Premier President 1973

[the_trooper]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

its very sad...those are all very nice original cars picked up mainly from pune, and illegally converted to taxis in bombay...minters go for around 15k...

show me one, and I will buy.

[karlosdeville]

If only you'd caught me earlier...3 mint single owner original paint low milage 67, 70 and 71 model cars went for 15k each...sigh...Lord, give me strength.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

its very sad...those are all very nice original cars picked up mainly from pune, and illegally converted to taxis in bombay...minters go for around 15k...

Can't you holler up some of those and say we are interested to buy at 16k. I would love to have another (though Mom will kill me, Dad never has a word anyway)

[Ram]

Friends, please suffer an oldtimer who was in his delicious Solvasaal when the President was new.

Premier stopped using the Fiat brand when their license to use the brand expired. They named their next car Premier President.

It came in a bunch of new colors. My favorite new Premier color was Elkhart Yellow. It's a kind of very light yellowish mediterranean Olive-Drab. We had a Heather Brown 1968 Fiat 1100D in pristine condition. My father's friend had one too. But he sold his in 1973 and bought a new President, much to my envy.

In 1973, I was in the 11th standard. For us, that was the last year of high school.

It was not until 1975 that kids in the 11th standard (old SSC) and kids in the 10th standard (new SSC), both left school and competed for Bombay's colleges.

I used to travel in taxis to school and the new taxi was the Premier President with its delicate wide slat aluminium grille.
The gear knob was more conical. The gear shift lever and bezel were chromium plated aluminium, unlike the chromeless aluminium of the 1971 Fiat. The aluminium door handles (exterior and interior) were also chrome plated. The car was gorgeous.

Believe me, even back then, I could identify each Fiat year-by-year 1955-1973, and sketch each one from memory.

The tapering rectangle monogram in the center of the grille said PAL not FIAT.

The hubcaps had the same (depression-less) new shape as those on the 1972 Fiat, but the monogram in the center of the hubcaps said PAL not FIAT.

And gone were the 1972 Fiat's three dials set in a matte-black plate.

In its place was a refreshing new instrument cluster, replacing the 1965-1972 three dials.

A full page ad in the Bombay Times of India said,
"Welcome the new President". The ad showed the new instrument cluster with the made for premier custom gauges.
And back in action, were the 4 piano key switches that had been discontinued since 1966.

The box between the dashboard and the parcel shelf, that held the rubber-bulb for the windscreen washer and the choke knob was gone too.

Oh before I close, one last thing...
From 1965-1972, the black plastic hooded cowl around the instrument cluster would deform due to heat.
The hot sun would cause it to peak upwards like the conical headgear of a northwest Indian damsel.
With the President onwards, either Premier started to use a better plastic or increased the thickness of material used. Never again did I see the conical deformation of the hooded cowl.

The 1974 Padmini debuted more ornate hubcaps with flutes around the periphery.
A black two-piece moulded plastic grille with the new PAL logo-badge in the center of the grille -- the one that sits on a "V". The same logo was also found on the hubcaps.

Ram

[planet_rocker]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Can't you holler up some of those and say we are interested to buy at 16k. I would love to have another (though Mom will kill me, Dad never has a word anyway)

yeah - my grandpa's padmini is almost in a same condition. i need some ideas so that i can brainwash my grandpa and make him give away his car to me.

shuvd was very much interested in owning/restoring one. only if he knew.
its a pity how badly the owners treat these beauties.

sorry for going off-topic again.

[karlosdeville]

great post Ram. Do you have any old photos, ads or newspaper cuttings to share? We'd love to see them.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by ram

Oh before I close, one last thing...
From 1965-1972, the black plastic hooded cowl around the instrument cluster would deform due to heat.
The hot sun would cause it to peak upwards like the conical headgear of a northwest Indian damsel.
With the President onwards, either Premier started to use a better plastic or increased the thickness of material used. Never again did I see the conical deformation of the hooded cowl.

Oh How true, now I know, both my Dadu and Dad were taking me for a ride (when I changed it for the better stuff) about it being a design feature to see the instruments better!!

I just showed them that even without that "peak" you could easily see, no issues, only looked a zillion times better!

[planet_rocker]

there are many (i mean a whole lot) Fiat 1100 / Premier Padmini fans (owners / restorers / admirers) in this country.

the only members i know (when i joined TBHP in Sept'06) who own a fiat are Mr. Ram, 1100D, me, Aditya, and Karl. i was thrilled to see that there are so many fiat lovers like me. and then thanks to Salil that i know that there are so many Fiat lovers.

this was perhaps just a beginning. V-16 1100s restoration project, President's Premier President, Mr. Dhabhar & Cyrus' Fiats... oh boy am i excited?

for me the journey began like this:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/314900-post2.html (How to have a successful and enjoyable meet)

[President]

Vow, lovely pics of the two very well maintained Fiats (or shud I say Padminis?) How about posting a few more from different angles?

[1100D]

Originally Posted by President

Vow, lovely pics of the two very well maintained Fiats (or shud I say Padminis?) How about posting a few more from different angles?

One is a Padmini and the other is a 1100d. See the respective galleries!

The green one is mine and the black one is planet rockers.

And thanks!

[planet_rocker]

this is my favourite pic of the two Fiats. well - i know that @ 1100D hates the mudflaps - but i still have them. i will get rid of them soon.



another one:



by the way, this Fiat Meet was the first ever Team BHP meet in Kolkata. only two members - me and 1100D. 1100D's 1100d (Rampyari) has a new suit now of the same colour and is a complete drooool. but for that you will have check out his garage and his profile pic.

[scooby05]

Im just told by someone that, Premier is still supplying Body Shells for the Padmini.
Can someone confirm this Please? and how can we contact them?

[the_trooper]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

this is my favourite pic of the two Fiats.

thank you for the lovely pics. keep em coming.

[President]

As I am planning to overhaul the 35 year old original suspension on my President after the monsoons in Mumbai, I am looking for genuine OE parts for the same.
Can anyone guide me where in Mumbai, could I get the original Tie Rods Assembly, Spider and Bushing Kit etc etc to get the suspension back to original tight specs?

[Ram]

Originally Posted by President

As I am planning to overhaul the 35 year old original suspension on my President after the monsoons in Mumbai, I am looking for genuine OE parts for the same.
Can anyone guide me where in Mumbai, could I get the original Tie Rods Assembly, Spider and Bushing Kit etc etc to get the suspension back to original tight specs?

You could get Padmini spares at many places in Koliwada and Opera House.
OE parts were marked as PAL-PAR.

In this family of cars, age and bumps typically got the upper "A" arm (कैँची) mount points to move inwards w.r.t. each other. This would of course throw the camber out of whack, making steering hard.

For small deviations, this was typically corrected by adding shims.

However, it was not uncommon for the deviations to be too great to be corrected by shims.

Then one would have to throw the old OE "A" arms away and fit oversized "A" arms.

BTW, camber is designed to get the kingpin axis (when produced downward) to coincide with the tire contact patch on the road.

If it doesn't coincide, you get the "scrub radius". When left and right scrub radii differ, the car will pull to one side on braking. The smaller the scrub radius, the less the steering kickback on braking.