Vintage cars roll into Kari Motor Speedway for trailer launch of GD Naidu biopic ‘G.D.N’

Coimbatur: Kari Motor Speedway on the outskirts of Coimbatore wore a different vibe last weekend as vintage cars from the city’s GeDee Car Museum took to the Formula 3-standard circuit.

The track, usually known for the high-octane roar of speeding cars, hosted the trailer launch of G.D.N, a biopic on Coimbatore’s inventor and industrialist G.D. Naidu. Actor R Madhavan plays Naidu in the film.

Madhavan and co-star Dushara Vijayan arrived on a vintage Benz 1, a three-wheeled vehicle regarded as the world’s first practical automobile. The rest of the cast, including Sathyaraj, Priyamani, Thambi Ramaiah, Jayaram, Kaniha, and Aditi Balan, also made a grand entry in vintage cars such as Benz 2, Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Rover.

A key attraction was a blue Coimbatore-Udumalpet-Palani bus from the 1940s. The bus, a popular exhibit at the museum, was modified by G.D. Naidu himself. He reworked the petrol engine to run on hybrid fuel to cope with the petrol and diesel shortages following World War II.

The event paid tribute to Naidu’s legacy of innovation, with the vintage lineup reflecting his deep connection to automobiles and engineering.