Payana Car Museum is the newest attraction for tourists in Mysuru Premium

About 7 km before reaching Mysuru’s Outer Ring Road junction on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, a structure resembling the silhouette of a giant tyre attracts the attention of passing-by motorists. This landmark spread across 10 acres of land in Naguvinahalli in Srirangapatna taluk, features a vintage car museum that has become the latest attraction for visitors to Mysuru.

About 7 km before reaching Mysuru’s Outer Ring Road junction on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, a structure resembling the silhouette of a giant tyre attracts the attention of passing-by motorists. This landmark spread across 10 acres of land in Naguvinahalli in Srirangapatna taluk, features a vintage car museum that has become the latest attraction for visitors to Mysuru.

Conceived and curated by Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala D. Veerendra Heggade, the Payana Car Museum boasts of a collection of about 80 to 90 enchanting exhibits of automobiles displayed on two expansive floors of the museum ranging from not only vintage cars, but also two wheelers, carts and trucks, each of which narrate a story of their own.

“Our museum is more than a collection; it’s an educational journey, meticulously crafted to bring the golden age of motoring to life,” says the museum management on its website. The “educational journey” takes visitors through an evolution of transportation, past the exhibits of wheels used over the ages, carts, cars, jeeps, two wheelers and trucks manufactured over the last century.

The vintage cars are displayed in chronological order starting with a 1925 model of Fiat 501 from Italy through the 1929 model of Studebaker President manufactured in U.S.A. past the Austin, Ford and Morris cars of the 1930s and 1940s through India’s very own Hindusthan-14 manufactured in 1952, Hindusthan Landmaster of 1956 and Hindusthan Ambassador Mark II of 1962 before reaching the galleries sporting cars of the late 20th century and early 21st century like the Cielo and the Maruti Suzuki 800.

While the exhibits of wheels are accompanied by a display panel containing information on the evolution of wheels - starting from 10,000 BCE (Before Common Era) when logs of trees were used as rollers to transport heavy objects to the present hub-less wheels – the galleries of vintage cars too sport display boards with information about the vehicles to encourage visitors to explore and discover the stories behind the automobiles.

Prominently displayed in the museum is the 1949 model of Daimler DE 36 belonging to erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore late Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. The car manufactured by the Daimler Company England from 1946 to 1953 was the company’s largest and most expensive cars of that era. It’s only competitor at the time was the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV.

Among the exhibits is also a 1929 model Studebaker President, which was used by Mahatma Gandhi during his visits to Karnataka.