VIVE LA, DIFFERENCE

The time-space continuum takes a jolt to its system when these two meet

- Kartik Ware

Chrome bumpers from 1960 next to MotoGP-inspired winglets from 2022 might just be the greatest definition of the word ‘contrast’. And that word is the only reason why you see these spectacularly different machines together on these pages. That, and the fact that I wanted to annoy ex-boss Srinivas Krishnan into waking up early and driving his bright green Beetle halfway across town so that we could annoy him even more with our well-timed jibes. His grumpiness is also a perfect contrast to his cheerful not-so-daily driver. Too bad I didn’t take him for a ride on the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S. Then again, the Italian brute had a pillion seat the size of my palm, so it probably wasn’t a wholly realistic prospect to begin with.

Anyway, what began with Hitler’s baby, the Beetle, grew into a global juggernaut that eventually bought Ducati which then made the Streetfighter V4 S. The entire world’s technological progress after the last great war is contained between these two machines. It’s almost mind-boggling to think that Srini’s retina-imprinting Beetle came 22 years after the first one, and then the model went on for another 43 years — a 65-year run that flew in the face of planned obsolescence. Quite brilliant, I say, and I must add the cliche that they certainly don’t make them like that anymore. Pity. They still should have.