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Old 7th January 2013, 19:22   #16
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by kasli View Post
Just forwarded this image to his son and now I think I shall pull all their albums out. He did mention a MG and was sold because someone stole the steering and few parts . They also had a 67 Chevy for a while brown colour and their fiats with me
Thanks kasli for the prompt feedback.The Burmans do not have any heir and so Asha Bhonsle or someone well connected with the Burman family may be able to throw more light.
I had read about an Alfa Romeo being bought by R.D. Burman in the 1970's, when he was at the height of his career. But journalists may have been saying about this particular Triumph perhaps.
Do you have more details of his 1967 Chevrolet ?
Please post more details about his Fiats- the blue Elegant (BMC 1139) is well known. Do you own any of his Fiats now?
Thanks again!

Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 7th January 2013 at 19:29.
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Old 7th January 2013, 21:01   #17
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 View Post
Thanks kasli for the prompt feedback.The Burmans do not have any heir and so Asha Bhonsle or someone well connected with the Burman family may be able to throw more light.
I had read about an Alfa Romeo being bought by R.D. Burman in the 1970's, when he was at the height of his career. But journalists may have been saying about this particular Triumph perhaps.
Do you have more details of his 1967 Chevrolet ?
Please post more details about his Fiats- the blue Elegant (BMC 1139) is well known. Do you own any of his Fiats now?
Thanks again!
A little info about the fiat, it was bought second hand but fully restored by RD himself from a famous restorer from bandra. This restorer would buy and restore elegants and then sell them for a nifty profit, it was the days when padminis had waiting list. He tells me there was quite a market for the elegant then. Once RD was driving up Pali hill and happened to lay his eyes on this 57 which stood there freshly restored. He immediately purchased it and it remained his favorite car. Rest is history. Aniruddh if you are restoring this car, please do try to maintain the shade of colour on the car, that is what he fell in love with!

I was so inspired by RDs car that i too had to have a elegant in the same colour. The same restorer helped me to get it exactly the same colour, though i do feel rds car is a shade bluer.
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Old 7th January 2013, 23:29   #18
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Originally Posted by the mole View Post

A little info about the fiat, it was bought second hand but fully restored by RD himself from a famous restorer from bandra. This restorer would buy and restore elegants and then sell them for a nifty profit, it was the days when padminis had waiting list. He tells me there was quite a market for the elegant then. Once RD was driving up Pali hill and happened to lay his eyes on this 57 which stood there freshly restored. He immediately purchased it and it remained his favorite car. Rest is history. Aniruddh if you are restoring this car, please do try to maintain the shade of colour on the car, that is what he fell in love with!

I was so inspired by RDs car that i too had to have a elegant in the same colour. The same restorer helped me to get it exactly the same colour, though i do feel rds car is a shade bluer.
Thanks Anjan and Mole but here's a snap when I picked it up . It will remain the same shade and in good shape and care. It will be with the family only in town and will be there for all vintage related events & she was lovingly called " LAXMI" by RD told by mrs and he drove her everywhere barefoot

Cheers

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-image4087337802.jpg
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Old 8th January 2013, 11:42   #19
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

One remarkable observation about Spitfires is that they changed hands very rapidly, and also dealers had a lot of them.
Solanki had 2 or 3 of them. The more famous owner was Jacky Schroff. A Parsi lady on Altamont Road had one, Rehaan may remember that car. A petrol pump on Peddar Road had a clients car standing there, it was subsequently sold. These cars also travelled far and wide, a Mumbai car recently went to Kolkata and is now in Delhi.
My rough estimated guess is that there may be a maximum of 15 cars in India, if we were to reach that figure at all. Being rather tiny these cars can also be hidden, waiting to be discovered.

Cheers harit
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Old 8th January 2013, 21:17   #20
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by kasli View Post
Thanks Anjan and Mole but here's a snap when I picked it up . It will remain the same shade and in good shape and care. It will be with the family only in town and will be there for all vintage related events & she was lovingly called " LAXMI" by RD told by mrs and he drove her everywhere barefoot
Congrats! So we have one very popular car in FCCCI now! Also I dont know if its the photo but she looks she's got the longer bumperguards. That makes this car all the more unique as very few Fiats have em, namely Superselect's Superselect!
BTW, if I might be curious, RD's mrs in this case was Asha Bhonsle, right?

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Originally Posted by harit View Post
One remarkable observation about Spitfires is that they changed hands very rapidly, and also dealers had a lot of them.
Same thing happened with most Heralds too! I guess it carried on in cars that were related to it!

Quote:
My rough estimated guess is that there may be a maximum of 15 cars in India, if we were to reach that figure at all. Being rather tiny these cars can also be hidden, waiting to be discovered.
Incidentally, here's an MRA reg'd one that appears briefly in the early 90s movie 'Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar'...hope it still survives:



Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-spitjojeeta.jpg
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Old 9th January 2013, 09:52   #21
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by Stanher View Post
Incidentally, here's an MRA reg'd one that appears briefly in the early 90s movie 'Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar'...hope it still survives:
If I'm not mistaken this very same car is the ex Jackie Shroff, Solanki etc car. Was recently offered for sale in Bombay, and last I saw it appear at the Calcutta Statesman.
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Old 27th January 2013, 15:25   #22
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Saw a beautiful scarlet Triumph Mark1 in Bangalore, Castle street while driving near Catholic Club rear entrance today.

Too much traffic, too slow to react so could not get a photo. My wife tried but did not succeed.

What a beautiful car! I just have it in my mind's eye now...

I think the other thread about today's classic car show at Bangalore Club has a good pic of it...

Last edited by shankar.balan : 27th January 2013 at 15:44.
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Old 27th January 2013, 21:05   #23
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by shankar.balan View Post
Saw a beautiful scarlet Triumph Mark1 in Bangalore, Castle street while driving near Catholic Club rear entrance today.

What a beautiful car! I just have it in my mind's eye now...

I think the other thread about today's classic car show at Bangalore Club has a good pic of it...
Yes it would have been the 1968 Triumph Spitfire Mark 3 on its way to the Club. This car was initially restored in Bangalore about 7-8 years back and then the owner has spent a lot of time and money to bring it to this wonderful condition.

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-dscn0704.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-dscn0705.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-dscn0706.jpg

Cheers

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Old 27th January 2013, 21:27   #24
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Hi. Did it have the TRIUMPH logo on the dicky?

Thats the one I saw. Thought it was a Mark1 though.

Glad to be corrected.

Lovely car indeed...
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Old 29th January 2013, 11:24   #25
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

That's my Spitfire Mk III. Thank you very much for the kind words.

The car was adjudged runner up in the category - Classic Cars above 20 hp at the Bangalore Club show on Sunday.

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Originally Posted by KPS View Post
Yes it would have been the 1968 Triumph Spitfire Mark 3 on its way to the Club. This car was initially restored in Bangalore about 7-8 years back and then the owner has spent a lot of time and money to bring it to this wonderful condition.

Attachment 1043336

Attachment 1043337

Attachment 1043338

Cheers

KPS
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Old 10th October 2013, 22:51   #26
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 View Post
I had read about an Alfa Romeo being bought by R.D. Burman in the 1970's, when he was at the height of his career. But journalists may have been saying about this particular Triumph perhaps.
Thanks again!
Maybe a bit off topic, I was chatting with a mechanic/body specialist and he has apparently worked on the said Alfa, now with a collector in Mumbai. Said collector also owns a "Cram" his exact word. (Triumph?) A small two seater sports car. I leave it to you all to decode that one. Have scratched my head enough all evening on this one. My familiarity with how Marathi accents can twist English names notwithstanding.
May already be common knowledge on the forum but I thought I'd share this piece of news anyway.
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Old 11th October 2013, 03:34   #27
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanher View Post
Incidentally, here's an MRA reg'd one that appears briefly in the early 90s movie 'Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar'...hope it still survives:
Quote:
Originally Posted by karlosdeville View Post
appear at the Calcutta Statesman.
The Triumph Spitfire MRA 8250 is owned by a friend of mine here at Calcutta.

Some pictures of it from the Statesman Rally and Tolly Car Show and in its current state.

I will be getting a chance to do a photoshoot of it when I am back to Calcutta in december for my vacations.

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-1.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-2.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-3.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-4.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-6.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-5.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-11.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-10.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-7.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-8.jpg

Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-9.jpg
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Old 11th October 2013, 23:04   #28
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

One more of the Spitfire here in Calcutta.
Attached Thumbnails
Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3-1377315_10202181505241735_388926486_n.jpg  

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Old 30th October 2013, 01:59   #29
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 View Post
A rare picture of R.D. Burman's Triumph Spitfire found by me on FB.The number is MR something. I am sure the car must be surviving till this day.
I actually saw this picture on a youtube video of the title song for Subah. I believe RD Burman had composed the music. I actually came across your post when trying to find out which car was visible in the background.

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Old 30th October 2013, 08:23   #30
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Re: Pics: Triumph Spitfire MK3

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One more of the Spitfire here in Calcutta.

The first and foremost thing one has to note is that the car, holding a Sixties Bombay registration, should originally be a Bombay car. Wish it were in Bombay!
Still, the good thing is that it still survives, and importantly, has not left the country, as countless other cars of note have done.

Secondly, why is the car running on a 'Deutschland' plate i.e German-style plates? This being a British sports car, should it not run on 'GB' Plates?

Whatsoever, an extremely well presented car!

Cheers!

Fintail/Heckflosse!
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