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Effortless elegance, royal charm, open-top Mercedes, left-hand drive, empty roads, sunny day – a scene that would immediately transport you to a town in Italy was videotaped by a motorist in Mumbai, and since then, the people online have only grown fixated on digging up the “mystery man” who was behind the wheel in the now-viral video. An X user, who goes by the handle @mumbaiheritage, shared a video of a man driving the gorgeous vintage car on October 27 and the clip has since been viewed by 1.4 million people on the Elon Musk-owned social media website. The video, owing to its visual appeal, garnered plenty of comments from viewers who couldn’t help but wonder who was driving the heritage piece. Viral Video Reactions It wasn’t long before people lined up to drop comments on the scenic video. “Whoever this gentleman is, he has a good taste,” wrote one X user. “Cars were such beauties,” added another. “Uber cool. I want more of this in my country!” LHD Mercedes Pagoda spotted on Coastal Road, Mumbai pic.twitter.com/iFZT2iPzpy — Mumbai Heritage (@mumbaiheritage) October 27, 2025 Some showed concerns about the suspension of the car. “Look at the suspension. On a newly constructed so called premier road, the car is bouncing badly.” “What A Car” Several were curious as to which car was driven in the video. The car was identified as a Mercedes-Benz “Pagoda” by the original poster. “The Geneva Motor Show in March 1963 was the scene of a remarkable and widely acclaimed première: The then Daimler-Benz AG presented a new sports car – the 230 SL. The roadster took on a challenging legacy. It replaced two predecessors, the 190 SL and 300 SL, both of which were extremely popular and successful right from the start. The 300 SL already became a legend during its time of production from 1954 to 1963,” the Mercedes-Benz website stated. (Source: Mercedes Benz) When a user asked Musk’s AI chatbot Grok if any Indian company delivered such a car in today’s day and age, Grok responded with the following: “That’s a Mercedes-Benz W113 SL, nicknamed “Pagoda” due to its roof shape (models like 230SL, 250SL, or 280SL from 1963-1971). It’s a classic left-hand drive convertible. In India, no company produces them new; they’re imported or restored by specialists like Automobili Ardent or vintage dealers in Mumbai/Delhi.” A user on X ran the car’s license plate and discovered it was registered in January 1970, making it 55 years and 9 months old. “Who Is This Diva?” The next obvious question raised by several was: who’s the suave man with the profound taste in cars? As it turned out, the man was identified by social media users as Pratapsinh Gaekwad, who runs a YouTube channel named “Buggy Khana” for his car collection. He also reportedly belonged to the Maratha family of Vadodara (Baroda): The Gaekwads. That's his house, by the way. https://t.co/EFDFxhnoQE pic.twitter.com/XKYF3rmuOZ — Soumya here ? (@here_soumya) October 28, 2025 Gaekwad’s cousin, Samarjitsinh Gaekwad, owns the Lukshmi Villas palace in Vadodara (Baroda), which was constructed in 1890. Gaekwad attended Mercedes-Benz’s classic car rally in 2023 with the same car he’s allegedly seen driving on the Mumbai roads. Gaekwad’s YouTube channel, “Buggy Khana”, where he showcases cars from different eras, has 27K subscribers.
