Gedee Car Museum Or GD Museum Coimbatore
Gedee Car Museum located at a distance of 3 km from
Coimbatore Junction in Anna Salai, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,India. Gedee Car
Museum is a private vintage car museum .
G D Naidu History :
GopalswamyDoraiswamy Naidu (a.k.a. G D Naidu) born
on 23.03.1893 was one of the icons of Coimbatore, He was a well-known
scientist, an eminent industrialis, inventor educationalist and
philanthropist, titled ‘the Edison of India’.
G D Naidu started his career as a bus driver owning
a single bus in 1933 and moved on to own 600 buses in a span of a decade.
Later his interest went beyond the
transport business and he started manufacturing his own spare parts for timely
repair and services of his buses.
G D Naidu visited many European and American companies to learn the best technologies and on his return set up a factory in Coimbatore to manufacture these products.
Some of the inventions to his credit
are Magno-flex testing unit, UMS Radio, Electronic Counting Device, Camera Lens
Adjuster, Recording Machine , Radiogram, Mica Capacitors, Carbon Resistors,
Nozzles, Radiators etc.,
Whenever G D Naidu traveled abroad he looked some
items with unique technology which would interest the younger generation he
brought them to India and displayed them along with his latest inventions in
the temporary and traveling exhibitions for the general public,
It always attracted a huge crowd. Later stage he
set up a permanent museum at G D Naidu Charities which is the home to all these
unique products arranged in different categories.
From time to time he personally explained the
technology to the visiting students by means of demo classes.The Gedee Car
Museum is a dedication to car enthusiasts all around the world, Experimenta
Science Centre is a tribute to the strong belief that Mr GD Naidu had, which is
“The best way of learning is to learn by doing”.
Gedee Car Museum History : Gedee Car Museum is the only
classic car museum in south India, It has an impressive collection of more than
100 vintage cars, each with a history or a unique technology.
The museum was founded by GD Gopal in 2015 as a
commemoration of his late father, Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu. During its
inauguration, the museum was endowed with a distinctive assortment of
automobiles originating from Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Spain, and the
United States.
Some of these regal grandeurs of automobiles were
the luxurious possessions of the Maharajas of Udaipur, Benz Motorwagen, Morris
Cowley, Austin 7, BMW Isetta 250, Hansa, Mercedes Benz SLK, Citroen Xm, Peugeot
203, Cadillac Limousine, Oldsmobile Dynamic, Subaru Rex, Mazda RX8, Toyota
Sera, Hispano Suiza H6B, etc.
Besides, there are a few Indian cars as well including
the prototype of a low car designed by GD Naidu. There is also an original
Burma Shell petrol pump in perfectly usable condition.
Nearly 35 different brands cars are a private
collection of G D Naidu several cars,
especially those that had unique mechanical features or the ones that had
significantly influenced the evolution of the automobile.
The museum received eight cars donated by other vintage car enthusiasts. As of August 2023, the museum covers an area of 23,500 square feet and accommodates a total of 110 cars.
Main objective of the museum is that students and
the general public, who see these vintage beauties, learn about the technology
and the people behind designing and manufacturing the cars, with the minimal
technology available in that era.
The museum has a section that acknowledges the
achievements of five car designers who revolutionised the automobile industry.
Gedee Car Museum has a team that works on restoring rare and antique
automobiles depending on the availability of the components to get the cars
back to their workable condition.
G D Naidu Gedee Car Museum
Highlights :
Geedee Car Museum houses every significant
development in car industry, from a replica of the first automobile in the
world (1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen), to recent racing cars.
There are over 70 models on display, of which
around 30 are from G D Charitable Trust’s collection. And they are arranged
chronologically, with documentation explaining the evolution of automobile
industry as a whole.
Gedee Car Museum include Rolls Royce 20 owned by
the Mysore Maharaja, McDowell 1000 designed by legendary Indian racer S
Karivardhan,from Coimbatore,
The Benz motorwagen (the first ever car in the
world), Ford-T (The first mass produced car in the early 1990), The Volkswagen
Beetle (first rear engine car), Hitler's people car, and the Morris Mini (the
forerunner of today's cars)
In 1940s It took one whole hour to get the Palani-bound
bus road-ready Before the driver turned the ignition on, an assistant would add
wood chips into a wood gasifier fitted behind.
“When these burned inside the furnace, it resulted in combustible
wood gas,” The bus had a petrol engine, but science pioneer GD Naidu had
modified it to suit hybrid fuel owing to a shortage of petrol and diesel across
the world after World War II.
Painted blue, it is in running condition, and is among
the latest additions to Coimbatore’s famed Gedee Car Museum. He was one of the very few people to own a Rolls Royce (in
around 1935), which was gifted to him.
GeDee Car Or G D Naidu Museum
Coimbatore Timings : 9.00am to 6.30pm
GeDee Car Or G D Naidu Museum Coimbatore Open :
Tuesday – Sunday
Closed - Monday and National Holidays
GeDee Car Or G D Naidu Museum
Coimbatore Entry Fee : Rs 50 for adult, Rs 20 for child.
Best time to visit GeDee Car Or G
D Naidu Museum Coimbatore : May, June, July, August
GeDee Car Or G D Naidu Museum
Coimbatore Address :
#734 President Hall, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore -
641018,
Tamil Nadu, India.
How to reach GeDee Car Or G D
Naidu Museum Coimbatore :
By Road:-
Nearest Bus Stand to Car Museum is Panchapalayam Bus Stop.
By Rail:- GD Naidu Car Museum is at a
distance of 3 km from Coimbatore Junction.
By Air:- The distance from the Car Museum to the Coimbatore International Airport is 10.0 km,
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