[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by ram

Hi Insane Devil:

You’re absolutely spot on!

Somebody somewhere did put a V-8 into that body. But first some background.

As you must be aware, General Motors (who use brands like Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac in the USA), go by the brand name of Holden in Australia, Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the UK.

The Hindustan Contessa is a GM design. In fact from 1972 till 1976, the Vauxhall Victor FE Transcontinental had the same body as our Contessa. The left hand drive German equivalent was the Opel Rekord, with whom the Victor shared its flooring and suspension, although the body design differed.

The base Victor model had a 1.8 litre engine. The 1976 Vauxhall Victor VX 2300 GLS had a 4-cylinder OHC engine developing 108 bhp @ 5000 rpm and 187.0 Nm@3000 rpm.

There was even a station wagon estate car with a perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

The Vauxhall Ventora with the same body had a 3.3 litre straight six-cylinder engine. It had double-headlamps.
Here’s are some pics.

http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/2004/11/13/fs_doe.jpg
http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/200...s_im000004.jpg
http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/200...s_im000002.jpg

Now coming to real V-8 power. A 1974 model Vauxhall Ventora was modified with a V-8.
She was nicknamed “Big Bertha”.
Needless to say, with that much enthusiasm, the car was rallied a lot back in those days.

This car was fitted with a massive race-tuned 5.7 litre V8 Holden (GM of Australia) engine. It was too big and too heavy.
Sadly it suffered a major accident after a few races.
Here is a Finnish website that may interest all of us in this thread.
http://www.kolumbus.fi/makkesgarage/protos/car33.html

So, you are right, Insane Devil, the Contessa engine bay was made to hold huge engines. That is why it looks so sparsely populated in our humble desi Contessa.

Cheers…
Ram

great news buddy. THats true contessa is actually a vauxhall model similar to the ambassador.

Originally Posted by Aditya

118NE - 120bhp? Padmini - 120bhp? You guys surely know how to scare me! About the Contessa? It's OK when you get to stretch her legs, but, can be quite irritating in city traffic, especially when pesky autorickshaws and taxis cut across madly. Anyway, all these cars need much better build quality, more modern safety features, much more sophisticated suspension, steering, brakes, better engines - the works! If you manage all this, the price would go through the roof. Who's gonna pay that sort of cash? Despite the news of PAL launching the van and changing their name, I believe they are gonners and if the Cedia flops, HM will be out of business as a vehicle manufacturer in a few years too.
There's no point investing in plants that can revive these old hags.

most real american muscle cars are strong but badly built with vibrations coming through the seats due to the big engine. Maintainence is moderate but required. No safety features whatsoever are present.

PS:- I am taking about the stock classic muscle cars and not the new versions GM,ford,chrysler and others have launched.

as for the price.

a used contessa classic 1.8L Isuzu petrol with 87ps at tap with twin headlights, a/c, power steering, power windows, central locking, pU seats, in good condition through HM dealer costs around 40k. a new 3L v6 engine would at the most cost 4lakhs(my approximate guess) plus the spinners/wheels,exhaust,spoiler,paint job,leather and all the upgrades. The car would be built within around 5lakhs approximate. I don't see that to go over the roof for a v6 Indian muscle.

any idea what PAL changes its name to when it launched its van? any websites???