Top Gear - Colombo special

When I was younger, I had this image of Aravinda de Silva – ‘Mad Max’ himself, the playboy of Sri Lankan cricket – harrying down one of Colombo’s wide roads in a flashy sports car. Reading and hearing about how fast cars were de Silva’s passion and how women swooned over him, I crafted a picture of a debonair lifestyle, of high-speed cruises down one of Colombo’s wide roads.

I haven’t seen that on either of my tours to Sri Lanka, and probably won’t, given the security and roadblocks. Last summer, while in a tuk-tuk, I was nearly run over by Kumar Sangakkara’s black 4x4 as he tried to dodge another tuk-tuk on his right, on the outskirts of Colombo.

But what is unmistakable is how popular sports cars and SUVs are here in Colombo, and how many Sri Lankan cricketers drive them. I spotted Mahela Jayawardene and his wife Christina in a big Jeep 4x4 and Sanath Jayasuriya in a Ford Explorer. Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan drive SUVs. Chamara Kapugedera got out of one at the SSC. Sachin Tendulkar’s Ferrari fixation is so yesterday. Big is best in Sri Lanka.

And it’s not just cricketers or politicians. I saw two monks get out of a huge Toyota pick-up truck. Monks! Just walking down Galle Road you see great hulking 4x4s and SUVs as frequently as tuk-tuks. Jeep Grand Cherokees, Toyota Fortuners and RAV-4s and Prados, Nissan X-trails, Land Rover Discovery 3s, you name it and Colombo has them.

What I also quickly noticed is how the number of foreign cars outnumbers what you see back in India by far. Ironically, Jeeps are more common in Sri Lanka than the Mahindra jeeps made next door in India. Jeeps are apparently the most sought-after model on the local market, with the Grand Cherokee being the hottest, with a gigantic 4.7 liter engine. I haven’t seen a lot of those tank-like Hummers, all the rage in India despite a massive cost of roughly Rs 70 lakhs when you slap on taxes and import duties, but Sri Lanka is a hotbed for engineering and importing such foreign cars to India. Harbhajan Singh recently got a Hummer from England and had it shipped to Colombo to have it changed from left-hand drive to right-hand drive.

Sri Lanka does not have a local industry to protect, so there is a large consumer market for foreign second-hand cars, the majority of which are Japanese makes. The vehicles are reconditioned in Sri Lanka and sold at used car dealerships and are also imported.

As per Sri Lankan law, there are two types of permits on vehicle imports. The first is a gift permit, under which Sri Lankans who work overseas under valid visas can gift a vehicle to blood relatives and family members. The second is a blue permit, which allows you to bring the vehicle you own overseas. Interestingly, the import tax system in Sri Lanka actually encourages expatriates returning home to import used vehicles as a way to transfer assets under a blue permit.

Sadly, I don’t fall under any of those permits and won’t be affording one of those SUVs anytime soon. For me, it’s the tuk-tuks and plenty of haggling and headshaking. “Hotel Intercontinental, how much?”