Where is it now? - Lost & Found Classics

[xoticars]

Karl, this thread was a good idea indeed.

I remember two cars of my dad, that would be worth searching for.

1. A 1951 Hillman Minx Convertible in LHD, that was imported by my dad's boss from the Philippines, and then bought by my dad. It had a regn that was BMU 5 something. I have forgotten now.

2 A1957 Fiat Elegant bearing regn.no. BMF 7560.

Would be good to know if the cars are still around.

[Prabal]

Nice topic, Karl. My compliments. Thanks for the pictures of the green n white Austin Westminster wagon. I remember her very well from old Poona days. Would see her sometimes in the camp area. There was also a grey n cream saloon, wonder if that survives too.

Okay, a few numbers to search from my side:

1961 Ambassador. Am a little confused now, she was probably '62 because I remember her as an original MKII (yeah, I remember the discussion before about '64 being the introductory year for the MKII). Anyway, number was WBE 8921, colour was original steel grey, when sold in Poona around 1985/86. Would be a happy ocassion to have back with us again.

1971 Fiat 1100D, also steel grey, number PNP 3446, sold in 1974/75 in Calcutta (Fiat and Amby steel greys were different shades though - the Fiat's was more vibrant!). She was sold to one of the biggest used car dealers on Ritchie Road, Calcutta (I have located their number recently). Dad bought the car for 19,500/- in '71 and sold her for 22,000/- (to a dealer!) four years later, such was the demand-supply situation then. The car was a beauty too. I think she went to Chandanpukur/Sodhpur area subsequently. My brother and I missed this car more than any other that left the household. Would love to have her back, although am sure the registration would have been WB something soon afterwards.

1948 Vauxhall 14, maroon colour, registered WBH 125 on my father's name. Want her back too.

My 1980 Lamby in college (in'82 alongside a TVS 50 and a KTM!). MXJ 7033 I think was Lamby's number(shall confirm from old pix, if any). Bought her from the API dealers on Tilak Road (just after Lakdi pul), Poona - Ram Automobiles or Rama Automobiles were they? Was two-tone grey colour again, of the Lamby's of the period (no grey obsession in the family, Wasif. Just so happened that these were so!). I had insisted on an all-white Mac 175, but a spectacular toss by a neighbour on his in front of our house one day ruled it out! This Lamby was originally bought to wean my brother away from his mobike. He never touched it other than one one occasion when he repeated the neighbour's act as well - ostensibly while trying to turn the fuel knob to reserve while on the go, as she started sputtering on the mains. His Yezdi was then considered safer! So I got the Lamby a couple of years later as my ride in college. I also got one of the first RD 350s in '83. Sold in '89 in Delhi, re-registered to DDO 9092 by then, silver. Went to Himachal Pradesh, I heard. Any idea of her whereabouts now, anyone?

Oh yeah, there was also a '52 Hillman Minx, WBD 5664 (something like that, have to confirm) sold in Calcutta in 1978/79. Bought by dad in the UK and imported in '56, sported a GB badge at the back. White colour.

Want 'em all back!!

There are some more, but I think I've ranted enough already. In any case, don't much care for the exotics that went away - as few did!!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Prabal

Nice topic, Karl. My compliments. Thanks for the pictures of the green n white Austin Westminster wagon. I remember her very well from old Poona days. Would see her sometimes in the camp area. There was also a grey n cream saloon, wonder if that survives too.

There are some more, but I think I've ranted enough already.

This is exactly the intention of the thread, great. I would see this Austin and so many other classics as daily drivers, always took these sights for granted, never had the foresight that they would disappear overnight.

Since you were also spent time at the other end of the city, do you remember a red 60s Ford Anglia (with the sharply raked rear windscreen)? I would see it near Fergusson College, MTJ regd. I have the number written down somewhere, will dig it up.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Prabal

1961 Ambassador.
1971 Fiat 1100D,
1948 Vauxhall 14,
My 1980 Lamby in college (in'82 alongside a TVS 50 and a KTM!).
Oh yeah, there was also a '52 Hillman Minx

Uh, Prabal babu, isn't there something missing in this list?? Why hast thou left out the green Standard Super 10 (Assam reg'd), a pic. of which you'd once uploaded in another thread (nostalgic pics.?) with your mother in it, captioned "Ma with her Standard Super 10" or so....?!

You might know I take the exclusion of Standards rather seriously...I did even with Wasif when he left out mentioning his ex-Herald conv.!

Or is it perhaps, that you don't want this one car back?? If so, then I'm just a pm away should you ever find it again!

ostensibly while trying to turn the fuel knob to reserve while on the go

Aah....brings me memories of doing that often on my Vijai too!

What's a KTM btw? A moped?

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by xoticars

Wasif, I was in Delhi recently, and saw fotos of a Singer Le Mans that surfaced recently. It is now owned by two brothers who have a workshop in Connaught Place called Krishna Garage.

Here's a pic of the mentioned Singer, with one of the brothers (Mr. Prem Sharma, wearing shades) also in the frame. The registration number was USJ something, of what I remember.

[wasif]

Thanks Xoticar and Prabal. this is what my granddads Singer looked like. wonder if this particular car ever had a AP regestration number.

BTW Prabal I too had a TVS 50 back when I was in collage. Where did you study in Hyderanad and what year was it, maybe we knew each other.

Also the KTM you mentioned was it one of those dirt bike types. a friend had a Cagiva 125 cc and its was a blast to drive.

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Uh, Prabal babu, isn't there something missing in this list?? Why hast thou left out the green Standard Super 10 (Assam reg'd), a pic. of which you'd once uploaded in another thread (nostalgic pics.?) with your mother in it, captioned "Ma with her Standard Super 10" or so....?! You might know I take the exclusion of Standards rather seriously...I did even with Wasif when he left out mentioning his ex-Herald conv.! Or is it perhaps, that you don't want this one car back?? If so, then I'm just a pm away should you ever find it again!

What's a KTM btw? A moped?

So very sorry, Shyam. Yes I do want ASA 3204 back too, my mother's Standard Super 10, sold in Shillong in 1961/62. Phew, that was a close call, t-bhp hath no fury like Stanher scorned on slights to matters Standard!

KTM is an Austrian bike manufacturer (Bajaj has been talking of a collaboration with them for a couple of years now). They made other stuff also besides bikes. They had 50cc bikes as well, although not really in the moped catgory! I had a dual-purpose KTM250 that I also went motocrossing on (loved it on dirt, prefered the TVS50 on road). Totalled it, hence no number here of it - have permanently aching collarbones and femurs to remember it by though!!

Originally Posted by wasif

BTW Prabal I too had a TVS 50 back when I was in collage. Where did you study in Hyderanad and what year was it, maybe we knew each other. Also the KTM you mentioned was it one of those dirt bike types. a friend had a Cagiva 125 cc and its was a blast to drive.

Hey Wasif, I was in college in Pune, Fergusson College, passed out in 1984 (SYJC). We lived in Secunderabad in 1972/73 - RK Puram, Trimulgherry, etc. I did my BA from Osmania though in 1987, but visited just once to take all the three year's exams in one shot! Exam centre was in Koti. But I have had a varied and long association with the lovely twin-cities otherwise. Abids, Tank Bund, Usman Sagar, the Hyderabadi food ... aah if only I could tele-transport myself over right now, I could easily put on 5 kilos more to my 105 already!!

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Prabal

So very sorry, Shyam. Yes I do want ASA 3204 back too, my mother's Standard Super 10, sold in Shillong in 1961/62. Phew, that was a close call, t-bhp hath no fury like Stanher scorned on slights to matters Standard!

Thou art forgiven (for now), sir!

Oh, and I forgot, next in the list should've been xoticars- he'd once told me that his father had a Litchfield Green and white '62 Herald in Bbay (MRY something)...which hasnt been mentioned here again in his post!

Incidentally, it seems as though every car your family had owned was with you for only like 3-4 years? If I might ask, was it due to circumstances, ie. moving on frequent transfers etc.?

KTM is an Austrian bike manufacturer (Bajaj has been talking of a collaboration with them for a couple of years now). They made other stuff also besides bikes. They had 50cc bikes as well, although not really in the moped catgory!

Interesting to know about this bike. I imagine it to look like some monkey-bike if not moped?

Hey Wasif, I was in college in Pune, Fergusson College, passed out in 1984 (SYJC). We lived in Secunderabad in 1972/73 - RK Puram, Trimulgherry, etc.

So did you have the fiat at the time? Incidentally, I was told (and you might've noticed) that Sec'bad (especially Tirumalgiri, Sainikpuri etc.) used to be full of Heralds/Standards back in the yars you mention (even until the early/mid 90s. If only I'd grown up then.....sigh!)

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Incidentally, it seems as though every car your family had owned was with you for only like 3-4 years? If I might ask, was it due to circumstances, ie. moving on frequent transfers etc.?

Not really Shyam. In the list here only the '71 Fiat, Standard Super 10, Lamby and RD 350 were sold early, although not all of these in 3-4 years either. But we've had the others for very long - the Hillman was with us for almost three decades, same with the '61/62 Amby. The Vauxhall was there for almost five decades (that wasn't sold; I was conned off her!). Since we moved around on father's postings, the older vehicles (bought for/by my father) normally were kept in the hometown and would occasionally join up at one of the stations. Since one couldn't afford to keep them all, one had to occasionally move on, and the newer ones would obviously fetch a better value, which could be one of the considerations for deciding on which to let go.

There're vehicles with us for a very long time, before and after the mentioned vintages, that are still with us hence not iterated here. And then there are some that have been sold, and I'm either aware of their current whereabouts or couldn't really much care for them, hence not listed also. My father lost one eye and also got a stiff neck (yeah, I know that reads funny) in 1960 but managed to keep driving himself rather well till about 1990. So he never bought another car after that. Boy. are we talking cars or am I going all Eric Claptonish here with my father's eyes...sorry, for going OT.

Originally Posted by Stanher

Interesting to know about this bike. I imagine it to look like some monkey-bike if not moped?

The KTM50 was quite a proper scrambler, although smaller in size. Ask Mr. Google for pictures, na?

Originally Posted by Stanher

So did you have the fiat at the time? Incidentally, I was told (and you might've noticed) that Sec'bad (especially Tirumalgiri, Sainikpuri etc.) used to be full of Heralds/Standards back in the yars you mention (even until the early/mid 90s. If only I'd grown up then.....sigh!)

Yes, the Fiat was with us in Sec'bad. There were many Heralds as well as other Standards (including Vanguards, Companions, etc.) in the cantonment area there, which was the case all over India actually. Talking of Sec'bad cantt though, a friend of the family also had a very nice 1942-44 Ford/Willys Jeep that my brother and the other 'big boys' would go hunting wild boars in (I was not 'big' enough to join them although wild enough to be hunted!). They've settled down in Sec'bad and Biswajitda (same surname as mine) runs a big insurance brokerage company of his own there now. Dunno if they retain the GP still.

Wasif, I'll request for details of the Singer Le Mans for you from the Sharma brothers next time I meet them. If an AP connection emerges, I'll try to put you in direct touch with them. Maybe, some other member here, who's reading this and is in touch with them can do the same as well.

Karl, regarding the sharply reverse-raked C-pillar Ford Anglia in Poona, yes I remember it well. Only, now I'm in a bit of a bind regarding the colour red. Because I think there was a red one in Delhi also that I would see regularly till the 90s, so am not sure if I saw a red in Poona or in Delhi - the two reds are blurring my memory, maybe I'd see a red Anglia in both the cities! But I distinctly remember a beautifully maintained sky blue-coloured one in Poona in the early 80s. This car used to be in a charitable organisation's building in Kirkee, on the road from BEG to Vishrantwadi - mid-way there on the left, somewhere near the main Yerwada Jail/Airport turn-off road. Btw, there were also a white and a white with a red stripe (between the beadings on the side flaring up near the tail, like in some of the Cortinas also) in Delhi, to be spotted till even the early 2000s. There was also a badly-painted blue Anglia, but regularly driven by a Buddhist monk that I last saw here in the early Y2Ks. A fellow t-bhp member had also put up a station-wagon Anglia in the classifieds here some time ago. Oh yeah, just remembered that I had seen a white one outside a workshop in Munirka (Delhi) just a few months ago. So the tough little Anglias are survivors. A Harry Potter movie had one too!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Prabal

Karl, regarding the sharply reverse-raked C-pillar Ford Anglia in Poona, yes I remember it well. Only, now I'm in a bit of a bind regarding the colour red. Because I think there was a red one in Delhi also that I would see regularly till the 90s, so am not sure if I saw a red in Poona or in Delhi - the two reds are blurring my memory, maybe I'd see a red Anglia in both the cities!

So the tough little Anglias are survivors. A Harry Potter movie had one too!

The Poona Anglia I speak of was 110% red colour. I would get very excited when I saw it, it was unique even then (early 90s). I think it was MTJ regd.

And the Harry Potter car was stolen last year.

[karlosdeville]

Does anybody in Pune remember this light green (then painted a darker metallic green) Hillman Husky Wagon?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1260706-post97.html

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Prabal

The KTM50 was quite a proper scrambler, although smaller in size. Ask Mr. Google for pictures, na?

Done sir!
ktm 50 - Google Image Search



Sorry to hear about your father's condition though! Admirable that he continued to drive even despite that.

Yes, the Fiat was with us in Sec'bad. There were many Heralds as well as other Standards (including Vanguards, Companions, etc.) in the cantonment area there, which was the case all over India actually.

Yes, the cantonment area and surroundings did have many of them, mostly owned by the Army officers. Sadly very few remain now!

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Poona Anglia I speak of was 110% red colour. I would get very excited when I saw it, it was unique even then (early 90s). I think it was MTJ regd.

There was also a junking dark blue one in some garage there? With a Bbay regn., also uploaded on tbhp some time ago?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Stanher

There was also a junking dark blue one in some garage there? With a Bbay regn., also uploaded on tbhp some time ago?

That was MRF registered I think. Had come for restoration to a garage, surrounded by some other assorted British paraphenilia.

[manishk123]

There was an orange VW Karmann Ghia in Malabar hill, Mumbai. The owner had maintained it very well. He had these oval stickers of different countrys names on the car as was the trend in those days. Used to see her quite regularly till around 15 years ago. Don't know where she dissapeared after that. Was a real beauty. Anyone remember seeing her?

[Cyrus43]

Was this near Godrej baug/shimla house by any chance??