Team-BHP - View Single Post - The Premier Automobiles Ltd

Ram · 7th May 2008, 21:11

Hi Behram:

Thanks for starting this thread.

May I put on my nostalgia cap and reminisce too?

A friend of my dad had booked a Fiat 1100D I think in late 1966. The booking matured in December 1968 and my dad's friend gifted him the booking. My dad traveled to Hyderabad, took delivery and drove back to Bombay.

The car: ADX 4717 was Heather Brown with long wraparound rear bumpers with a chrome bolt securing each of the side ends to the body. The over-riders were trapezoidal and without any rubber bumpers on them. The seats were in two tone rexine. Light grey edges with dark grey panels.

premier-automobiles-ltd-remembrances-thread-fiat-1100d-int.jpg

There was a little lamp next to the ignition key that indicated high beams and the instrument cluster had three Yenkay dials with two red and two amber idiot lights. IGN LEFT RIGHT and OIL.

The idiot lights were so bright they threw a beam on the rexine ceiling.

The raspy note of the new engine and the new car smell of the interior is unforgettable. The car had CEAT wide white wall tires and dull aluminium hub caps that snapped onto spring ears on the lipless wheels.

The door handles inner and outer also were in dull die-cast aluminium finish, as was the round turn-signal lamp bezel on the front fenders.
The grille was made of a single sheet of aluminium with stamped rectangular holes with semicircular ends.

Back in 1968 in Hyderabad, there was a custom of painting the top half of the headlamp lenses black, to prevent glare to oncoming traffic.
Our car however had a dealer supplied option -- stainless steel semicircular headlamp blinds. The stainless steel blinds gleamed in daylight but cut the headlamp apertures to semicircular openings at night.

I was eleven years old and would happily ride to school Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School, Chembur every morning in that Fiat 1100D.

Around 1971 the car was re-registered in Bombay as MRG-2917. In 1978 when I was away at engineering college, the car was painted bright blue as my dad took a fancy to his friend's brand new blue Padmini.

Around that time we also added a cream 1965 Fiat 1100D MRD 1338 bought second hand. The grille had the square aluminium mesh, the instrument cluster had four piano-key switches for wiper and lights and Yenkay instruments with blue faces.

In early 1982, just before my marriage, we bought a new Premier Padmini Deluxe MMY 7517 which came in a delicate light grey named "Silver Gray" (I remember the documents using the British spelling Gray rather than Grey ).

Deluxe at this time, meant, a paper-element type air cleaner, chrome hubcaps, bright metal inserts in the windshield and backlight rubber gaskets, reversing lights, turn signals on the sides of the front wings and four ashtrays -- in the dash, behind the rear seat and in the rear doors. We got MRG 2917 also painted the same Silver Gray.

My last and final Padmini MH 01 R 9440 was bought in 4Q1995. That's the red-white and blue car I still have in my garage.

I gave a cheque for Rs. 2.38 lakh to Wasan Automobiles, Chembur on Ganesh Chaturthi, 29-Aug-1995 and signed on the dotted line.
On Thu. 7 Sep, I visited Premier Automobiles Ltd. and saw my car being put together. Met Mr. Kamat in Sales, Mr. A.S.Basrur, Plant Superintendent, Deepak Honavar in RoadTesting and Mr. Bandvidekar at Chassis/Body marriage.
On Mon. 9-Oct-1995, I got a call from Premier Automobiles that my Imperial Maroon Padmini S1 deluxe BU was being delivered to the dealer.

It came with a factory-fitted 118NE gearbox and rear axle, crossflow radiator and temperature-triggered electric fan, along with catalytic converter, special linkages on the carburetor for pollution control and automatic advance/retard on the distributor. It puts out a max. of 48 bhp, compared to the standard Padmini's 40 bhp.

Wed. 11-Oct 1995, they started doing the dealer options ordered by me: Fiberglass coating on the complete flooring, inside the doors and all four fenders, trunk and trunk wells. And faint green tinted glass.

Sat. 14th Oct my son Aniruddh and I took delivery of specially made new Padmini. My other car back then was MAM 7590, the four wheel drive 1988 Mahindra MM540 DP -- my daily driver.

Cheers...
Ram

7th May 2008, 21:11	#40 (permalink)
Ram Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mumbai, Pune, München Posts: 1,534	Hi Behram: Thanks for starting this thread. May I put on my nostalgia cap and reminisce too? A friend of my dad had booked a Fiat 1100D I think in late 1966. The booking matured in December 1968 and my dad's friend gifted him the booking. My dad traveled to Hyderabad, took delivery and drove back to Bombay. The car: ADX 4717 was Heather Brown with long wraparound rear bumpers with a chrome bolt securing each of the side ends to the body. The over-riders were trapezoidal and without any rubber bumpers on them. The seats were in two tone rexine. Light grey edges with dark grey panels. There was a little lamp next to the ignition key that indicated high beams and the instrument cluster had three Yenkay dials with two red and two amber idiot lights. IGN LEFT RIGHT and OIL. The idiot lights were so bright they threw a beam on the rexine ceiling. The raspy note of the new engine and the new car smell of the interior is unforgettable. The car had CEAT wide white wall tires and dull aluminium hub caps that snapped onto spring ears on the lipless wheels. The door handles inner and outer also were in dull die-cast aluminium finish, as was the round turn-signal lamp bezel on the front fenders. The grille was made of a single sheet of aluminium with stamped rectangular holes with semicircular ends. Back in 1968 in Hyderabad, there was a custom of painting the top half of the headlamp lenses black, to prevent glare to oncoming traffic. Our car however had a dealer supplied option -- stainless steel semicircular headlamp blinds. The stainless steel blinds gleamed in daylight but cut the headlamp apertures to semicircular openings at night. I was eleven years old and would happily ride to school Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School, Chembur every morning in that Fiat 1100D. Around 1971 the car was re-registered in Bombay as MRG-2917. In 1978 when I was away at engineering college, the car was painted bright blue as my dad took a fancy to his friend's brand new blue Padmini. Around that time we also added a cream 1965 Fiat 1100D MRD 1338 bought second hand. The grille had the square aluminium mesh, the instrument cluster had four piano-key switches for wiper and lights and Yenkay instruments with blue faces. In early 1982, just before my marriage, we bought a new Premier Padmini Deluxe MMY 7517 which came in a delicate light grey named "Silver Gray" (I remember the documents using the British spelling Gray rather than Grey ). Deluxe at this time, meant, a paper-element type air cleaner, chrome hubcaps, bright metal inserts in the windshield and backlight rubber gaskets, reversing lights, turn signals on the sides of the front wings and four ashtrays -- in the dash, behind the rear seat and in the rear doors. We got MRG 2917 also painted the same Silver Gray. My last and final Padmini MH 01 R 9440 was bought in 4Q1995. That's the red-white and blue car I still have in my garage. I gave a cheque for Rs. 2.38 lakh to Wasan Automobiles, Chembur on Ganesh Chaturthi, 29-Aug-1995 and signed on the dotted line. On Thu. 7 Sep, I visited Premier Automobiles Ltd. and saw my car being put together. Met Mr. Kamat in Sales, Mr. A.S.Basrur, Plant Superintendent, Deepak Honavar in RoadTesting and Mr. Bandvidekar at Chassis/Body marriage. On Mon. 9-Oct-1995, I got a call from Premier Automobiles that my Imperial Maroon Padmini S1 deluxe BU was being delivered to the dealer. It came with a factory-fitted 118NE gearbox and rear axle, crossflow radiator and temperature-triggered electric fan, along with catalytic converter, special linkages on the carburetor for pollution control and automatic advance/retard on the distributor. It puts out a max. of 48 bhp, compared to the standard Padmini's 40 bhp. Wed. 11-Oct 1995, they started doing the dealer options ordered by me: Fiberglass coating on the complete flooring, inside the doors and all four fenders, trunk and trunk wells. And faint green tinted glass. Sat. 14th Oct my son Aniruddh and I took delivery of specially made new Padmini. My other car back then was MAM 7590, the four wheel drive 1988 Mahindra MM540 DP -- my daily driver. Cheers... Ram __________________ Before you begin scrambling up the ladder of success, make sure that it is leaning against the right building. Last edited by Ram : 7th May 2008 at 21:18.