Back In Time

A glorious V8 And A 1,000 km trip. need we say more?

- Anubhav Sharma

As I grow older, the desire to hang on to the simplicity of time gone by is becoming stronger. I may sound like I’m 70, but I’m not. Although I do miss the days of lesser technology, pure air and the simple joys of life. There was a time when there was no cell phone to reach you 24/7, or Alexa to listen to your conversations. A time when mail came without an irritating ding (only once a day) and when cars were not pretending to be something they weren’t. Cars from that era were simplistic, not over designed, practical and what you saw was what you got. Don’t misunderstand this nostalgic tone as my dislike for technology; I use and appreciate it as much as any other semi tech-literate person. A balance of both worlds, where technology doesn’t take over your life but adds to the simple joys is when I’m happy with technology. Like the G63, things have stayed pretty much unchanged from 1979, give for a monster of an engine from AMG. And what better place to hear that riot of an exhaust than the hills, right?

The main reason for heading to the hills, apart from my love for the hills, is that almost everyone told me the G63 is only good for straight lines and crazy speeds. Challenge accepted, I said to myself and left one hot summer morning from Gurgaon. Courtesy the ladder frame chassis (yeah it still has one of those), you sit quite high in the G63; something which surprisingly, I really liked. My neighbors up there were Tata 407 drivers as I hit the newly constructed Delhi-Meerut expressway, while almost every other vehicle on the road had to look up to me. Most looks were a mix of awe and jealousy, some were of sheer surprise at the height of the G63, and the remaining were probably disgust aimed at my silly grin, so let’s just ignore them.