THE GENIUS OF KARI

A beautiful balance of power vs grip marks out the McDowell 1000, the last indigenous sports car to be raced in India and a reminder of the engineering genius that was S Karivardhan. We drive one of only two still in existence

- SIRISH CHANDRAN

THE FISSME MIGHT BE S KARIVARDHAN’S most important and longest lasting legacy but his body of work was vast, spanning not just racing but rallying, engineering and had he not passed away in a microlight accident in 1995, his kit cars might also have hit the road. Speaking to people in the know what’s clear is that the widely acclaimed father of Indian motorsport had a vision unlike anybody else. He realised that Indian motorsport needed reliable, economical and safe race cars — all built to the same standards so as to let driver skill shine through — and that led to the creation of the FISSME which every notable racer of the ’90s and 2000s cut their teeth on. And then he realised that if sponsors were to remain in the sport they needed more space to flout their logos and thus came about this race car, the McDowell 1000.

Active from 1991 till 1995, this two-seater was a throwback to the Formula Indian that was cheered on by the 60,000 plus crowd that thronged the Sholavaram air strip. Those sports cars, as they were then called, were gradually giving way to single seaters but internationally they remained popular, which inspired Kari’s follow up to the FISSME. And because it was backed by Vijay Mallya’s McDowell, right from the start he kept sponsor interest in mind while designing the car.