Gedee Car Museum in Coimbatore
#734 President Hall, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore
GopalswamyDoraiswamy Naidu (a.k.a. G D Naidu) was one of the icons of Coimbatore, the second largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu. He was a well-known scientist, inventor educationalist and philanthropist, titled ‘the Edison of India’, who played a role in various developments in the city and the nation, including industries and infrastructure.
He had a strong affinity towards automobiles and he was one of the very few people to own a Rolls Royce (in around 1935), which was gifted to him. His car collection is now put on show along with a lot of wheels from all over the world, at the new Geedee Car Museum.
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.
Some of the historically significant cars in the Gedee Car Museum include Rolls Royce 20 owned by the Mysore Maharaja, McDowell 1000 designed by legendary Indian racer from Coimbatore, S Karivardhan, and 1908 Ford T (the first mass produced car), among others, many of which were donated to the museum by auto aficionados from different cities across India. There are some contributions from the United States and Germany as well.
The main objective of the museum is that the students and general public, who see these cars, should also learn about technology behind it and the person responsible for such innovations, either in design or engineering or in workmanship etc. and this museum tries to give as much information as in necessary, to highlight the men behind the marvels. It is the desire of Sri G D Naidu that students should get inspired by these examples and he started thinking that if in the late 18th century people could create such wonders even without much facility and technology advancement why can’t they think of such revolutionary ideas?
The car collection has been categorized into few sections. The unique car section has five cars which revolutionised and influenced automotive technology such as 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)
TIMINGS:-
Tuesday - Saturday - 9.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday - 10.00am to 6.00pm
Monday and Public Holiday – Closed