Pranlal bhogilal patel biography of michael

WORDS: GAUTAM SEN | PHOTOGRAPHY: MAKARAND BAOKAR

One of the first places I visited soon after I had moved to Bombay (Mumbai now) in 1985 was the stretch of road known as Walkeshwar Road, specifically the section in front of the fortress-like building known as Daskot. The only place you could peek inside was the basement garage at street level, where you could get a glimpse of a piece of a vintage car through the narrow grille.

It would be another two years – after I launched India’s first newsstand auto magazine Indian Auto – and several attempts at getting an appointment before I finally gained access to that palace, which reputedly housed one of the finest collections of historic vehicles in India.

Getting to finally meet Pranlal Bhogilal (1937-2011), India’s pioneer collector and auto enthusiast, was one of the more important moments in my life, as much as discovering the amazing cars that were parked at