Maruti Omni (Denim Machine)

This 1985 Omni was modified by Bob’s late brother Gulu for his friend, Jasmin Dodhiwala, a successful rally and race driver. The idea was to customize an Omni van and convert it into something stylish. Something like a “Luxury Lifestyle Vehicle”, complete with front spoiler, alloy wheels with spacers, sofa type seating at the rear which also housed a polished wood cabinet having a fridge, bar, mini-television on top, etc.

This Maruti Omni was given a very distinctive custom paint job and named the “Denim Machine”. This was in the mid-eighties when jeans and denims were just getting trendy and very fashionable in India. In fact the entire interior was upholstered in denim fabric with jeans style double stitching, buttons, and so on.

The exterior also had jeans type pockets painted on the rear tailgate and the side had the double stitching made famous by American jeans. Almost all the work was done at the famous Barwani Motor Works in Indore.