He’s not your flamboyant cricketer, but he always got the job done.
The ‘Colonel’ likes his cars that way too, writes Girish Karkera

“A reliable engine, good interiors and comfortable ride are what I want in my car. ”

A grey-coloured Honda City (the new one) just seems made for him. Not flashy, neither a stunner but a car you could drive around all day.
Ex-cricketer ‘Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar, however, picked up the car not for what it looks, but for what it is.
“I did a lot of research before I zeroed in on buying the New City,” says the lanky Vengsarkar. “I picked up the car because I felt it was one of those which is at par with international standards.”
Not surprising as Vengsarkar had spent much of his days travelling the world over, getting a taste of some of the most exotic cars. Of course, he couldn’t buy any.
“I guess that’s the prerogative of today’s cricketer,” smiles Vengsarkar. “There was not so much money when I played.” His first car, like a whole generation (or two) of Indians, was the Premier Padmini.
“I bought it for Rs 35,000,” he recalls of his first pair of wheels which he bought in the late 1970s just after he started playing cricket for India. There have been a host of cars since then, the Premier 118NE, Maruti Esteem, Santro; it’s quite a endless list. And that’s because Vengsarkar doesn’t keep them for long.
“Maybe three or four years,” he notes. “I like to see my cars in the best of health always and I think after a certain time, problems do crop up in the machines.”