[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

I KNOW THAT BY READING THE ABOVE, YOU WOULD HAVE RELIVED THE EXPERIENCE. I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL TO ANYBODY READING THIS INFORMATION TO GENUINELY EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF REVIVING SUCH MAGIC, MAYBE FOR CLASSIC CARS ? THINK ABOUT IT.

I will give my experiences of the 1984 / 85 / 86 / 87 / 88 / 89 and 90 rallies next time, one year at a time. Bye for now.

Behram Dhabhar

Sir, I think trying to re create such a event is almost impossible now ... , though if someone did manage doing it --

And we look forward to hearing more about your experiences .... and Ill put forward my experiences as a spectator !!

Cheers

[Revvhead]

Khaadu.. sala two decades later i'm still jealous of that!!!

i clearly remember how i wasnt allowed to go, coz even tho i had the required dis percentage (or was it a comm??) , i had (naturally, as usual) failed in hindi for that assesment, and batti telling me that i was therefore dq'd!!! (also called me a nalayak for good measure). so i had to sit it out in school and then listen to your stories for bloody days.

although the bigges sucker if you remember was deboo, who missed the bus. unbeliveable!!! he really got laughed at!!
i had to be content watching the last few belgian toyota celicas fly past the gate, tho sekhon and team thunderbolt gypsies always stopped by to wave to the kids!!

Originally Posted by khaadu75

DHABHAR.BEHRAM , Good to see a thread started about the good ol days of RAllying . The Himalayan Rally was what got me addicted to Rallying -- I was 11 yrs old and was a marshal at 2 check points in the 86 edition . Our job was to take the time book , get it to the table for the time to be filled in and then returned to the navigator .

We all had heard of Rajeev Khaana and Jayant Shah -- we belonged to the Khannu ( as he was nicked ) fan club . We didnt know the difference between and Opel Manta and a Nissan 240RS but we knew that they drove fast . The first time I experienced a Rally car was when we were stationed at the TC at Solan ( outside Mohan Meakin Brewery ) and the rally was running late by a few hours which was very common then . It was about 12 at night and we had been waiting for a couple of hours getting very edgy but frustrated as they just wudn't come ..... and then we heard this RUMBLE - we kept our eyes focussed on a turn which was about 3 kms from us to catch the lights but alas NOTHING . The rumble continued and continued and then SUDDENLY we see daylight , those extra lights literally turned the night into broad day light . The car comes in -- take the book with shaking hands at the sight of ' A RALLY CAR ' - get it to the table with my eyes still on the car , and hand it back .

But that was nothing compared to what happened with car No 4 and Car no 5 when they came in ...... 5-7 minutes before we saw them 2 , we realised that the RUMBLE had turned into a MAHA RUMBLE -- we cudn't figure out why , then the turn light up brighter than it had with the earlier cars and we still cidn't figure out why . Now , the place where we were located .. was about 200 mtrs after a sharp right hander ( broad road ) .. !! Then we sudden;y realised that there were 2 cars side by side at full clip .... my first real view of a drift has to be that -- 2 cars screaming their lungs out , lights blazing , and going sideways as if they were doing synchronised driving . I still get goose bumps thinking about that scene . I remember names like Roothart , Dunkerton, and then there was a Belgian couple also ( they rolled down within 5 kms after leaving our TC ) !!

laa..la...la...laa

damn .. I have goose bumps all over again .

Cheers

PS -- Sir, do you have pics to go along with your story telling ???

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by Revvhead

Khaadu.. sala two decades later i'm still jealous of that!!!

i clearly remember how i wasnt allowed to go, coz even tho i had the required dis percentage (or was it a comm??) , i had (naturally, as usual) failed in hindi for that assesment, and batti telling me that i was therefore dq'd!!! (also called me a nalayak for good measure). so i had to sit it out in school and then listen to your stories for bloody days.

although the bigges sucker if you remember was deboo, who missed the bus. unbeliveable!!! he really got laughed at!!
i had to be content watching the last few belgian toyota celicas fly past the gate, tho sekhon and team thunderbolt gypsies always stopped by to wave to the kids!!

Dude, and 86 was the last year I saw that thing called ' Distinction ' ... maybe i was a dis student till then coz someone up there wanted me to go see the Himalayan Rally !!! I remember Mulchandani taking us and we were so excited ... coz i remember seeing the Rally go thru Kotgarh a few yrs prior to that but 86 is when I got hooked hooked .

And Sekhon-Chauhan team always stopped there coz both of them had their nephews in Sna' .... Im sure you know that but just incase you didnt know --

Chauhans nephew - Sangram Singh & Sekhons nephew/niece -- dont remember the guys name , ur house though/ niece was Shaleen Sandhu ( our batch ) !!! Also those days the battle used to be Jayant Shah vs Rajeev Khanna , and rajeev Khanna was by far the more popular guy but he always let his fans down ( MAd man after all ) !!! But then on the bright side ... if he wasn't a mad man and didnt DNF ..we probably wud have never gotten the ride of our lifetime in that Canter .

I remember Shinozuka going over this big stone ... when I say BIG I mean BIG which rolled down into the centre of the road just a few seconds b4 he came and this happened about 60 mtrs short of a TC . His car comes flat out .. theres a straight stretch of about 200 mtrs into a left which we wud call a 2nd gear left in the esteem ( dunno what gear he took it in ) and then into another 200 mtrs to the TC . He slides into teh left , and we see this stone rolling into teh centre , we scream but our man goes over it without even lifting , we thought thats teh end of him , he reaches TC , my dad and me get on our knees to see if anything happened , he gets out and says ' NO PROBLEMO -- sheet sheet , look look no problem , theeck sheet down and thats when we noticed he was referring to the under body protection . .

So clearly etched these memories are .....

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Hi scooby 05 - sorry but I cannot recall your real name. That car was MMG 1464 right ? Let me test my memory - I was marshalling at the Kasara TC (where the road from Khodala comes out on NH3 below the railway line) in one of the MASA rallies (1986 if I am correct) and you and Pradeep Nair were first on the road in MMG1464, which was painted in a two tone combination of white and red. In the same rally, Farad's radiator packed up. Do let me know if my memory is correct.

I had the original Himalayan Rally road books. Let me check at home if I still have them. Let me have Deepak Chopra's and Pradeep Nair's contacts. Shrikant Shah is in Pune. I am in regular touch with him. As I work in the R&D department of an automajor, hamara to contact rehta hi hai Shrikant ke saath.

I would love to drive a Premier Padmini up the Jalori pass. What say ? How can I forget the Himachal flowers ? And the juicy heavenly apples - at 75 paise per dozen ? The guys who read this will go ballistic. I was in touch with Farad upto a couple of years back. I am not in touch now. I am still in touch with Sunil Shanbhag and Mahesh Powale, our ever helpful turner from Shivaji Park. He prepared a Padmini head for me last year.

Alas - I wish those days come back - how we enjoyed - all you upto 30 somethings, you have missed out on classical opportunities. Hope we can all join forces and recreate the magic. I am ever ready. Just contact anytime. I will never mention here but I believe many people know where I work in what capacity.

Behram Dhabhar

[tifosikrishna]

sir, i was transported back in time after reading your post. eager to read your other rally experiences as well.

I will never mention here but I believe many people know where I work in what capacity.

I know that you are of the kind who goes out of his way to help your customer.

Thanks to omnipotent search engine - google...

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

all you upto 30 somethings, you have missed out on classical opportunities.

Yes Mr. Dhabhar, I agree completely. Those posts of yours transported me back in time...I have grown up with stories of sholavaram and the K-1000, have been dying to have a first-person account of what its like to do the Himalayan.

I am all for a revival of the classic motorsport scene in India...we think too much about deliverables these days to really enjoy the sport, and thats what has killed it in India.

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Hi scooby 05 - sorry but I cannot recall your real name. That car was MMG 1464 right ? Let me test my memory - I was marshalling at the Kasara TC (where the road from Khodala comes out on NH3 below the railway line) in one of the MASA rallies (1986 if I am correct) and you and Pradeep Nair were first on the road in MMG1464, which was painted in a two tone combination of white and red. In the same rally, Farad's radiator packed up. Do let me know if my memory is correct.

I had the original Himalayan Rally road books. Let me check at home if I still have them. Let me have Deepak Chopra's and Pradeep Nair's contacts. Shrikant Shah is in Pune. I am in regular touch with him. As I work in the R&D department of an automajor, hamara to contact rehta hi hai Shrikant ke saath.

I would love to drive a Premier Padmini up the Jalori pass. What say ? How can I forget the Himachal flowers ? And the juicy heavenly apples - at 75 paise per dozen ? The guys who read this will go ballistic. I was in touch with Farad upto a couple of years back. I am not in touch now. I am still in touch with Sunil Shanbhag and Mahesh Powale, our ever helpful turner from Shivaji Park. He prepared a Padmini head for me last year.

Alas - I wish those days come back - how we enjoyed - all you upto 30 somethings, you have missed out on classical opportunities. Hope we can all join forces and recreate the magic. I am ever ready. Just contact anytime. I will never mention here but I believe many people know where I work in what capacity.

Behram Dhabhar

Yep Behram, It was MMG 1464, Alas had I not sold it . Yes it was '86 Massa and the car was in cream and orangish red. Hats off to Your Memory Man!! we were always Very Fast in the first half of every rally, and you will also remember how Pradeep and me had a knack of breaking the car towards the end in every rally! Later on my car was also used for the Charminar challenge and the K1000 by Pradeep with Shyam and Later in '88 by Rakim Velkar. for the Massa.
Shrikant has Our contacts. Just spoke to him a week back.
I am game anytime for a Planned out trip to Jalori, for old memories, though in a Padmini will be a lill too adventurous!!

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by scooby05

I am game anytime for a Planned out trip to Jalori, for old memories, though in a Padmini will be a lill too adventurous!!

And let me know when ever you plan to do it .... you can head out from my place for the trip up Jalori , though its not what it used to be !!! Its tarmac all the way .. though the sheer drops are still the same -- guess thats the only similarity between then and now . You can go up in 2nd & 3rd now !!!

Cheers

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

And let me know when ever you plan to do it .... you can head out from my place for the trip up Jalori , though its not what it used to be !!! Its tarmac all the way .. though the sheer drops are still the same -- guess thats the only similarity between then and now . You can go up in 2nd & 3rd now !!!

Cheers

In any Case This Time I'm gonna go in a SUV 4x4, 4lt+, and do it with a vengence!! and this can now happen only next summer-april'08, so we can have enough time to plan and group up. Robin will have to give us assistance using his good offices!!
Behram, shoudnt we ask Nazir to organise a plan for the old times sake?? He would do it Best!! and we will all chip in.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by scooby05

Behram, Hats off to you!!
You sure have the Logs with you? with the tulip charts!!
Deepak is still around and Im in touch, so is Pradeep Nair, my driver/co partner in the '84 Himalayan in my 1464 ![Vasant Rele and Shrikant Shah prepared]
and That Jalori pass, I'd Love to Visit with a bunch of himalayan participants. we too packed up there in '84. were 5th overall till before that!!
You remember the Flowers regularly showered on the Participants by children high up passing Himachal towns/villages!!!
In '85 did the complete route with the FIA Stewards/Observers.
You in touch with Farad?? or any of the old timers??

I posted a reply yesterday. I cannot see it, which is confusing. Can you or a moderator please help ?

Behram Dhabhar

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

I posted a reply yesterday. I cannot see it, which is confusing. Can you or a moderator please help ?

Behram Dhabhar

Hi Behram,

I just checked the moderation que and it is empty.
It is possible that your post might not have been approved, or it might not have been received by the system. I will ask in the Support forum and let you know.

I will also delete these posts when you get a reply, in order to not go off topic.

cya
R

[Cyrus43]

aee what the hell.... even i havent heard these storys


this is not fair...

[Hell Kuul]

HERE IS THE 405 SLC

[Hell Kuul]

[tifosikrishna]

wooow, nice pics kuul.

Loved the looks of 405 slc, particularly the tyres and the rims.

Is the pic through the wind shield taken from a amby??

regards
tifosi.