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BHPian | ![]() Does anybody remember a car called Dolphin. Initially came out in blue color and was one of the fastest cars in India. Manufactured with a fibre glass body, this was a dream vehicle of sorts. Incidentally, the manufactures, Sipani Automobiles Ltd tried their hand in building a 3 wheel car, but that bombed. The dolphin had a raised back and came i think with a 3 door combo. Very quirky design Have you used a foot switch to dim and dip your car lights. I did while learning in an Ambassador Mark 2 vehicle. It was fun with a hard clutch, hand operated gear shift, indicator switch on the steering as a little triangle and a horn ring on the steering. That was real fun. Also, i remember during rains, car would stop thanks to water entering the distribution cup. The mechanics used to call it delco cup. Abmys used to have this in the lower part of the engine cabin and therefore once rains started, drivers would open the bonnet, cover it with plastic bag , tie it up and then drive. Premier padminis had less of a problem as the distributor cup was a bit raised Single bench front seats - where did they disappear ? Was fun cramming an amby with over 10 people and still managing a comfortable drive. Daily morning ritual - open the car, open the bonnet, check radiator, fill water , start engine, engine fails, try a few more times, rev engine for 5 minutes, shut off the engine, close car and then go back to reading paper and having coffee. |
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![]() | #212 | |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() Quote:
![]() My friend who was my neighbor had 2 of them. One High Torque and one Low Torque. The bike used to pull so cleanly even in the 6th gear. The brakes were pathetic though. And the balance for a bike weighing so much was amazing. One reason is the low center of gravity. The engine was mounted so low and my friend used to lean the bike with ease around here even at low speeds. And the burbling sound was so endearing. What a machine it was! | |
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![]() | #213 | |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Faridabad/Delhi
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| ![]() Yes there was. But it was a 12 tonner, not LCV. HM had set up a plant in Halol, Gujarat for making it. It failed miserably and was soon withdrawn. Local manufacturing did not proceed beyond kit assembly. The Halol factory was later sold off to GM India (in which HM had 50% stake at one time) which used it to make Opel Corsas. From Wiki: Quote:
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![]() | #214 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() The RX-100 "BORN TO LEAD" advertisements were certain lookers for me! so much so that, I had a big poster of it on the one of my bed room walls for many years from school days. I was gifted(forcefully) that bike by my dad when I got into my intermediate. ![]() The black RX-100 was a cult of its own in those days and I had a radium red stickering of 'Born to Lead' on the chrome silencer pipe! The playing around with KRP silencer replacement and stickering the fuel tank and other body covers periodically was truly nostalgic!! |
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![]() | #215 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
They launched a 4-door version of the car called Montana and subsequently introduced a diesel variant called Montana D1. It was probably the first diesel hatchback made in India! ![]() The 3-wheeled car you mentioned was called Sipani Badal. I'm not sure but it might have been a rebadged Reliant Robin, considering they already had a tie-up with Reliant. Similar to the 118NE and Standard 2000, these cars had their bonnet hinges located at the front. | |
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![]() | #216 | |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Faridabad/Delhi
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Last edited by directinjection : 23rd April 2014 at 10:18. | |
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![]() | #217 |
BHPian Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Here and There
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| ![]() Wouldn't it be more appropriate if the thread was renamed to 'Fun & Interesting Trivia on the Indian Automobile Scene' considering the discussion is not restricted to cars and also includes truck and motorbikes. Last edited by Roomy : 23rd April 2014 at 11:03. |
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![]() | #218 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Mahe
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The telescopic front suspension was the weakest link in this version. The only regular maintenance we had to do was for this part. The oil seals (of shock absorber) where to be replaced very often along with oil top ups. Even the springs were changed at least 3 times! Apart from that, this one was a really good bike. | |
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![]() | #219 | ||
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Faridabad/Delhi
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From Wiki: Quote:
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![]() | #220 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Chennai
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![]() | #221 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Wellington
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This was a feature by design of the gearbox, clutch. Not advertised though. More user discovered. I discovered it quite later in to owning the motorcycle. Last edited by sandeepmohan : 23rd April 2014 at 22:15. | |
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![]() | #222 |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() By the mid-1980's the Indo- Jap collaborations for 100 cc bikes came full circle and the Hero Honda CD 100, Yamaha RX 100, Ind Suzuki AX 100 and Kawasaki Bajaj KB 100 were all launched. Auto journalism had also taken shape and the first exclusively wheels, regular and monthly automag Indain Auto Journal was launched in mid- 1987 at a price of Rs 8=00. The production figures of cars , bikes and some other categories of automobiles were published by the media. Indian Auto too displayed some such statistics. Now the manufacturers played with the figures. Bajaj was a case in point. With the Hero Honda sales at all time high (with waiting lists too) and Yamaha and Ind Suzuki closely following (even Kawasaki Bajaj KB 100 sold well) Bajaj revealed its game plan. The Bajaj Auto figures for motorcycle production then, included the m80 (the m50 was defunct being underpowered) sales figures, clubbed with the KB 100 (KB100 + m80) . What an ingenuity? Now there was no way to know the real sales figures of the KB 100. ![]() Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 23rd April 2014 at 23:19. |
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![]() | #223 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Space-Time
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| ![]() Many years ago, the land on which the Jawa factory stood was sold to a builder called Sankalp, who built apartments on it. The road is still called Jawa Main Road in Yadavgiri, Mysore. |
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![]() | #224 |
BHPian ![]() | ![]() Hi I learnt 2-wheeler driving on Rajdoot 175. We had two edition of Rajdoot. The Mini-Rajdoot was made famous by Rishi Kapoor in Film Bobby. ![]() Raj Kapoor daughter got married in Nanda's family, who owned Escorts, the makers of Rajdoot |
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![]() | #225 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Jaipur, RAJ
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![]() A picture of Sipani Dolphin for old times sake from fellow BHPian Iqbal Veerji's Thread: My Life 84 Sipani Dolphin | |
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