bikes of diverse brands in his museum. Some of them date back to World War II. The collection include cars like 1921 Chevrolet, 1922 Austin 7, 1936 Fiat Topolino and 1944 Volkswagon. His collection of bikes includes the priceless 1933 Paratrooper weighing just 20 kg.

Pointing his index at the 1940 Reult and terming it the mother of the museum, Deka said: “Vintage cars are more in the Northeast than rest of the country. This is what we still have from the Raj rule. British tea planters were fond of using various brands of cars. However, when the time came for them to move away, they had to leave a good number of cars behind. During and after the World War II also, a large number of such cars were left behind. What I’m doing is not for me alone. After all, one day all will have to leave this world. However, while leaving this world this collection will continue to stay for those who want to see them. My wife is supporting me much in this venture.” Deka’s craze for cars made him grow as a collector of vintage cars as a grown up man. As a child in Dibrugarh, he had the opportunity to have seen a beautiful vintage car. Since then he just cannot control his craze for such cars. For him it’s something more than hobby. His is a craze, but not for a while.

When he began his costly collection, cash was the biggest problem he had to confront. He had to take loans from friends and banks. Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi lent him Rs 2 lakh for the venture.