The first time I met Bob Lutz was during the sidelines of the Paris Motor Show in 2006. It was meet-the-press at a dinner event. Bob in his inevitable style opened the evening's proceedings, answered a few questions and then took turns in-between each course served to be with each guest group of eight. On average it was 15-20 minutes with each group, depending on the course and time to finish it.

Most of us know of Bob's interest and passion for aircraft and bikes. When I asked about his biking, he seemed to be a bit amused. "Are you a biker too?" he asked me. I replied in the affirmative. "Are you a good or bad biker?" he asked me again. I said, if you're considering safety then yes. He said, apart from that I mean how good are you in handling a bike and then he took my pen and a tissue and started scribbling something on it.

"Well, here's the rear tire profile and I judge a biker's riding skills by looking at the wear and tear on the side walls. If it's like this (pointing to the sketch) then you're good." I asked him, what about yours, where would you stand? "I'm quite good actually. I mostly knock off the side walls!!" Lutz spends the summers in Switzerland and takes his Harleys for long drives on the scenic Alpine routes.

Meanwhile, I asked him about his special business card. It's a card with pix of him in pilot gear and his personal aircraft in the background. He was totally amused. "How did you know about that?" Well, I know a lot about you, I candidly said. Lutz said, "I don't have one on me right now, but I'll get you one soon." Then I thought, here we go. This is going to be a typical promise that is never likely to be fulfilled. But I was wrong.

At the next meeting a few months later during his book signing, Lutz whipped out his business card and said: "Chandan. Here's the card. I hope you like it." I'm really amazed that he remembered that. And whenever we meet, the never-aging Lutz will always share a bike-related anecdote with me!


Chandan Basu Mallik
Sr writer
Wheels magazine/Dubai

Tag Cloud