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Old 4th September 2006, 11:44   #1
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Enfield Fantabulus?

Greetings all...

am looking to learn more about a curious scooter built by enfield in the early 60s...called the fantabulous, she came with a 150cc (i think) villiers engine...heres remains of one...anyone no of anymore survivors?





cheers
karl
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Old 4th September 2006, 12:10   #2
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Karl.. where on earth do you find all this.. do you spend all day going around scrapyards?
Got any pictures on how this should look....anyone????
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Old 4th September 2006, 12:20   #3
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1463053,0046.htm

"Between the fifties and eighties, the company introduced variants like a 175 cc mini-Bullet, a 175 cc Fury, a 100 cc Explorer and even a 175 cc scooter called Fantabulous"

Last edited by jkdas : 4th September 2006 at 12:22.
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Old 4th September 2006, 14:02   #4
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Probably the ugliest scooter on the road. Mercifully, it died.
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Old 4th September 2006, 14:12   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2L8uLoose
Karl.. where on earth do you find all this.. do you spend all day going around scrapyards?
well...guilty as charged!!! if you ask me ive reached the stage of divine intervention...i dont go chasing them anymore, they come to me! my cuz spotted the bike in hyderabad...

unfortunately this is the only bike i have pics of...no idea whether a complete scoot will look equally ugly though...;-)

around the same time was an equally queer scooter by rajdoot called the runabout...featured electric start (!) amongst other goodies...
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Old 4th September 2006, 14:13   #6
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u can see more on the rajdoot here..

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/03/01/s...0100670300.htm
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Old 4th September 2006, 16:20   #7
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I remember the fantabulous.
It had foot operated gear shifts.
There were quiete a few in Hyderabad in the late 70s, alongwith Lambys and something called a Vijay (produced by AP Scooters).
All of them were very stable in a straight line, but being longer, lost out to the Vespa/Bajaj in manouverability.
They had weak electricals and a carb prone to flooding.
It was common to see blokes running alongwith the scooter to push start it.
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Old 4th September 2006, 16:26   #8
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I've seen one of those scooters and always thought it was an imported italian job. 175cc Villiers engine would mean it runs the Crusader's power(?) plant.
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Old 4th September 2006, 20:27   #9
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My Dad used to have a Fantabulous. One thing he remembers about it was that the front and the rear were not aligned and hence had a slightly skewed appearance!
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Old 4th September 2006, 21:37   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jyobeb
My Dad used to have a Fantabulous. One thing he remembers about it was that the front and the rear were not aligned and hence had a slightly skewed appearance!

Does he have any pic of the oldie ??
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Old 5th September 2006, 09:40   #11
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Nope, no photos. In his words, Those were times when he had cycle income and fantabulous expenses!
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Old 25th July 2007, 22:22   #12
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On my recent trip to Hyderabad I bought myself a toy...the very same scooter you see at the beginning of this thread. Its remarkably corrosion free, and mechanically complete. She is missing cosmetics, lights, meters and swtiches, but worth it for the Kings ransom I paid...One thousand rupees! Knowledge on this monster is very limited, anybody with ANY info on it, please do contact me. Any other survivors around?
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Old 26th July 2007, 00:08   #13
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Hey! If i'm not mistaken, this scooter had a self start!!! (it was the first in the country i think), also it was radically different from normal scooters in many ways, like its engine cover could not be completely removed, there was a hole or something to tune the engine,had twin tail lamps on mini 'fins', a spre wheel mounted SUV style, full length footboard... etc etc! There's an old man in kerala who still rides it daily, and he's the first owner of it!!
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Old 26th July 2007, 00:16   #14
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@ karlos, if it is any help to u, the original paint for this scoot was 2-tone blue and white, seen a few here! looks different i must say!!
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Old 26th July 2007, 00:20   #15
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Im not sure about the electric start. Though I dont remember seeing a kick lever on it. Hmmm...! The rajdoot runabout for sure had a starter.

Any pics would be of great help. Next time you see one do get me some snaps.

Cheers
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