[d4v3]

Good day India!

As some of you may already know I'm working on a site and articles about various scooter productions.

For this I'm still looking for a (clear) picture, information or an advertisement of a Girnar 150 Leo scooter?

Also, does anyone know whether any of the following scooter models were really produced?

GNAL 150 Fuji
GNAL 150 Venus
GNAL 150 Deluxe
GNAL 150 SDX

I can find limited information about the GNAL 150 Prince, but none about the mentioned other models. If I can do anything in return, please feel free to ask.

Thank you!
Dave

[alok_balsekar]

Originally Posted by d4v3

Good day India!

As some of you may already know I'm working on a site and articles about various scooter productions.

For this I'm still looking for a (clear) picture, information or an advertisement of a Girnar 150 Leo scooter?

Also, does anyone know whether any of the following scooter models were really produced?

GNAL 150 Fuji
GNAL 150 Venus
GNAL 150 Deluxe
GNAL 150 SDX

I can find limited information about the GNAL 150 Prince, but none about the mentioned other models. If I can do anything in return, please feel free to ask.

Thank you!
Dave

Hey Dave.

It's great that u r working on a site on scooters!!!

Most of us here are too young to have seen the Girnar scooters produced in India. But we have contacts with older mechanics who used to work on these scooters. Hopefully we will be able to get some information for u.


In the mean while can u please provide a link to your website?

We would LOVE to see it!!!

[edsuede]

Hi Dave

I've not heard of any of these scooters - would I be correct in assuming they were a Vespa based derivative? Here's hoping someone on here can help you out with the information and pictures you require

Regards
Ed

[OEM]

Originally Posted by d4v3

Good day India!

As some of you may already know I'm working on a site and articles about various scooter productions.

For this I'm still looking for a (clear) picture, information or an advertisement of a Girnar 150 Leo scooter?

Also, does anyone know whether any of the following scooter models were really produced?

GNAL 150 Fuji
GNAL 150 Venus
GNAL 150 Deluxe
GNAL 150 SDX

I can find limited information about the GNAL 150 Prince, but none about the mentioned other models. If I can do anything in return, please feel free to ask.

Thank you!
Dave

--------------------------------------

This is pretty nostalgic.

yes, my dad did go out and buy a horrendous blue girnar (in the mid 80s) when the world was buying vespas, lambrettas, vijay supers and Bajaj.

I never knew i would become a bike/car guy until much later

It was a Girnar 150 Leo. Infact, I learnt to ride on it. we had it for a good 10 years until age caught up with it. Ironically, the guy we sold it to still rides around on it.

And it was the one of the heaviest and most stable scooters I have ever ridden.

Will surely get you a picture.

[d4v3]

@alok_balsekar: The website will reside on ww.iconicscooter.com. I can give you a sneak preview but unless I get more details in and a decent graphic design she won't go public until in a few months.

@edsuede: pictures speak a 100 words....

@OEM: that would be great! You can tell the guy he probably has a pretty unique scooter by now ;-)

Girnar scooters later became GNAL scooters, which was later bought out by 'standard combines'. gnal did produce a scooter based on the vespa design (or rather bajaj), and the company at certain stages had contacts with Bajaj AND PGO (Piaggio Vespa's licensee in Taiwan). until a year ago standard combines had a scooter protoype on their website which was a cross between a bajaj stride and a pgo creator...

All this can be dug up online, but I find it nicer to find first hand information from real people.

In the following thread (link) there is mention of the first or second edition of Indian Auto Journal in 1988, which had a review of the Girnar Leo?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ndustry-3.html

I will repost a photo and an ad I saw on the following threads, but I don't know if the photo is really a production scooter (I think I can make out the word Girnar on it?) and if the ad isn't just a pre-production default scooter picture:





Found the photos on these threads:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/pre-wa...arajas-37.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintag...thread-31.html

[edsuede]

Thanks for posting up the photo Dave - what a unique machine

I'm really surprised that I've not come across these scooters before - India keeps throwing up new surprises all the time, regards the many different vehicles made in this country.

The head lamp and surround look like the same one used on the Vespa GL/SS180 and of course, the Kelvinator Avanti.

My appetite for more pictures and information on these machines is well and truely wetted now

Regards
Ed

[d4v3]

Ed, did you see what seems to be the backside of one of the scooters in the right corner of the bigger photo? Looks like a louvered stepny built into the cowl? And the back seems to be extended to function like a back carrier?

Can't wait for more pictures!

[Sanjunair5]

Dave, I believe it was the late 80s and I distinctly remember two scooters from GNAL (Gujarat Narmada Auto Ltd.). One was the Narmada 150 Prince - a Vespa derivative and the second one (which I believe flopped big time) was called Narmada Fuji Electric. I wish I had a clearer memory of the Fuji Electric, vaguely remember it as being pretty stylish for its time!

I have no idea of the remaining models you have mentioned.

[khan_sultan]

I also remember GNAL scooters from the late 80's. Don't remember the variants though. We had even booked it (500 rs was the booking amount) but did not take delivery of this scooter.

I remember TV advrt that showed GNAL scooter pulling a trailer of sorts loaded with an elephant to demonstrate its power. I also vaguely remember some scooter rallies where it had beaten Bajaj scooters and this was reported in the sports pages of ToI.

[d4v3]

@Sanjunair5: thank you for confirming the Fuji scooter, now I know at least we're not hunting ghosts

@khan_sultan: those rallies, could those happen to be the Monsoon Rally?

According to a small mention an old webpage, the design of the Girnar Leo was developed at the National Institute of Design? There is a small thumbnail of the scooter, which shows the extended back comparable to the scooter in the bottom right of the photo of a previous post.

NID :: Milestones 1961-1970

Somehow GNAL Narmada Prince scooters regularly pop up on the second hand market in the Netherlands, small batches must have made it all the way to Europe. I myself saw one just last September happily driving along the Bajajs and LML's in Egypt.

I'm still looking for the article in the Indian Auto Journal in 1988, which had a review of the Girnar Leo, but have no idea where to start. Is there some sort of (online) indian antique book store or digital library?

[Technocrat]

There was this Girnar scooter near my office in Pune & I saw it till exactly an year ago.

Yes the scooters were Vespa Derivatives & lot of folks confused them with the Chetak & LML 150 NV. It didnt do too well in the market

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by edsuede

Thanks for posting up the photo Dave - what a unique machine

I'm really surprised that I've not come across these scooters before - India keeps throwing up new surprises all the time, regards the many different vehicles made in this country.

The head lamp and surround look like the same one used on the Vespa GL/SS180 and of course, the Kelvinator Avanti.

My appetite for more pictures and information on these machines is well and truely wetted now

Regards
Ed

The Girnar scooters were made under license from Bajaj Auto, which was by a Gujarat state government company. There was another company manufacturing similar scooters named Priya, Maharashtra scooters ltd, an undertaking of the Maharashtra state government.

Later on the Girnar unit was taken over by Gujarat Narmada Fertilizer Co., and the scooter was re-christened Narmada with minor change in body panel shape, but without changes to the Vespa DNA. (The changes were similar to the one done by Kelvinator of India Ltd on their Avanti scooter based on the lambretta).

One of my colleague has a Narmada even now in running condition.

[IQBAL VEERJI]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

There was this Girnar scooter near my office in Pune & I saw it till exactly an year ago.

Yes the scooters were Vespa Derivatives & lot of folks confused them with the Chetak & LML 150 NV. It didnt do too well in the market

These scooters were for those who were in hurry to own a chetak,bajaj super,Bajaj 150. As these were available immediately unlike Bajaj products.
Now han.when riding them you never found difference between Bajaj and Girnar, only difference was looks , that too very marginal.
They were popular in gujarat and rajastthan.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by edsuede

I'm really surprised that I've not come across these scooters before - India keeps throwing up new surprises all the time, regards the many different vehicles made in this country.

Guess these days you have Vibgyor Motorcycles which i believe is in Bengal. Haven't seen any of these bikes not too sure if anybody on the forum has it.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by IQBAL VEERJI

These scooters were for those who were in hurry to own a chetak,bajaj super,Bajaj 150. As these were available immediately unlike Bajaj products.
Now han.when riding them you never found difference between Bajaj and Girnar, only difference was looks , that too very marginal.
They were popular in gujarat and rajastthan.

You are right. Chethaks had long waiting list and these were available across the showroom shelves.

There is a difference though. These are based on the old Vespa 150 or Bajaj 150 which were threee geared scooters where as Chethaks had 4 gears. The Girnars, Priyas and Narmadas had only 3 gears. Bajaj transferred the technology to these companies when they discontinued production of this model. The Bajaj super was a smaller (in the sense that they had smaller 3.5x8 tyres compared with the 3.5x10 of Chethaks) sibling to Chethak but with 4 gears.

Moreover Priyas were sold through Bajaj Auto dealerships.