Pakistan’s Jay Leno Restores Cars from Jinnah Family

Ahsan Mohsin Ikram, who is known as “Jay Leno” of Pakistan, has been in light for a fantastic restoration of two cars belonging to the Jinna family. The man from Karachi runs a travel agency but his true passion lies in restoring and collecting stunning classic and vintage cars. In fact, the first thing emerged on my head when I saw Mohsin Ikram’s photos on the Internet was about Jay Leno’s car restoration story.

You might never know these gorgeous classic cars were once left to rust and ruin in Pakistan.

When Ikram came across a Cadillac and Mercedes that belonged to the Jinnah family, he was convinced that the two would be a matter of interest once they were “revived”. And it’s true. The cars have been livened up to become real masterpieces but you might not know that it took Ikram about 25 years to finally restore them.

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This is an immaculately restored Mercedes-Benz C200 of the1967 vintage

Aside from being Cadillac and Mercedes, admiring classic cars for any auto enthusiast, what makes these vehicles so special is that they once belonged to the sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Pakistan founder. Mohsin Ikram first saw the cars in reasonably good conditions at the defunct Jinnah residence in 1992. Later, when the Flagstaff House, as it’s also known, was sold to the Government by the Jinnah Trust, the house was decided to be restored and turned into a museum. When the garage was pulled down, the two valuable classic cars were left exposed to the sky in hot summer or during the heavy rains.

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If that’s not so bad, the workers, not realizing the worth of these cars, would sit on them, ate on them and there are some who stole the parts. In fact, all four wheels of the cars were taken away. What could be worse? These cars were dragged, without wheels, left close to the sea while metal corroded seriously.

A painful sight, isn't it?

Mohsin Ikram, who did know about the fate of the cars, took years to write letters to the government which came to no response, in order to suggest a potential restoration. He was even asked to submit an estimate for the restoration expense in spite of the fact that he offered to restore the vehicles by his own cost. Some years went by before he was invited to take on the restoration of the cars.

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It then took Ikram another two years between 2016 and 2018 to carry out the miracle restoration. The car restoration industry in Pakistan is out of nowhere and the man had made the greatest effort to bring life to these cars. Look at them now, they are alive again.