THE FOUNDER
The artist who lived and breathed automobiles, and showed that the burgeoning automotive industry in India could be independent of foreign collaboration. This is the story of Menon and his art of steel.
PROMPT MOTORS
1952
In celebration of his first son’s birth in 1952, KAB Menon decided to set up his own workshop, Prompt Motors. The business mainly catered to the post-expulsion growth in the pre-owned, repaired and coach-built automotive market.
When the new government took over in 1947, they decided to expel all international manufacturers like Studebaker. However, Menon took the resulting five-year waiting period for new cars in his stride. He serviced most of the imported cars and repaired any damaged vehicles – and he even looked after the Travancore palace fleet, earning himself the nickname ‘Prompt Menon’.
Prompt Motors had three branches – in Kottayam, Ernakulam and Nagercoil, as well as the HQ in Trivandrum. The workshops ran seven days a week, with little time-off for Menon.
In 1955, while on a drive from Kottayam to Trivandrum in his Studebaker Champion, Menon crashed into a tree. The accident was severe enough to total the car and hospitalise him for three months. When you are effectively the only expert in the ’50s juggling all of those workshops, it’s not surprising that the facility couldn’t run without his management. Eventually, the company had to close the three branches before he was able to return to work.
ARAVIND AUTOMOBILES
1956
Menon took some time to recover from the nasty crash while driving his Studebaker. However, when he did, he rebuilt the wreck into the Iddy Champion and went straight to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, his place of solace. As a tribute to the ashram that helped him overcome the trauma, he named his new company Aravind Automobiles. This was in 1956, the same year the State of Kerala was formed out of Thiru-Kochi as it was earlier known.
This time around, Menon intended to make Aravind into a national brand. And by 1964, he was well on his way to establish the automotive brand that could help to propel the fledgling country forward. However, official government records and internal documents indicate that the road to fruition was not paved with red carpets.
Fast forward to today, and we begin anew with a sense of commitment that reaches far beyond the need to build great automobiles.
THE LEGENDS
Menon’s creations became more advanced with each model he built. His work started with the front and rear design of the Studebaker. He then moved on to the whole body replacement of the Cadillac and finally, complete development of the Model 3. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the first two cars are unknown.