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TRAVELOGUE - PREMIER PADMINI LEFT HAND DRIVE - KOTTAYAM TO MUMBAI:
15 November 07:
After having decided that we are going ahead and buying the car, we (Cyrus and I) flew Kingfisher from Mumbai to Kochi.
The flight experience - I had packed my complete tool kit in an orange coloured suitcase and put it through X ray. As expected, I was told to open it "isme kya hai ?" was the obvious question. Well "isme yeh hai" - timing light, tach/dwell meter, carburettor, distributor, ignition coil, electronic fuel pump, point, condenser, rotor, insulator, spark plugs, spark plug spanner, fuel lines, hoses, hose clips, fan belts, cylinder head gasket, tappet cover gasket etc etc (whew !). I had to clarify that this was the toolbox I was carrying as I was going to drive an LHD Premier Padmini all the way from South India to Mumbai (the expression I got from security was marvellous. He just nodded his head and let us pass. It was just too good). Well, we checked in this suitcase with FRAGILE and PRIORITY stickers all over it and then I started praying that it would not get misplaced (my lifetime collection of my tools was inside). We went to the lounge (a certain Mr.Mallya gave me a Kingfisher Gold card, they must have obtained the data from Jet Airways) and waited. The flight took off on time, landed on time and the inflight experience was very good. The suitcase arrived - thank God !
Kochi airport to Mr.Kurian's house - I must thank Mr.Kurian who provided us a silver Indigo with a driver from the airport to his house at very nominal charge. I did not like the Indigo's ride in the back seat though. We reached his house at around 1130 in the afternoon.
At Kottayam - We got a very good welcome and a wonderful homemade lunch. Thank you Mr.Kurian. He has an awesome collection (some belonging to his customers) - a 1957 Fiat, a 1961 Fiat, a pristine landmaster, an Ambassador, a Nissan, 3 Standard Heralds (Stanher / Stampro - you would have loved them), a 118NE, a Lancer, a Logan etc and the LHD Fiat KL05G7629. So we saw the car, liked it, took a small round and at once realised that all the parameters needed to be reset. So the tool kit came out and we set things as required. We finished everything by 9 PM and stayed over at the Kottayam Club, again thanks to our gracious host.
16 November 07:
We started from Kottayam at 6.30 AM at odometer reading 34991 kms. The drive started quite uneventfully, Ettumanur to Angamani to something to something else. After around 150 kms the road started deteriorating and we were forced to drive at 10 to 20 kmph. These are some of the worst roads that I have ever driven on. And to add to that, we had to contend with the Kerala bus drivers which I know for sure are the worst in the whole country (Punjab roadways is a close second). I have stopped getting angry at them, I can only pity them for how they drive. It's time somebody did something about them otherwise people will continue to get killed on our roads.
At around 1 PM we stopped at a Chicken Burger type joint on the Calicut bypass. Surprisingly, nobody understood English. We had to search for an interpreter but managed. The burgers were good.
At around 4 PM after driving for around 300 kms, the car suddenly stopped. So we calmly analysed - NO SPARK - so the tool kit came to our rescue once again and we changed the complete distributor. Cylinders no 1 and 4 need to be brought to TDC for which I needed to turn the crankshaft. The S1 engine does not have a fan to hold and turn so we decided to lift one back tyre, engage 4th gear and rotate the crankshaft. That's when we realised that we had a non-working jack. Somehow we aligned the crankshaft and replaced the distributor. The engine fired instantly and thereafter ran flawlessly. The roads continued to be terrible and that made us miserable.
At around 8PM we stopped at an "in and out" cafe at a BP pump where the people understood a little Hindi also (great !). Our query on road condition was answered like this - "now some repairs have started but the road is very bad upto Mangalore, after that we do not know". My God !
At around 1100 PM we finally hit Mangalore and stayed at the Hotel Pentagon on the highway. We paid around 1200 rupees for a very comfortable stay and food.
TOTAL DISTANCE COVERED - 550 KMS IN 16 AND A HALF HOURS.
17 November 07:
After taking some photographs of the car in the hotel parking lot, we hit the road at 7AM. We thought that now we were in Karnataka so the road will be good but we were sadly mistaken. Here in some stretches there is no road at all.
Breakfast at Udupi - delicious Idlis and more bad news on road condition.
Coconut water on the beach - the road was just next to the sea and the view was wonderful. We wished that the road was equally good. Sigh !
Lunch at Kumta - excellent Kamat's thali (vegetarian curry with prawns curry flavour was divine) and still more bad news on road condition. We saw Taveras and Innovas which had broken down. We went past slowly and suddenly people would realise - "arre yeh to left hand drive hai". Paisa Vasool. Finally we decided that we had had enough of this road and we would leave NH17 for good. We decided to go via Pune instead of via Goa. Everybody told us to take a right turn 5 kms after Kumta. The milestones from "Kumta 75 kms" to "Kumta 0" were most welcome. The last 75 kms took some 4 hours or so.
After NH17 - we turned off at Kumta towards Hubli (136 kms). This road is OK except for sudden surprises (read as potholes). It is used by quarry trucks but they drive quite well. Finally after some spitited driving we hit Hubli at 6.45 PM, paid the toll and joined NH4, hpoing for some good roads now. It was dark and the first milestone read - Pune 415 kms. So we still had to cover 415 kms in the night.
On NH4 Hubli to Belgaum - this is a single road but the condition is good, so we made decent progress.
On NH4 Belgaum to Kolhapur to Karad to Satara to Pune - this road is fantastic. We cruised comfortably at 100 kmph with short bursts of 120 kmph as well. We overtook numerous modern cars all around us. The best part was seeing the colour change of the end of the exhaust tail pipe. The soot started buring off and the pipe became a light pinkish colour which indicates a very healthy engine. We had dinner at Kolhapur at around 1030 PM (the spicy mirchi is excessive, so beware !). We finally passed the Khambatki tunnel and left NH4 to get into the old Katraj Ghat into Pune. We FINALLY reached Pune at 0130 hrs.
TOTAL DISTANCE COVERED - 850 KMS IN 18 AND A HALF HOURS.
18-11-07:
After what we had been through, Pune to Mumbai was a walk in the park. We met all the FCCCI members and I tuned Karlosdeville's car. It runs better now. We reached Dadar Parsee Colony (our home and now the LHD's new home as well) at around 5 PM.
END ODOMETER - 36562 KMS.
TOTAL DISTANCE COVERED FROM KOTTAYAM TO MUMBAI - 1571 KMS.
As soon as the car documents get transferred, restoration will start.
Please send in your suggestions on colour choice. This time I want it to be subtle but still stand out as unique. The swift grey with a black bonnet and black wheel rims seems to be a good choice, let's see.
Best regards to all,
Behram Dhabhar | 
23rd November 2007, 21:30
(2)
Thanks
