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Car Czar

Anubha Charan

At 6 feet and 7 inches, he might be "a little too big" to get into most Italian sports cars, but that has never been a deterrent for Colin Crabbe. A former Guards officer, he ran his own Formula One team at the beginning of the 1970s, raced Ford GT40s in endurance events and, until a near fatal crash in his Talbot-Lago at Oulton Park in 1988, was a regular competitor in historic racing.

His injuries were so severe and long lasting that he retired from out-and-out motor racing, now restricting himself to invitation-only rallies. Currently in India, astride his 1920 Vauxhall, for the 2300 kms Rally of the Raj - the country's first international vintage car rally, organised by the VCCCI under the aegis of FIVA - the Lincolnshire man with the hearty laughter is one of the very few people in the world who define the maxim: Been There, Done That!

This is in no small way attributable to the fact that Crabbe is possibly the only person on earth to have owned and raced both Auto Union (supercharged, mid-engined V12) and Mercedes-Benz racers from the same, pre-war era. The latter, a W125, Crabbe acquired from the Eastern Bloc, and, like the Auto Union, meticulously restored. The high point was when he won the Seaman Trophy with it, both in 1970 and '71. The Auto Union now rests in Korean hands, while the Merc is a prized possession of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's collection.

In the last 30 years, Crabbe has sold well over 1,000 marques, and regards himself not as a dealer but as a "broker and explorer in search of the rare and the exotic".

The search has taken him around the world, often on ground that few have dared to tread. He likes to recount the time when he heard that there were some interesting cars in Cuba, but that these were totally unapproachable due to Fidel Castro's communist revolution. In 1983 he applied for a business visa, but heard nothing for two years. Then came a call from the consulate, asking whether he could board the Cubana flight within a week.

"It was a remarkable trip," recalls Crabbe. "I knew that there were some Jaguar D-types in the country, but what I found were a pair of derelict XKSSs. At first sight I figured that all we had discovered was the bonnet of an E-type. Then I realised that there could not be any E-types in Cuba because the revolution and its aftermath would have made this impossible. So we braved a very vicious dog and found the XKSSs'. I can never forget that, even though one was in very bad shape and had a bent monocoque."

The full extent of Crabbe's good fortunes, however, was revealed when the car finally arrived at his house in 1986 -- after long years of negotiations -- and his wife found a Ferrari Testa Rossa rolling chassis included in the manifesto, totally unexpectedly.

South America turned out to be a treasure trove for old and exotic Ferraris, Maseratis and other makes. Crabbe went there up to five times a year for more than a decade, each trip yielding 7-8 cars.

"No one else seemed to bother with Latin America because of the bureaucratic obstacles and language barriers. They thought it would be impossible terrain. So I simply stepped in where angels feared to tread, and as a reward got some wonderful machines."

Not surprising in a person with the depth of knowledge that he possesses, Crabbe has strong opinions about cars and he can be an unyielding critic of icons like Ferraris. Modern Ferraris are a closed chapter for him. He has never driven anything later than the rare 400i manual model that he owned until five years ago. Going against popular opinion, he gives the 400i high marks for practicality and efficiency, especially on long journeys. He admits that the ergonomics are poor, but praises the gearbox and stresses that the car is hassle free. His mechanic created a special spanner so that the timing chain could be attended to in 35 minutes instead of the recommended two days.

The 400i has shared Crabbe's garage space with a number of other highly coveted machines, including an exceptionally rare 1958 'customer' Testa Rossa 250, a Ferrari Mondial that had been owned by the Marzotto brothers, a magnificent 2-seater Hispano-Suiza J12 (one of the only three with an 11.3 litre engine instead of a 9.5 litre), the first Frazer-Nash-BMW 327/80 cabriolet to have been sold in England, a V12 Testa Rossa driven to victory by Paul Frere in the 1960 Le Mans and a 1969 lightweight Daytona-one of the only five such models to have ever been made. They have all passed through his hands, alongwith thousands others, but Crabbe has few regrets about selling off these hard found treasures.

"I am an explorer, a searcher, remember? And explorers like to forever move on," he explains with a grin.

The latest in the search has been his work as a consultant to private collectors and international auction houses. He also runs his Complete Automobilist business, specialising in equipment for old cars and drivers, and has pioneered the company Captain's Tours to organise exclusive private rallies. All this, even as he continues to retrieve celebrated marques from the heart of Latin America.

The Indian visit is only the latest in the search, and Crabbe has his heart set on visiting Calcutta and other cities where he reckons there might be a few pleasant surprises awaiting him, even though stringent export regulations have rebutted any hopes for buying any of these treasures. But he is quite content just "discovering".

And that, finally, is what the man is all about exploring the road less travelled and discovering the undiscoverable. It is men like Colin Crabbe who keep history alive...even as they themselves move on to other horizons. No small feat, that!