Good day to my fellow T-Bhpians!
My first (of several I'm sure) post in the famed Team BHP forums. I'm extremely psyched to be a part of this incredible community. I always used this forum as a source of car reviews and thought of it as just another car website. Only very recently (2 weeks) did I realize how very wrong I was. The plethora of information and activity just amazed me and its been a moth and a flame situation since then. If anyone at work actually realized the amount of time I'm spending on team-bhp, I'm sure to be kicked out.
I was really impressed by what a close knit community this is and how everyone is genuinely interested in cars. An important reason for me joining is the sheer number of like minded car enthusiasts who are really hard to find outside and a chance to interact with them.
I guess my fascination with cars began at a very early age. I'm told that I was able to recall the names of all cars off of a vintage car calendar at the age of 3. I grew up with a lot of toy cars (had a full box of them). My prized possession then was a yellow colour Model Dodge Viper that my uncle had got for me from the US - which I eventually ended up breaking. I used to watch a lot of Formula 1 and followed it for a very long time - (although my interest has waned after the introduction of the V6 turbos - preferred the lovely V8 soundtrack
). Team I supported - McLaren Mercedes and Drivers - Mika Hakkinen, Kimi, Lewis Hamilton, all of 'em Mclaren drivers.
Moving to the present, I'm 24, completed my engineering at IIT Bombay (Civil) and MBA at IIM Calcutta, graduated only this year. I've been working for around 3 months now as a Management Consultant based out of Delhi.
Coming to cars, me and my dad share the enthusiasm for cars and we've had several long discussions ranging from what to buy to how the segments are moving to new launches, et al. I learnt how to drive on my dad's 1st gen Honda City (2002 model before the dolphin shaped version) which was a car for petrolheads and have driven it extensively. Cars in our garage - Corolla Altis (2008 - would have gone for the Civic if not for the low seats and potential back problems it offered ), Polo GT TSI (2013 - which I'm currently using
) and a very recently bought Grand i10. I've never had the opportunity earlier to use a car on a daily basis due to college restrictions but all that is gone now ever since I got my GT shipped to Delhi and its been an absolute pleasure.
While looking for our second car, we had tried several hatchbacks with none of the them fitting our requirements (to be fair our expectations were high, after the City and the Altis). Saw an ad on TV that a new Polo was released. We checked it out and the test drive instantaneously put a smile on both mine and dad's face. Booked the car and got it in 3 days (My IIM cal convert was a key driver of the booking). I think my GT was one of the very first ones sold in India. Just reading through the GT forums made me realize how lucky I was to get it without the hugely frustrating months of waiting time. Both my dad and I agree that it was one of the best decisions taken.
I'm just starting on my car ownership journey and it sure looks to be fruitful. I can't wait to start talking to other GT owners and spruce up my ride.
I'm really interested and want to explore circuit and track racing. I recently missed out on going to the mecca of racing, Nurburgring and drive there due to whatever reasons. Long drives are a welcome too. Looking for weekend destinations in and around Delhi.
High point in life - Drove a Maserati GranTourismo Coupe when I'd been to Singapore recently. The car was pretty old but the sheer power and soundtrack it offered was just sensational. An unforgettable experience.
Thank you for taking time to read through my long post (was just really excited) and looking forward to interact with all of you.
Cheers
P.S. Few pics that I had on my phone while posting - Please excuse the shot of the GT - was taken early morning as soon as I got it from Bangalore.