Avid motorbike restorer Hafiz Contractor’s Sunbeam Model S7-1951won the "Best in Class — Post War Motorcycle” at the 6th Cartier Travel With Style Concours d’Elegance show at the Rambagh Palace, Jaipur from February 22-24, 2019. The bi-annual event featured 86 classic automobiles and 26 motorcycles. The showcased motorcycles were divided into three categories: veteran vintage, pre-war and post-war. Dahod (in Gujarat, near its border with Madhya Pradesh) resident Contractor also displayed a second vehicle at the show: Triumph Speed Twin 1947, a "find” almost 15 years ago. Sunbeam was bought about eight years ago from a mechanic-broker in Baroda.
Hafiz Contractor’s (inset) award-winning restored Sunbeam motorbike
"Searching, obtaining genuine parts and accessories and restoring this motorbike to its original, was a colossal task…But, worth all the efforts,” Hafiz’s wife Sherryna wrote to Parsiana in an email. Over the past 20 years, Hafiz has restored over 60 vintage motorbikes all by himself, she noted. "He is…self-taught… in the art of restoration, repairing and bringing to life carcasses of dead bikes and cars,” stated Sherryna, adding that "(It is) almost like meditation when he works on his bike… he is transfixed in achieving the perfect masterpiece.”
Some of his bikes have taken 15 odd years to restore to their original condition, she noted. "Restoration involves detailing, researching and the arduous task of procuring original and genuine spare parts and accessories from around the globe that may even be obsolete or out of production,” she wrote. "It’s not about just being a mechanic; it’s about building relationships across countries,” she ended.