If there is one thing the one thing Ratan Tata is looking forward to after retirement, it’s to spend more time behind the wheel than a desk.
The world knows him as the reserved and unassuming head of India’s largest business conglomerate, but away from the office and his sober
business suits, there’s a different dimension to Tata’s life — a life car enthusiasts would die for.
Quite simply, he is crazy about cars. He can’t help it. Born a Parsi, the passion is deeply embedded in his DNA. Over the years Ratan has acquired quite a collection of cars and the pristine way in which he maintains them explains why the label ‘Parsi owned’ fetches a premium in the used car market.
When he’s not jetting across the globe, Ratan spends most Sundays behind the wheel. His ritual is to take a couple of his cars, one by one, for a short spin down Marine drive, in South Mumbai. So next Sunday it could be turn of the Ferrari California followed by the Maserati Quattroporte or the new Jag to get lovingly driven around a 10km loop.
Hormazd Sorabjee is the editor of Autocar India, India’s best-selling automobile magazine