Hi guys,
Just thought of sharing some pics of our previously owned cars.
Premier Padmini Safari [pic taken from the Web]
Our very first car[s] was the Premier Padmini Safari [and you thought the Tata Estate was the first Estate]. And that too two of them. One in green and the other in blue. Both cars
were purchased 2nd hand. I dont remember much about these cars except that my dad sold both of them within a short period of time.
MHJ 1033 with Hella fogs and fan
We then moved on to the Premire Padmini [PP] [sedan, this time] and kept on selling it and buying another Padmini for quite a few years. MHJ 1033 was one of the best PP we have ever owned. Painted complete white with 2 Hella foglamps, the car looked quite amazing. And we even took it Mangalore 2wice without any breakdowns at all. Only mods on the car included a fan and a stereo.
After having bought many PPs after this, we decided to move on to the Maruti 800 [SS80]. Red was the obvious choice as no other color suited the SS80 more than red. Only mods on the car include a new stereo which was stolen within 2 months. We have used the car on numerous ocassions like picnics, long drives etc. It could also seat almost 8 people [2 adults + 6 kids] in total discomfort [small boot also included]. The good thing about the SS80 was that it had an original Suzuki engine which still gives trouble-free maintainence.
After selling the SS80, we then moved on to the Omni. Enough space to keep luggage and seat 5 comfortably, this was our ideal car for the next Mangalore trip. We got a low-roof blue Omni [8544 i guess]. This also was fitted with 2 Hella foglamps and a stereo.
High-roof Omni with silver sticker and Hella
The low-roof then gave way to a dark brown High-roof Omni. Never liked the color, but since the paint was good we decided not to repaint it. This was a bit extra modified than the Low-roof. Extra stuff included one more Hella foglamp, some simple sticker work across the body
and chrome wheelcaps and a stereo. This car too was put hru the Mangalore trip and completed it without major/minor problems. Only problem we encountered when we fitted it with a Premier Padmini roof carrier on our way back [you see we had to carry lots of jackfruits
]. The roof carrier started rattling all of a sudden and was on the verge of coming off its hinges. We had 3 of us [front and rear window passengers] holding the roof from each side so that it doesnt come off. After holding it for almost 2 hours, we decided that "Thats IT. Lets get rid of it before it breaks our hands." We got off, put all the luggage in the boot [where my cousin was sitting] and threw the carrier. And within *a few seconds, we see almost 5-7 villagers who were watching the scene running towards the carrier and fighting over who's gonna take it. Ha Ha Ha...........That was quite a scene.
The Omni gave way to the new Maruti 800 [SB308]. I guess the number was MH-02-L-8016. We bought the car for almost a lac [2nd hand obviously]. This was the first and only car that we REALLY modified. The car came in white and mag wheels were the in-thing in those days. And thats when my dad decided that *our car should look different. So the
steel wheels gave way to some real fat mags with spacers. Fatter mags also meant some real fat tyres. Roof mounted LED brake light. Small Wooden steering wheel. Pioneer stereo. Drilled pedals. Door visors. And obviously the now standard Hella foglamps. And there our car was transformed into one of the best looking M800's in the area. And thats the car i actually started learning on. A year later we decided to sell the car since it was becoming too small for us [3 brothers growing up you see
]. And we sold the car for an enormous profit which helped us in buying a Maruti 1000.
Repainted M100 without Hella
The Maruti 1000 was gray in color. And the color was quite dull. So we decided to repaint it. We got it painted light blue. Mods on this car included front crash guard, Formula One wheel caps [thats what they were called], Pioneer stereo with 10-inch woofer. No Hella this time. This car also passed the Mangalore test without giving us any problems.
Dukkar Fiat FF with Cielo black paint [this pic was taken after the car was sold. Therefore it has an aluminium look grille and bumpers]
The M1000 then gave way to a dark green Esteem which carried over the Pioneer stereo and 10-in woofer. Added extra onto it were some tweeters and 6-spoke [same as the Opel Astra Soccer Edition]. No Hella again this time. *All the tweeters and 1 speaker conked off cos one of the guys had wrongly connected the speakers to the amp. It was during this time that my elder bro had set his eyes on the Dukkar Fiat [BLO 37 or as we would call it BLOW 37] . We bought one for 7k and spent another 12-15k in doing it up. This was the oldest cars we have ever owned. It was a 1957 model. The original grille was quite rusted so my bro started looking out for a used one in Chor Bazaar. 3000 bucks for a chrome peice. We decided to powder coat the old one itself. Mods on the Dukkar included black Cielo paint, bucket seats, sporty steering wheels [with feather-touch horn buttons], free flow and VERY POWERFUL headlamps, Alpine stereo. The car was a beauty and there were many people who wanted to buy it. *
The Esteem was sold a year later and replaced by a white Esteem. Petrol prices increased and we started finding the Esteem a bit difficult to maintain. So we sold the Esteem too
and were left without a car for almost 3 months. 3 months later we bought a Tata Estate [MH-04-X-4560]. Used it for a while and since it wasnt in "That good" condition we sold it
and brought another Estate [MH-02-L-382]. Mods on it included fatter Bridgestone tyres, Pioneer stereo with 12-in woofers and amp. Hella returns. The Estate and the Dukkar
turned out pretty expensive to maintain. *The Estate gave a mileage of around 6-7 and the Dukkar around 3-5 in city driving.
Present Car : Qualis
So both were sold and now we have the Qualis which hasnt yet been to Mangalore and still does not have the "standard" Hella fogs. But lets see. This October we are planning to
go to Mangalore and still awaiting Home Ministers [Mom] approval for taking the Qualis along.
How about everyone going for drive in the past and posting something about your previous cars here?