Netaji’s Wanderer W24 Sedan - Here’s All You Should Know

India is a nation built on struggles and sacrifices of various brave people, men and women who fought tooth and nail to liberate our country from the oppression of the British. One such name was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. In 1941, Netaji escaped house arrest from his ancestral home in Kolkata, where he had been confined by the British. The car used for this “Great Escape” plan was a 1937 Wanderer W24 sedan, which was restored a few years ago.

Netaji’s Wanderer W24 was unveiled to the public in 2017 by former President of India, Dr. Pranab Mukherjee, during the last year of his term, on the day of the 76^th anniversary of the aforementioned escape and 60^th anniversary of the founding of Netaji Research Bureau (NRB). The car had been immaculately restored, repainted, and had its old parts replaced by new ones. This task was achieved with the help of Audi India, which helped bring the car back to running condition.

"It has been 75 years so we thought that a general overhaul is necessary. And we are glad that we contacted Audi as it is a German car. Now Audi has taken charge and doing a general restoration. As it is a tough job and will consume time, we had given them time till December. And as 16th and 17th January is the great escape day, we chose this day for celebration"

- Late Krishna Bose
Former Chair, Netaji Research Bureau

Wanderer W24 was built by Auto Union, which consisted of four automobile manufacturers- Audi, Horch, DKW, Wanderer. The company eventually became the modern-day Audi we know today. The four rings in the company logo represent the four original companies of the Auto Union. As for the car itself, it launched as a relatively affordable car back in the day.

Powering the W24 is a 1.8-litre, inline-4, naturally aspirated, four-stroke petrol engine. This motor is capable of generating 42 PS of maximum power, and came paired to a 4-speed manual transmission. The maximum speed of the car is rated at 108 Kmph, which was quite impressive for its time.