President Pranab Mukherjee on January 18 unveiled the restored version of ‘Audi Wanderer W24’ car in which Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had made his great escape from his ancestral home in Kolkata to Germany in 1941.
Netaji had used this German made car to escape from his Elgin Road residence to Gomoh railway station in Jharkhand to catch a train to Delhi.
The car was unveiled to commemorate the 76th anniversary of Netaji’s Great Escape as well as 60th anniversary of the Netaji Research Bureau (NRB) Kolkata.
“I must congratulate Krishna Bose and other members for undertaking the task of refurbishing the car which was used by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose for his great escape,” President Mukherjee said.
The great escape is known as “Mahanishkraman” which depicts the story of leaving the house, its preparedness and the consequences, he said.
The German Wanderer sedan of 1937 make has been restored to its 1941 look by automobile giant Audi.
The sedan was driven regularly until 1957 by Sugata’s father and later it was given to Netaji Research Bureau and kept for visitors there. The car was again driven briefly for the Japanese TV project in 1978.
A team of mechanics from Audi Kolkata started working in May 2016 to restore the iconic 4-door Audi’s (then Auto Union) Wanderer W24 to its former glory.
It is the most prized possession of the Netaji Research Bureau museum. Netaji was said to be the first Indian to own an Audi vehicle in the country.
