[Shreeram]

To Start With Here is the Article in the Newspaper about Bajajs Auto Ltds Attempt at a Peoples Car in the 80's - THE Bajaj PTV (The Peoples / Private Transport Vehicle, the ancestor of Tata Nano.




This Article was first Posted By Karl on Tbhp so credit for this wonderful article goes to him. The Day I first saw this Article, I wanted This Baby in my Garage. Over a Period of time I saw the Running Example owned and maintained in Pristine condition by Mr Nagpurkar as mentioned in the Article, many a times. But after seeing it and being used regularly, never had the guts to ask him if it was for sale. As mentioned rightly by Karl there were three of these regularly running on the Road - One Metallic Maroon shade (which is the one in the Article) One in Metallic Blue and One in Metallic Green.

Here are some more Pics of the Metallic Marroon (now repainted) Owned by Mr. Nagpurkar.










But My Continuous Search and Prayers were answered after 3 Looong Years. Now on 27th Sept 2011 - I have become the Proud Owner of the Second One (The Metallic Blue). The Rare Piece of our Indian Motoring History is Standing Tall in my Garage. So shortly there will be Two Running examples on the roads of Pune.

@ Karl - Can you send me a High Resolution Copy of the Article if you have it please?. Not able to find the article in the Pune Mirror Database online.

Heres another Exciting News - I Clicked some Pictures of my car today and compared with the one owned by Mr Nagpurkar, and found out that even though we have 2 of them, each one of them is UNIQUE !!!!!!

Here are Comments by Some of our Friends about this Vehicle earlier on Teambhp

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

So how many people remember this attempt by Bajaj at a people's car?
I used to see this car on the roads on Pune very regularly till a couple of years ago. Im glad it is still on the road. It is a metallic maroon shade. I also used to see one in metallic blue and one in metallic green, also MZA regd. I wonder if the three cars were this same one repainted.

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

I didnt even know this existed. Karl, 20 years down the line, this will be a very very prized posession indeed..

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Wow Shreeram, that's a nice article on this little baby.
I'd seen pictures of this off and on, but didn't know a running example still lived.
As probably the first Indian attempt to make a low-cost car, this certainly deserves a place in the archives.

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

That's real wonderful news Shreeram - I envy you bro' !!
Can we have some photographs

Originally Posted by manishalive

Congrats Shreeram for an excellent and rare buy. Please share some pictures of the baby. I might have some articles on the same. I will dig up my records and let you know.

Shortly I will Post the Entire Restoration Process of the PTV here with Detailed Photos. Stay Tuned.

Shreeram

[chanu]

Wow! this is amazing, I never heard about this kind of automobile, the last automobile which I have seen in this shape is the Dolphin.

Congratulations Sreeram for the unique find, I never heard or seen this in any media till date it is a great surprise to me till now. I would love to know more about this PTV and hope you wouldn't mind.

how old is this in India?
which engine it runs on?
is it a 4 seater?

I believe this vehicle is a rear engine (RE) three wheeler however not sure as in one of the pictures the vehicle is put on a stand and I couldn't see any wheels. If this is a 3 wheeler then should I say this is the ancestor for Sunku, Shakti, one model of APE steering autos.

Nice find, I am sure the PTV will come up well in your garage. All the very best Sreeram this is an exciting thread and sure will follow it up.

[Statement]

Thats one great find Mate. Congrats.

Can you also post some more pics and details of the spec's please.
Bajaj tried this and then migrated to and rick? Or did they try modifying a Rick into a car? :-) No Offense.

Also any idea why the idea did not take off? Competition /Arm twisting from Maruti during that time? Because this could have been a nano of that time and priced very low.

[Shreeram]

@ Chanu and Statement - Thank you for your Wishes.

And Here are some Extracts from the Article they will answer all your Questions.

This was Bajaj’s Peoples Car of the 80’s. This Dream of Bajaj never made it to the Indian Roads but if it had become a Reality it would have altered History. We don’t know why Bajaj Scraped the Peoples Car project. People often Mistake it with a Rickshaw.

The PTV was a Unique Peoples Car Project Undertaken by Bajaj Auto. One might wonder how Bajaj thought about such an experiment in the Late 80’s. When there was a “Quota Raj” and vehicles were not available as per customers Wish. Also that was the “Hum Do Humare Do” era. Small Families commuted only on two wheelers, either by scooters or motorcycles like Rajdoot, Yezdi and Enfield Bullet.

To Find a Solution Bajaj Auto decided to manufacture a car that will cater to all necessities of a small Family, in keeping with the available technology. Initially they drafted a Four Seater, but due to engine Capacity Constraints it became a Two Seater. Thus the Private Transport Vehicle (PTV) was born. It was in fact the very first attempt of the Indian Auto Industry to make a Peoples Car. This unfortunately never saw the light of the Day.

As per Mr. Ashok Sarwade, an engineer of Research and Design of Bajaj Auto -

Actually those were the days of the Quota Raj, people had to wait for years to get a brand new vehicle. There was a huge price gap between scooters, motorcycles and small cars. Our R&D department decided to fill up this gap by designing a car that can give adequate safety and economy to a Small Family. They designed a Unique Car, which has the Platform of Rickshaw and an Engine of a Scooter.

They Produced 4 Prototypes out of which the PTV was cleared. At Least 25 PTV’s were made, of which 14-15 were sold to company officials and 2 kept for testing. They were told to be strict about the safety of the car so they used 2 of them for Crash Testing. The Results were said to be Quite Satisfactory. And they went ahead with the Project.

At first the PTV was produced with a wheelbase of 2000 mm, but later reduced to 1400 mm. The PTV was a Three wheeled Hard top Two Seater Car. They used a Steering Wheel (Borrowed from the Standard Herald !!!!) to give better Stability to the Vehicle. This Unique Car had a 150 Cc Engine of a Bajaj Scooter which was deemed quite powerfull to carry a small family.. The Car can Drive upto 80Kms Per Hour. In fact it was designed as a Point A to B transport for a Family. It can Carry 2 People and can carry 100 kg of dead weight in the boot.

Auto Start, Four Floor Gears were the characteristics of the PTV. In the early Tests, it Delivered 24-25 kms per Litre average, but after some modicications and installing a new filter manufactured by kirloskar Filters, the same PTV was delivering 32 Kms per Litres average which was quite handsome and money saving. The PTV had a Price Tag of 25,000 Rs.

The PTV was also Showcased at the Delhi Automotive Fair and the curiosity it gathered made Bajaj Auto more confident of its Success. The R& D team of Five Engineers and two Sculptures and The Deputy Chief Engineer were the Brains Behind the PTV. However the Project Died a Silent Death as the Brains behind the PTV got either left/ retired from Bajaj Auto or got spread across various departments. With time the whole project got scrapped. The Reasons no one knows. It is said that due to some implications Bajaj could not manufacture the PTV.

The Bajaj’s People Car Project was Killed even before it was Born.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Shreeram

@ Chanu and Statement - Thank you for your Wishes.

And Here are some Extracts from the Article.....

Now that is quite an incredible history behind the vehicle and the stats and figures are amazing. It felt very sad to read that such a piece of engineering never went into production. Had it been produced,who knows M800 would have been having a different history.

Congrats on your acquisition of this beauty. Please post some more pics.

[DicKy]

This IS a rare discovery. Didn't even dream that such a vehicle existed in India.
Waiting to know more about it, and also more such discoveries of the auto industry.

[Shreeram]

Originally Posted by DicKy

This IS a rare discovery. Didn't even dream that such a vehicle existed in India.
Waiting to know more about it, and also more such discoveries of the auto industry.

Originally Posted by ashis89

Now that is quite an incredible history behind the vehicle and the stats and figures are amazing. It felt very sad to read that such a piece of engineering never went into production. Had it been produced,who knows M800 would have been having a different history.

Congrats on your acquisition of this beauty. Please post some more pics.

Originally Posted by Statement

Thats one great find Mate. Congrats.

Can you also post some more pics and details of the spec's please.
Bajaj tried this and then migrated to and rick? Or did they try modifying a Rick into a car? :-) No Offense.

Also any idea why the idea did not take off? Competition /Arm twisting from Maruti during that time? Because this could have been a nano of that time and priced very low.

Originally Posted by chanu

Wow! this is amazing, I never heard about this kind of automobile, the last automobile which I have seen in this shape is the Dolphin.

Congratulations Sreeram for the unique find, I never heard or seen this in any media till date it is a great surprise to me till now. I would love to know more about this PTV and hope you wouldn't mind.

how old is this in India?
which engine it runs on?
is it a 4 seater?

I believe this vehicle is a rear engine (RE) three wheeler however not sure as in one of the pictures the vehicle is put on a stand and I couldn't see any wheels. If this is a 3 wheeler then should I say this is the ancestor for Sunku, Shakti, one model of APE steering autos.

Nice find, I am sure the PTV will come up well in your garage. All the very best Sreeram this is an exciting thread and sure will follow it up.

Thank you all. Hope all your Questions have been answered by the Extract from the Article.

Now Here are some Pics. I have Removed the Body so as to facilitate the Cleaning and Proper wiring of the Baby.








ignore the Mess around. 3 Restorations and a lot of spares to manage within limited Space .

[Statement]

Now we are TALKING. The restoration has started! Yay! Will be glued to the thread. Be more detailed and add a lot of pics specs and info. :-)

Originally Posted by Shreeram

Thank you all. Hope all your Questions have been answered by the Extract from the Article.

It did and answered a lot more.

Originally Posted by Shreeram

ignore the Mess around.

You mean the vehicles around? From when did restoration projects become mess's. :-P Great going buddy, why don't you post the restoration of the other 2 vehicles too?

[Shreeram]

Ignore the Mess Around

Originally Posted by Statement

You mean the vehicles around? From when did restoration projects become mess's. :-P Great going buddy, why don't you post the restoration of the other 2 vehicles too?

Ofcourse not, i mean everything else than my Restoration Projects. I meant i was not able to click Exclusive Photos of the PTV for this thread.

I am Making a Master Thread for All Cars and Bikes in my collection with The Acquisition Story, History of the car, Photos, and a Link to a Thread with the Entire Restoration Process of Each Car and Bike. Will Send you a Link when its done.

[Skyline GT-R]

Cheers man, You are lucky to have converted your interest & knowledge on PTV into a reality.

Never knew such a thing existed.

[priyadarshan.b]

Originally Posted by Shreeram

Ignore the Mess Around



Ofcourse not, i mean everything else than my Restoration Projects. I meant i was not able to click Exclusive Photos of the PTV for this thread.

I am Making a Master Thread for All Cars and Bikes in my collection with The Acquisition Story, History of the car, Photos, and a Link to a Thread with the Entire Restoration Process of Each Car and Bike. Will Send you a Link when its done.

Nice find shreeram.. She looks pretty unique. Franklcy never imagined that something like this existed. All the best..

[samsag12]

Nice to see the PTV Shreeram. It surely looks unique and would be fun to follow its restoration.
Do keep the pics flowing.

[ashis89]

ignore the Mess around. 3 Restorations and a lot of spares to manage within limited Space .[/quote]

. Hats off to you to be living your dream and keeping your passion alive.

[selfdrive]

I had spotted the green PTV (pics in first post of yours) near Bal Gandharva a couple of weeks ago. I could not remember which vehicle this was, but I did recall seeing it a few years ago IIRC. Thanks for confirming this!

Please keep us updated on your restoration project in terms of pics and details. Have fun!

[ilangop]

Originally Posted by Shreeram

3 Restorations and a lot of spares to manage within limited Space.

Nice find, congratulations and all the best with all your restorations. Nice that you managed to find space for your hobby stuff . Really very difficult to convince family members to spare space for such restoration stuff.