[SJM1214]

A Kawasaki KB100 add in one of the leading Gujarati magazines. Year:1989.

[SJM1214]

Not particularly from the 90s, maybe early 2004 or 2005.
First Gen. Hyundai Tucson.

[Leoshashi]

Some Old Maruti Adverts from early 80s to 2000(5 speed 800 ad)































Link: https://www.campaignindia.in/article...bBNh4amv_D4tAU

[ajay99]

Maruti Zen Brochure which was part of the Booking Application form circa 1995
Price of the application form can be seen on the rear page -Rs.30/-

[Kuldeep31]

A nostalgic thread for sure. These two are from 2003 OD mag.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Just found the owners manual of my old Tata estate. Was indeed a great car, loaded with tech for it's time. Unfortunately, the dodgy electricals killed it. I still have mine, but the interiors and wires have been bitten to bits by rats, the engine is leaking fluids everywhere, tyres are flat and cracked, none of the electricals work, and the car has almost sunken into the ground. I wish I had the time to bring it back to shape:(

[Sanidhya mukund]

Now, since the TATA estate was our first car, service and maintenance was an alien concept to us. It never visited The TASS after the first couple of services. As a result, the coupons for the remaining free services are still intact!



The stamps of the dealership. At that time, they were the only TELCO dealers in Patna. I think they have closed down long ago.



The original ford accessories pricelist that we had got while purchasing the iKON, back in 2000. Can even see the visiting card of the sales guy!

[tushky]

Found these old promotional photos on Google of Tata vehicles for 1996 Paris motor show. Never knew that Tata had participated in Paris Motor show. In one pic there is a Grandpa of Tata winger. Tata Callypso.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by NinadJoshi

Ad for the '69 Ambassador Mark-II.

14 hp. Is this a typo in the advertisement? Specs seem to indicate 46hp.

No, it's not a typo. 14 h.p. would be as per the imperial unit of measurement, not metric. It's usage was popularised by the R.A.C., (Royal Automobile Club), of UK.
Rough conversion factor: 100c.c. in metric terms equalled 1h.p.,hence 1400 odd cc of the Amby was 14h.p.
Incidentally, if you check some old vehicle registration certificates, before the advent of smart cards, you will find the old R.A.C. / imperial way in which the engine capacity / displacement has been mentioned.

[ashish2nd]

Team,
Hope you all are doing well and taking good care of yourselves in this Covid-19 situation. As a weekly routine in this lock down, I was giving a quick spin to my new car within society premises today. While I was moving in circles in my society, I saw many expensive cars standing still, as if, they are waiting for this Covid situation to improve and to hit road again. Newer cars are covered, few of the (relatively) old cars are soaking up the sunlight and dust. Few cars are getting daily ‘good luck’ from birds 😊. There are old cars which are literally ignored by their owners are few of them have flat tyres. I am sure your locality will have similar condition.
On one the turns, I saw a white colored Premier Padmini. Doesn’t matter how modern today’s cars are, Premier Padmini always attracts me and takes me back to my school days. So finally, I decided to pen down my childhood memories about brand and cars of that era. Hope you will like it. Feel free to share your childhood memories.

Disclaimer: -
1) Before I start, let me tell you that, this is my first full length post on Team-bhp. So please forgive me for any mistakes.
2) I am avoiding posting any pictures in this post. I don’t want to download pictures from google and pasting them in my post. So, if you have original pics of any of the below models, please feel free to reply.


Here we go..... I am a 1982 born. I spent my childhood in a mid sized town named ‘Beed’ in Maharashtra state. In my childhood (i.e. 1982-1998) a car was a matter of prestige. There used to be one or two cars in locality. We kids used to roam around those cars just catch glimpse of it. Below were few important cars manufactures and their models that still have special memories in my mind.

1) Premier Automobiles Limited – PAL was one the successful car manufactures in those days. ‘Premier Padmini’ was really a good car and it is still one of my favorites. Later they launched ‘118-NE’ which was squarish is shape and had a real premium appeal to it. In late 90s they collaborated with Peugeot motors and launched ‘PAL Peugeot 309’.

2) Hindustan Motors – Hindustan Motors tested a runaway success with ‘Ambassador’. ‘Ambassador’ was a solid built. Powerful engine planted ride and strong highway manners were key contributors to the success of this car. The car was counted as luxurious car of that time and was popular in government sector’s official fleet. Later HM launched ‘Contessa’. ‘Contessa’ was one the modern cars launched by HM.

3) Bajaj Tempo (Today’s Force motors) - This brand was behind the most popular peoples mover vehicles 1) Tempo Matador and 2) Tempo Trax . ‘Matador’ was very rigid. It was like a strong metal box installed on wheels. I still remember, I had a road trip with my family members from Beed to Tirupati and that was very comfortable ride. Later the company launched ‘Trax’. It was a runaway success. ‘Tempo Trax’ was one of the fastest vehicles of that time.

4) Ford India – Ford was taking baby steps in late 90s. ‘Ford fusion’ was one their initial launches It was a great car. Specious cabin, powerful engines and strong road presence was its USP. It was not an era of compact SUV else that would have brought a great success to Ford. But one point still stands true, Ford was the pioneer of crossovers in India, let it be ‘Fusion’ of ‘EcoSport’. Later Ford launched their contemporary sedan ‘Ford Escort’. It was ford’s answer to Maruti Suzuki’s ‘Esteem’ and had a descent success.

5) Fiat India – I am not too sure about Fiat’s presence in 80s and 90s but one thing I do recall is Fiat launched their first hatchback named ‘Uno’ in Indian market. It was marketed as modern European car introduced to India. But it had moderate sales as India’s most favorite manufacture Maruti Suzuki had started writing their success story

6) Maruti Suzuki – The company known as producers of tin cans now a days, was a choice of modern India in 80s and 90s.MS was having largest model line-up in Indian market. ‘Maruti 800’ (modern hatchback), ‘Maruti Zen’, ‘Maruti Gypsy’ (the ultimate off roader), ‘Maruti 1000’ and ‘Maruti Esteem’ (Modern sedans) and ‘Maruti Omni’ were few popular cars by the brand. No need to say, MS tasted a great success with all these models and established themselves as biggest car manufacture in the country. The trend is still going on.

7) Tata Motors – Tatas were having a descent share in Indian car market. They had few sophisticated and modern models like ‘Estate’ and ‘Sierra’. Tata is Sierra is still one my favorite models. The huge glass area was unmatchable to any tiny sunroof in modern days cars. I am excited that Tata is planning to launch the model again and he concept shown in auto Expo was awesome. Tata did try their hand on SUVs. ‘Tata SUMO’ was a good SUV but got popular as people’s mover in later stage. ‘Tata Safari’ was the first modern SUV from the brand and received well in market. Then came the ‘Indica’. That car wrote a great success story for the company. While I am writing this, I realized that Tata Motors had produced many good vehicles. Their SUV were ahead of the time. Sierra, Safari, SUMO. Hope they can achieve similar success with Harrier, Nexon and HBX

8) Hyundai Motors India – While Indian manufactures were enjoying mix bagged success, this Korean brand was getting ready to capture the market. They launched ‘Santro’ the tallboy call with a big bang. This was treated as real competitor to Maruti Suzuki’s monopoly. Hyundai selected Sharukh Khan as their brand ambassador. I still recall printed advertisement where SRK was holding a bolt with Hyundai brand. Santro had few minor facelifts with Santro Xing. Hyundai also tried their hands in on sedans like Accent.

9) Mahindra and Mahindra – M&M were busy and focusing on commercial vehicles in 90s. They did have few models like ‘Commander’, ’Marshal’ and ’Armada’ but all of them were popular in rural India. Few of them are still used as people’s mover.

10) Apart from these brands, few other brands tried their luck in Indian market but had a tough luck. Daewoo motors (Matiz,Cielo), Opel (Corsa,Sail) were couple of them.

Situation has evolved since then. Most of these manufacturers have enabled them to adapt rapidly changing automobile world. Those who could adapt the change, are still standing tall with their modern cars.

We all own modern cars now a days, but childhood memories still have a special place. Which one was your favorite car/car manufacturer in your childhood?

[Shreyfiesta]

Some Ford Escort ads/paper cuttings from the late 90s :

[drsk]

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

In my childhood (i.e. 1982-1998) a car was a matter of prestige. There used to be one or two cars in locality. We kids used to roam around those cars just catch glimpse of it.

1980's was probably the best time to own any vehicle. Decent roads and sparse traffic made every ride/drive pleasant.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

1) Premier Automobiles Limited

They had a diesel version of 118 too - Premier 138D.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

3) Bajaj Tempo (Today’s Force motors)

Add to Tempo Minidor to the list.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

4) Ford India – Ford was taking baby steps in late 90s. ‘Ford fusion’ was one their initial launches It was a great car. Specious cabin, powerful engines and strong road presence was its USP. It was not an era of compact SUV else that would have brought a great success to Ford. But one point still stands true, Ford was the pioneer of crossovers in India, let it be ‘Fusion’ of ‘EcoSport’. Later Ford launched their contemporary sedan ‘Ford Escort’. It was ford’s answer to Maruti Suzuki’s ‘Esteem’ and had a descent success.

Escort was the first car to be launched in India in mid-1990s. This model was outdated one and they tested the market with this one. Later they launched Ikon. The 1.6L engine was the Josh machine!
Fusion was launched much later around 2003-04.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

5) Fiat India – … ... I do recall is Fiat launched their first hatchback named ‘Uno’ in Indian market.

Uno was again an outdated model when it was launched in India. However, people claimed that its diesel engine was one of the best in the world then.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

8) Hyundai Motors India

The one thing Hyundai did right was NOT to hurry into the Indian market. One of their first dealers where I stayed then was also the dealer for my dad's scooter. I remember him telling my dad that Hyundai spent about an year to test the Santro in Indian conditions and asked the dealers to test drive the car, took feedback and worked on the feedback before launching the car.

Probably why they are more successful than the American and European brands in India.

Originally Posted by ashish2nd

10) Apart from these brands, few other brands tried their luck in Indian market but had a tough luck. Daewoo motors (Matiz,Cielo), Opel (Corsa,Sail) were couple of them.

Daewoo lost because of the financial issues faced in South Korea. In this list you missed Standard Motors. They manufactured the Herald and 2000 models.

[anjan_c2007]

Largely unheard by many, but nevertheless the car came into the market and soon vanished ! The car Quantum Sports was fitted with an 1800 cc / twin cam/ 16 valve/ 115 bhp engine, boasting of a top speed of 200 kmph.

[anjan_c2007]

Some more advertisements from the 1990's

[Sanidhya mukund]

Found some gems on youtube:

1. The Premier 118NE:

https://youtu.be/pVfEABKY75k

2. Maruti 1000:

https://youtu.be/E4TNFyflTPg

3. Ford Ikon:

https://youtu.be/yVfdEgywtpc

4. Ford Ikon pre-launch media report:

https://youtu.be/Pa1dR4UM4tw

5. Maruti Esteem launch media report:

https://youtu.be/FT8V4EoJ8d8