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Dattatraya Lohar’s daughter was after him to buy a four-wheeler for a long time. However, the blacksmith from Maharashtra’s Devrashtre village could not fulfil her demand. But as his daughter continued the demand, he decided to ‘build’ a vehicle using jugaad .
He used a two-wheeler engine, ‘jeep’ structure, rickshaw tyres and developed other parts including steering in his fabrication shop. “ It took ₹50,000-60,000 to build the vehicle,” says Dattatraya. This is a kick-start “car” that can accommodate five people.
For more than a year Lohar worked on the design of his quaint vehicle, which looks like a weird cross between a rickshaw, a ‘jeep’, and an auto but still managed to impress Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra no end.
Mahindra’s tweet
On Wednesday, Mahindra tweeted Dattatraya’s video of the jalopy and wrote, “Local authorities will sooner or later stop him from plying the vehicle since it flouts regulations. I’ll personally offer him a Bolero in exchange. His creation can be displayed at Mahindra Research Valley to inspire us since ‘resourcefulness’ means doing more with less.”
On Tuesday, Mahindra had tweeted, “This clearly doesn’t meet with any of the regulations but I will never cease to admire the ingenuity and ‘more with less’ capabilities of our people. And their passion for mobility — not to mention the familiar front grille”.
As media-persons flocked to the tiny village in Sangli district to interview Dattatraya, they learnt that he had no college degree and had learnt fabrication work by practice. He has certainly learnt some useful skills in the school of life!
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