Enthusiast Of The Year

The 2015, 2016 and 2017 evo Cars of the Year, in one garage, in India? Meet Boopesh Reddy whose Bren Garage houses a Ferrari 458 Speciale, Porsche Cayman GT4 and the only 911 R to be delivered in the country.

- Sirish Chandran

A DUSTBIN-SIZED EXHAUST HANGS OFF THE back of an Evo X parked in a sleepy bylane of Bangalore. We are in search of the #BrenGarage, a supercar fleet I recently discovered on Instagram, and by the gofaster stickers adorning the Evo’s flanks we’ve come to the right place.

We present ourselves at imposing black gates that slide open to reveal a leafy and rather spacious courtyard. In one corner is a Cayenne but before my eyes can pick out whether it’s a regular diesel or a full-on Turbo my attention is diverted by a big ol' wing perched on the rump of a 997 Turbo sitting on searing red wheels. Manik, our friend from Racetech, coughs politely and diverts my attention to another Turbo, this one a blue 991.2 Turbo S. Something catches the corner of my eye. It’s a Macan Turbo. And none of these cars are why we’ve come to Bangalore in the first place.

We’ve come to check out the evo Car of the Year, only one example of which has been delivered in India and the Bren Garage is its home. In Porsche circles this is A Very Big Deal – you can’t just walk into a Porsche dealership and write a cheque for a 911 R. Crazy as it may sound in this day and age where manufacturers – Porsche included – are on a relentless quest to increase numbers, cars like the 911 R remain super exclusive. You have to be approved by headquarters to turn over a ridiculously large sum of money for a 911 R.

The 911 R isn’t here, well not in the courtyard at least. The Bren Garage is one level down, in the basement, and we are led down a flight of stairs to be greeted by a searing yellow Huracan. Next to it is an Aston DBS, an earlier generation R8 V10 Plus, a 458 Speciale, another 911, a Cayman GT4 and the car we’ve come to see, the 911 R. And that’s when it dawns on me – the Bren Garage has three of the past