In what could be described as the coming together of two legends, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been gifted a fully restored Ford Prefect vintage car
The actor was absolutely delighted to receive this gift and he shared his excitement on his Twitter handle. The gift is all the more special for Mr Bachchan, as the actor has fond memories of this car from his childhood days. Back in the 1950s, Ford Prefect was the first family car to be used by the Bachchans when they used to live in Allahabad.
In his tweet, Mr Bachchan said that he has been left speechless with this priceless gift. ‘A gesture beyond time’ perfectly described how the actor felt about receiving the Ford Prefect. Providing details of how the entire story developed, the actor wrote on his blog that he had earlier mentioned about Ford Prefect in one of his blogs. His friend Anant read that blog and decided to do something that will allow the actor to take a trip down memory lane. Anant found another Ford Prefect, restored it to fully working condition and gifted it to Mr Bachchan. Anant even managed to get the same registration number as that of the original Ford Prefect owned by Bachchan family.
Talking about Ford Prefect, the car used to be manufactured by Ford UK from 1938 to 1961. It was manufactured at Ford’s production facility in Dagenham, Essex. Prefect was positioned as a premium version of other models such as Ford Anglia and Ford Popular. Powering the car was a 1.2-litre engine that was mated to a 3-speed manual gearbox. The car was popular for its durable motor and lightweight body.
Ford Prefect holds the distinction of being the first Ford car to be designed at an international location. All other cars before Prefect were designed at the company’s headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. Lifetime sales of the car were close to 2 lakh units.
In his blog, the actor said that no one has ever done something so special for him. He said that he has been overwhelmed by this ‘incredible gesture’ and hardly has words to describe how he feels. It may be recalled that Mr Bachchan is a great fan of cars and his garage has many top-rated models.
As of now, the actor owns cars such as Lexus LX 570, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Bentley Continental GT, Mini Cooper S, Porsche Cayman S, and Range Rover. His earlier collection included Mercedes-Benz SL500 Roadster, Bentley Arnage R and Rolls-Royce Phantom. The actor is also said to have once owned the humble Maruti 800.
