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Textile tycoon teaches car lovers how to spend their money
Gautam Hari Singhania, chairman and managing director of Raymond Limited, visits the Super Car Club Garage twice a week for the repair and restoration of supercars and vintage cars. The garage, which began in 2019 with space for five cars, now houses over 50 cars and a defunct MiG 21 fighter aircraft. Singhania has also recently launched GS Design, which offers personalised customisation and interior fabrication for any car. The garage aims to deliver high-quality work at a fraction of the time and cost compared to other restoration garages. Singhania sees the growing interest in supercars and vehicle restoration as a sign of India's consumption story and progress.
MUMBAI: A visibly pleased Gautam Hari Singhania stands in the sparkling chrome and metal ambience of a timeless automobile legacy. A curvaceous metallic maroon and pearl white 1935 Lincoln Zephyr, a red 1934 Packard 7-seater convertible, a black 1959 Cadillac Eldorado; it’s a car candy store, cutting across brands, kinds, engines, and time. “There’s a kid in every car lover,” Singhania says, rounding off the kid in a candy store analogy.
The chairman and managing director of Raymond Limited has just flown in from south Mumbai to Thane’s Super Car Club Garage (SCCG) in his helicopter. Twice a week, Singhania visits this sweeping, 45,000 sq ft hangar-like workshop for the repair and restoration of supercars and vintage cars. “This garage is a natural extension of my passion for cars. I enjoy being here and seeing them get restored,” he says, casually rocking his SCCG monogrammed tee and loafers.
The SCCG passion project began in 2019 with a space for five cars. Today it houses more than 50 cars — and a defunct MiG 21 fighter aircraft — in various stages of makeover. A metallic red and black 1948 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe is restored and ready to mesmerise a vintage car show. A grey Ford Hot Rod, having overcome its rusted tank and engine troubles, is awaiting its finishing touches. Sustained aromas of polish and thinner hang in the air reverberating with stray metallic sounds of knocking and pounding. A staff of around 200 handles the restoration and modification, which covers the engine, body, chassis, interiors, upholstery, tyres, rims, wiring and electrical.
A standout innings of the SCCG is the revamped iconic gold Audi 100 that Ravi Shastri won at the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket. After frequenting many garages in vain, the Audi landed at SCCG, where over eight months, it was completely stripped and rebuilt. Thrilled upon receiving it in June, Shastri said, “It looks like the car I won 37 years ago. Nothing has changed. Unbelievable!”
For Singhania, transforming regular cars into luxury vehicles with swanky interiors was a natural progression. A week ago, at JK House — the Breach Candy skyscraper where he both lives and works — Singhania launched GS Design, which offers personalised customisation and interior fabrication for any car. Singhania took the guests through two customised vehicles. While the Toyota Innova Crysta boasted of features such as aircraft-style captain’s chairs upholstered with perforated leather, and a 40-inch TV, the Force Traveller upgrade packed in seven seats, a TV, a chemical toilet, and a mini pantry.
In the first week of its launch, GS Design was swamped with 25 orders, says Singhania. “We have created a whole new market. People have money. They need to be shown where to spend it,” he says. “We are the only workshop in the world that probably delivers such diversity of work. We are customising vanity vans to 40-foot vans, doing interiors for homes, helicopters, corporate jets and MiG 21.”
Singhania sounds as excited to be in the driver’s seat of the automobile evolution as he would be to jump in on a joyride in any of the beauties from his fleet. Of course, he can’t pick favourites from his collection; bejewelled with 10 Ferraris, 6 Lamborghinis and 3 McLarens, and more specifically includes Lamborghini Gallardo LP570 Superleggera, Lotus Elise convertible, Nissan Skyline GTR, Honda S2000, and Ferrari 458 Italia. “I have enjoyed cars all my life. Supercars are just another step up. I enjoyed my Marutis and Fiats as much,” Singhania says. “But to be able to work with supercars, to witness their evolution over decades, and to drive them, has been such a privilege.”
That should sufficiently explain Singhania’s keen involvement in resto-mod (restored classic car modified with modern parts and tech) adventures. A recent one is how the geniuses at his garage chopped the 1985 Mercedes-Benz AMG 190E, extended its body, stuck a 2015 Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 engine into it, and spruced it up extensively. “We enjoy doing the fun stuff. But we repair every car, from a Fiat to a Ferrari; whatever brings in the money regularly. Our idea is to do quality work,” Singhania says. “You spend ₹20 lakh to restore a car. But you are actually adding a ₹1 crore asset. That’s because the car’s value after the restoration goes up way more than the restoration cost.”
One would be hard-pressed to find a visiting client at SCCG who isn’t a car aficionado. A gentleman in his 60s, who wished to be unnamed, visits the garage weekly to catch the restoration progress of his 1941 Buick Super Convertible, which he has driven 32,000 km over the past 25 years. “She is beautiful. I am restoring her so that in my lifetime, she doesn’t face any trouble,” he says, looking gently at its chassis undergoing servicing.
SCCG also prides itself on impressive turnaround times. A decked-up black Rolls Royce was restored in just three months. “We are restoring a car for a maharaja and we have guaranteed him rust to riches in two months,” Singhania explains. “If you go to P&A Wood in the UK today, you will find that they take three years to restore a car and charge you ₹3 to ₹5 crore for it. We charge ₹35 lakh. There, it will cost you 10 times the money and time.”
In the burgeoning niche spaces like supercars, or the desire to restore and customise vehicles, Singhania sees the “consumption story” of India. “In the ’90s, every guy who worked in my factory came to work on a cycle. Now, everyone comes on a motorcycle. That is the progress of India,” Singhania points out. “Just look at the number of vehicles we make, our market size, and the ready availability of finance. The big consumption story of the Indian middle class, whether it’s real estate or retail, is bigger than that of most nations. All the exposure through media and social media has turned India into an educated market. Exposure creates demand.”
On the higher floors of JK House, the large windows bear witness to a constantly transforming city in the throes of a construction frenzy and infrastructure overhaul. “With the new FSI rules, almost every society in Mumbai wants to redevelop. They get 35-40 percent more area, and a brand new building,” he says.
When Raymond, the country’s largest textile manufacturer, entered the realty world in 2019 with its sprawling project in Thane to maximise the potential of its 120-acre land bank, one of its priorities was to offer “affordable luxury at scale”. Singhania seems content with what he has managed to pull off. “I see that a family living in my TenX Habitat towers in Thane actually has a better lifestyle in terms of facilities and amenities than 99.9 percent of people living in South Bombay,” he says. “Which housing complex in Mumbai city can give you a 25,000 sq ft clubhouse, a 5-acre garden, and an integrated lifestyle? None. What we have created is a complete ecosystem.”
Singhania believes four projects — the coastal road project, Navi Mumbai airport, the new metro lines, and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link — will fundamentally change Mumbai. “In two years, Mumbai will be totally transformed,” he says. “I’m doing a realty project in Bandra West, on the Western Express Highway, which today takes me 40 minutes to reach. When the coastal road opens, it will take 10 minutes from Breach Candy and 20 minutes from Nariman Point. It’s a different game. I will get from my home to the new airport in 25 minutes. You cannot imagine it.”
The thought of cruising down in a supercar could surely help with the imagination. If not, then the folks at SCCG have a steady supply of bells and whistles to bring out that kid in every car lover. Like the maharaja who was overcome by a flood of nostalgia upon meeting his resurrected vintage car the other day. “When I was a child, he told me, I would press that button and sit here, on the centre seat in the front,” Singhania says. “That emotion returned to him strongly. He couldn’t believe how thoroughly we had restored his car. We are bringing back the legacy.”
What is the fascination with the old? “It is a fascination for life,” he says.
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