How about bringing back India muscle cars?

[devarshi84]

GM just launched back the Famous Camaro

CHrysler has brought back the charger

Ford is still selling strong on the mustang


Is this not reason enough to have our own Indian muscle cars?????

HM contessa classic 1.8 with a turbo at 130hp
premier padmini turbo at 120hp
118ne turbo at 120hp

and many more

wont they kick some real *ss on the Indian roads?

what say?


I am all but waiting for my contessa 1.8 turbo petrol and modifications at 125hp.

[ambylimo]

yh thts incisive thinking ...bt specifically what cars r capable of tht

transformation buddy? i think contessa is surely a good bet..how about good 'ol

ambassador...or those rabbits, 70s retro bt classy lowriders...

[SPEED_DEMON82]

Thats a great thought there Devarshi!!

The Contessa i believe was a car launched at the wrong time and that is what killed it and many others (FE of the car aside ). the same happened to the RD350 in bikes. The drive in a Conti on the open highways is just too much fun and the huge amount of legroom (front and rear) is a luxury that no other present day Indian car can match.

Give it a better engine (muscle ) and some new lines and yeah i can bet it will be a hit.

[V-16]

Whatta thought. Love the sound of it but whos gonna do it??
One could do an awesome job with ikons 1.6s

[Boom Shiva]

I loved my Conty back in college. Big, solid feel that modern cars just can't match. And rear wheel drive!!

A turbo in a Conty would really be something...but be sure to get some serious brakes though!

[Insane Devil]

well, the Contessa sure can compete wit the Muscle cars, especially like the Ford GT350's. u should also add a good muffler/exhaust system to it, while making it pump around 350bhps with a v8 or v10 5Lt engine. i am sure the contessa's engine bay is roomy enough for such kinda engine...?

My personal favourite American Muscle car is the 1966 Pontiac GTO! the best muscle car ever!

[MrBoombastic]

To do this, we need to get the dangerous autorickshaws off our roads and educate our friends who ride their puny (below 250cc) mopeds like as if they are circus baboons trying hard to come across as Kamikaze Pilots.

[Insane Devil]

the Pontiac GTO 1966.

[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.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Insane Devil

well, the Contessa sure can compete wit the Muscle cars, especially like the Ford GT350's. u should also add a good muffler/exhaust system to it, while making it pump around 350bhps with a v8 or v10 5Lt engine. i am sure the contessa's engine bay is roomy enough for such kinda engine...?

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

[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???

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

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




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???

PAL wants to change its name to "Premier Ltd."

As for the Contessa, if it comes to over 5 Lakhs as you say, it will be the same amount that you would spend if you bought the car new when it was in production. And if it comes to modifying a used Conti, no need for HM to relaunch it, simply get a used car and pay a visit to our very own Psycho.

[Mpower]

Vehicles like Safari and Scorpio have taken the place of muscle cars. Big, RWD, macho, w/ torquey engines and clumsy around corners.

[islero]

Have you guys completley forgotten a good candidate? The Standard 2000?

In its Rover SD1 avatar in GB, it used to have 200 bhp. That is what we need.....

[Insane Devil]

Islero.... well that Standard 2000 did cross my mind.... but i didnt mention that as we were talking of "Indian muscle car" and the Standard was an import version , rite?

but then, Ram's post shook me up, i thought hte Contessa was a pure breed indian car!