Lady Governor Eyed This German Adler Owned By Ex-Top Cop

Septuagenarian Gadaichandra Dey got it as a gift from his father who imported it in 1938. The car features in eponymous Gadai Er Bari.

Kolkata: The year was 1965, and the diggers mistook it as a lump of clay. But to their bemusement, it turned out to be a German Adler of the Colonial era. The red four-wheeler, buried for 24 years, found its shelter in the garage of Gadaichandra Dey, a former top cop. It was one among many vintage cars that partook in a rally on January 12 and 19.

Dey was gifted the Alder by his father, Harimohan Dey, who bought and imported it from Germany in 1938, for successfully clearing the Higher Secondary examination.

Dey, a septuagenarian who superannuated as the assistant commissioner of Kolkata Police sixteen years back, told ETV Bharat that he spends his retired life driving this vintage marvel. Though he owns another small car. Dey has a bookshop at College Street in Kolkata.

To the question of how this car went under the soil, Dey said, "My father palmed me off a key after my +2 examination and advised me to go to our farmhouse in Baranagar where Ghanashyam, our gardener, was waiting for me. He asked me to check the space beside a champak tree where a car had been kept. To my surprise, I found nothing except the empty field. Afterwards, with the help of Ghanashyam, we started digging at the spot with a spade and found the German Adler underneath," he said.

"After taking it out, I thought it to be a lump of clay. But when Ghanashyam cleaned it off, the whole car was exposed with the engine intact as it was wrapped properly. The colour of the Adler was white and my father asked me to take it to a garage across from Park Street Police Station for repair. From there, it was driven to our Ballygaunge house," he added.

Gadaichandra Dey with his prized posession. (ETV Bharat)

Since then, the red Adler has been adorning Dey's garage with its untold history. Dey said then Lady Governor had a copious eye on it. "In 1941-42, Governor Sir John Arthur Herbert wanted to buy this car at the request of his wife and gave instructions to the police on it. My father got to know about this and buried it in the Baranagar farmhouse. Hardy any spares of it is available now and I have to make it my own," Dey said.

Famous Bengali author and humourist Shibram Chakraborty rode the Adler and based on it, penned the eponymous 'Gadai Er Gari'.

Apart from Adler, Dey has three vintage cars including the iconic Standard Little Nine which he discovered while chasing a thief. The other two are Morriss H and Austin.