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And then another thing happened. The ad blitz. "Hamara Bajaj" was seen everywhere. Even at the prestigious and costlier back page of "India Today" on regular basis. "Hamara Bajaj" became synonymous with common man. The demand outstripped the supply many times over. Rahul Bajaj's plea to the govt to increase production fell on deaf ears. The Nehruvian socialism did not allow this. But the market forces are like a psunami. Scooters India, the makers of Lambretta was loosing money by the minute and would soon become sick unit. Maharashtra Scooters, a govt enterprise was born and out came the "Priya"

My new addition to the scooter stable, 1982 chetak.

Congrats! I thought these were made from '77-80 though. One of our family friends incidentally had one of these for more than 20 years, originally red when bought. They'd bought it with foreign exchange back then since the lady had been abroad in Sweden for a year. Otherwise waiting period was like 7-8 years!

BTW was the green colour the original paint on your scoot? If so, would've been nice had you retained it...with a little touch-up on the panels/domes! :)

Hey nice to see the Chetak all done up. Some more pictures please.

Priyadarshan

I guess so, need to check with the RC. I never go with the original colors on any of my scooters, I want them to be unique and period, had I kept the original color this scooter would have been one among the others.

I have tens of pictures starting from the stage 01 (dismantling) however the size of each picture is more than 1 MB, I will try to re-size and post it soon.

She is a beauty. Just out of curiosity, have you tried the headlight in the dark yet? Is it really that bad to make people switch to the round one?

Thanks,
Priyadarshan

Yes I did, though it is not that bright as the LML but it is similar to the old chetak, vespa lighting (6volts) moreover it did not make much impact since most of the roads in here are well lit. Round headlamp those days would have been a better choice compared to this headlamp since the reflector is big and the light throw is also wider, people then would have chosen for a better light since street lights were only on main roads and also to make them look latest.

Most of the automobiles (Bikes & cars) got modernized not just because of efficiency but also to make them look latest.

The Hamara Bajaj ad campaign came after the formal agreement and arrangements with Piaggio of Italy were over. So the Bajaj family had to find a new name and new place in the market. "Hamara Bajaj" was very extensive ad campaign, though not needed since customers could see the new Bajaj in the Vespa showrooms.

Rahul Bajaj tried his level best to increase the production but he hit a beaurocratic dead wall because of the Nehruvian Socialism.

Eventually market forces won and there were other models like "priya" floated under Maharashtra Scooters with Government equity too.

Though Priya has same technology but never made it good in the market.
It was considered close cousin of Bajaj.

Humorous advertisements were issued showing Bajaj carrying unthinkable load of shopkeepers,

Gradually the Lambretta died for number of reasons.

The story continues. To be told later

The Lambretta died of its own.

But the demand for scooters remained unabated. India was growing and good commuting was essential for service, business and Bajaj could fit the bill.

Soon the Lohias entered the fray. There was a big buzz even in the stock market and there was a huge premium in the grey market for their shares.
And soon we saw a new scooter on the similiar lines of Bajaj and aptly named
"LML" from Lohia Machines Limited.

But the demand was increasing more than the increase in production.

Contd:

Hi folks, here is the awesome duo from my stable, wish to collect the rest soon.

I envy you brother. These are the two beauties still on my waiting list..

You sure will have it one day! Please feel free to knock my door anytime you visit Hyderabad. My plan is to collect and restore the scooters from Bajaj.

next two machines to become Italian beauties.

Chanu, you seem to be a die-hard fan of these Italian beauties.

Your passion induces me to continue the saga.

It was pre-reliance era. Much before Dhiru Bhai Ambani popularised the cult of investing in stocks.
Brokers would come to the Bombay Stock Exchange in the morning and the first thing they would do was to ask the price of Bajaj Auto share. The price would tell them the state and the direction of the market !!!

There was no Nifty. There was no sensex. Munjals of Hero fame were cycle manufacturers in Ludhiana. Bajaj scooter was much sought after by people and Bajaj Auto share was the darling of the brokers and the lineage helped.

HI Bala

It had been long time since we met. hope the flying sparrow is rocking as usual. looking forward to meet you soon. lets plan something.

regards
Sushil