Imagine riding a king-sized bed, a sofa, a high-heeled shoe or a ladies’ purse along the road. Seems whacky! but Sudha Car Museum in Hyderabad houses a host of unrealistic functioning cars and bikes that come in the most unusual of shapes.
Sudha Car Museum is a private car museum run by Kanyaboyina Sudhakar Yadav, or simply Sudha. A car enthusiast, Sudha’s love affair with cars started in his early teens. At 14, he built his first car from discarded and junk materials. In 2005, he built the world’s largest tri-cycle. Towering at 13m and with a wheel diameter of 5m, the vehicle found a place in the Guinness World Records. His later creation found a place in the Limca Book of Records.
Ganesha on mouse car; Brinjal car and High heel shoe car
In 2010, Sudha decided to display his creations in a museum. Known as the Sudha Car Museum, it is located near the Nehru Zoological Park. The museum contains a series of workable cars made by Sudha and is regarded as the only whacky car museum in the world by Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
A house-shaped ticket counter welcome visitors to the museum. The house measuring 15ft by 3ft and has a kitchen, toilet and bedroom. Beyond the counter, slides and rocking seats made out of car and scooter parts welcome visitors to the interiors of Sudha Car Museum.
The entrance also houses two motor-bikes with shoe and commode-shaped sidecars. Next on display are a series of jeeps, motorbikes and cycles from World War II. These include a folding bicycle. The vintage display gallery also includes automobile parts and accessories. The collection extends to contemporary automobiles and even contains 2001 army jeeps. The gallery also houses modified cars. These cars are modified by Sudha and contain a three-wheeled auto converted into a van. It also houses a Maruti Omni modified into a single bogey tram.
The eye-catching welcome banner of Sudha Car Museum
The next shed houses several cars made by Sudha. A section is dedicated to scaled-down models of luxury cars and bikes. It contains models of Rolls Royce Silver Ghost and Harley Davidson bikes. The interesting part is that all the automobiles are operational and road-worthy.
The most interesting section of the museum is that of the whacky cars. These functioning cars are designed on the lines of anything under the sun. From a lady’s handbag to shoe and from chess board to Christmas tree, Sudha Car Museum probably houses anything you could ever imagine. Sudha’s creation continues and he keeps adding to his collection.
Assortment of tandem cycles
On special days he often comes up with theme-based cars. Children’s Day he came up with pencil and eraser cars, Women’s Day saw the launch of shoe and bag cars. Sudha came up with a condom bike on World AIDS Day.
Each of the exhibits come up with an informative plaque, providing details about the make of the vehicle, the speed capacity and the time taken to manufacture the piece. The walls behind contain flexes providing more detail information. Burger, lipstick, rakhi, helmet and commode cars all part of the display.
Apart from cars, Sudha’s collection also contains a couple of toy trains that are fully functional and run on tracks. The museum exhibits also contain a number of cycles consisting mainly of tandem cycles. Tandem or twin cycles usually accommodate two riders but cycles in Sudha’s collection can accommodate as many as six people. These cycles also come in various shapes and in some cases, the riders sit side by side instead of one behind the other.
Inside the Sudha Car Museum
The museum is housed under a couple of sheds and is very cramped. This makes photographing the individual exhibits very difficult. Moreover, the information flexes provided in the background are covered up by the exhibits making it difficult to read. Although exhibited vehicles are in running condition there is no provision for a live running demonstration. On special days, the museum organises running sessions but if you are there on any other day, you have to remain satisfied with static models.
However, viewing them in static condition is no less interesting. So, next time you are in Hyderabad, don’t give the world’s only whacky car museum a miss. It can be combined with a visit to the nearby zoo. Even Charminar, the prime attraction of Hyderabad, is not far away.
