hello all, my name is jai, and although i'm a long way from the indian car scene, i get to visit on a regular basis due to my wife being from mumbai. Was introduced to your site by some of your fiat owning members coming onto a site i use
The FIAT Forum - For Talk On All Things FIAT, to ask about their uno/siena/palio and of course the forthcoming 500/bravo.
a tiny little bit about me, born and raised in london, married about 10 years ago, serving police officer, wife is a doctor.
car owning history, well by exotic standards it's fairly poor, started out with an old datsun 120y, a classic tangerine vw beetle, and then bought my first fiat uno. for a small car it fits my 6'3" frame perfectly, and i've been hooked every since. just right for nipping in and out of london heavy congestion, low insurance and running costs, and handily a lot of the work is doable yourself. as a result i've had 10 of them! as i've moved from one to another, the wife has taken my older cars, until a couple of years ago we got her something a bit more modern, a 2004 fiat panda, what you'll find under the new 500.
currently i own a pair of uno turbos, the red one is a 1990, the white is a 1989. red is currently resting after a night encounter with a thief rendered her a little damaged, white was bought for £120 (about Rs10000) as a total non runner, a little spannering and some parts later, 137 bhp was unleashed. both of these are the MK1 variant of the model, i think the lines, particularly at the front are cleaner then on the MK2, which is still being produced in places like brazil. both have the single overhead cam engine based on teh original lampredi design, with an IHI turbocharger, electronic ignition, intercooler and all round disc brakes.
and finally, my daily driver, the 1996 mitsubishi pajero junior, 1100cc, 16v, switchable 4wd, and all the comforts of a big car. it looks tiny but can carry a big load, never ever breaks down, and cruises all day at 85mph.
so that's a little of me and my cars, why am i here then? well like i said i regularly come to mumbai to visit the folks, and am always fascinated by the evolving car scene. 10 years ago was the odd older mercedes, an audi here and there, and not really much else of note. i scared myself silly trying to drive here padmini through lokhandwala, it was a combination of traffic, a very heavy car and using a column gear shift! over the years i noticed the cars changing,more imports, more modern home produced machinery, the drivers getting younger, a product of changing economics? some of my wifes old friends were into extracted every last bit of grunt from the cars, one drive on a section of the expressway in a worked over premier was a hell of an experience. last year on a trip out to darjeeling was treated to a night drive by a local guide in some sort of jeep, the roads up the hill were driving heaven, tight bends, hairpins, blind crests, smooth(!) the lot, i want to go back with something brutal!
anyway, as i mentioned we get a few of your guys coming over to the site i use with snippets of information, i thought i'd come the other way and see for myself, soak up a little atmosphere, and hopefully plan a trip that includes seeing a get together.
anyways thats all for now, see you all soon