[wasif]

All three brothers were great friends of our family, great people and great lovers of Jeeps, guns and hunting.

At a time all three brothers had these cool Kaiser Jeeps. The Shafaat disappeared, dont know where !

Then the brothers ar Shaadan got active in Jeeps and were buying up whatever they could.

I hope Fazal can put up some pictures to enjoy !

I thinkthe Owaisi's still have a few Jeeps. Salaar e Millat used to drive himself around in one of those Kaiser Jeeps before all the security paranoia got hold of everyone

The Champ that used to belong to Mukarram Jah had a HYX plate if I am not mistaken now

[wasif]

Originally Posted by ChampAnd

I am writing from England about the Austin Champs shown on your wonderful Team-BHP website. The Champ outside the Noor Us Sabah Hotel is actually a WN3 'civilian' model which has the Austin A90 engine. Compared to the military (WN1) version it has wider fronts on the front wings and should have a fixed windscreen but the one here has been modified. The vehicle was not waterproofed and was 12volt.
The ex-Mukarram Jah Champ (reg APY 8382) is a military (WN1) model and this will have the Rolls Royce B40 engine, waterproofed and suppressed for radio work.
The photo of VVS590 was taken in the UK. The Champ (a WN1) had British Army reg. number 15BE96, entered service on the 24th of December 1952 and was sold off in September 1967. It now belongs to Thomas Cummings from the North East of the UK.
The Champ with the front mounted winch (CA 271 184) belongs to Davin Catlin in Cape Town South Africa. It is also a WN1, original reg. 69BE81 and new on the 12th of July 1954, sold off in November '64. Originally it would not have had the winch fitted.
I hope this information is useful. Andrew Wardle. Editor, Champ World magazine.

Hi.

Nice to hear from you on the Champ situation in India.

You didn't comment on the Mudlark that is in the pictures I posted. Would you have any idea how a pre production portotype like the Mudlark manage to find its way to India. Its been in India frm atleast early 1950's.

Interestingly there was a Mudlark up on Ebay just a few months ago and David from the Wolsle Forum was in toucha with me saying that he khbow the new owner of ths Ebay Mudlark and wanted to get in touch with Mr. rased of Hydeabad who owns the Indian Mudlark.

Would love to hear your take on the Mudlark story. I think there are only three of them known to exist today!

[ChampAnd]

Hello Wasif.
It was I who recently bought the Mudlark in the UK and have been discussing it with david recently. It failed to reach a reserve price on e-Bay, I contacted the owner, whom I had known beforehand, and struck a deal with him. It now joins the Austin Champs in my small collection. Neither I, nor anyone I know in Champ circles in the UK, has any idea how the Indian Mudlark came to be there. I was amazed when a friend saw the photographs you had loaded onto the website and it's wonderful to think that another one has survived. A third Mudlark, in very delapidated state, still exists in the UK but it is too far gone to consider restoration, it would cost an absolute fortune to repair and is rusted beyond hope. Others were known about years ago but have been scrapped.
Wolseley made 33 Mudlarks and they were tested extensively by the Ministry of Supply and modifications recommended before the contract for the Champ was signed. At the time the Champ was only known by its project number, FV1800; the name 'Champ' was used by Austin for their civilian version (with the A90 engine) but was quickly adopted by the Army as a suitable name.
I have been given an e-mail address for Mr Rashid, or is it Mr Rased and will be contacting him directly and when I am more familiar with the Team-BHP website system I will upload some photographs of my Mudlark and Champs. In the meantime, if you still contact Mr Rashid perhaps you can pass this information on to him. It would be very interesting to find the chassis number of the Mudlark; it should be situated on a brass plate fixed in the footwell above the accelerator and brake pedals. It will be a number somewhere between P1 and P33. If the plate is missing there may be other evidence elsewhere, possibly painted onto various components. With that number I may be able to find out more of the vehicle's history.
Nice to hear from you. Regards.
Andrew Wardle.

[wasif]

Hi Andrew.

Great to hear you are the new owner of the Mudlark that was on EBay. It looked very nice and complete so you got yourself a great car there.

Please post some pictures of your Champs and the Mudlark. If you are having a proble uploading the pictures please mail them to me n wsfahmed@yahoo.com and I will upload them on your behalf.

The Austin Champ is my all time favourite car, its technology never ceases to amaze me, the independant suspension for one and the gear system.

Please share the email fro Rashed Bhai if possible, I left India a decade ago and have not been in touch with him at all.

I was there when he bought the Mudlark and was looking after his collection for some time. Always wanted to get the thing running but an electrical fire had destroyed most of the wiring and it was a bit too complicated for me to take on in those days so we wisely left it alone.

Interestingly the guy who brought the Mudlark to Hyderabad didn't know it was a Mudlark and sold it to Rashed Bhai as a Champ.

He had always wanted a Champ as he had ridden with Mukaram Jah in his Champ and had loved it but was not able to lay his hands on that one.

Did you notice in the pictures there is evidence of some radio equipment having been installed on it, there are supresor boxes visible.

Also is the windscreen frame that you ee on the car the original one in your opinion. There has been much speculation that the original frame was lost and what you see on the car now is actually one from a WW2 Ford or Willeys Jeep

If you get in touch with Rashed Bhai and get the chassis number of the car please let me know.

His full Name Is Mr. Rashed Khayuum.

Please do a detailed write up on the important features of the Champ so we can all understand the car a bit better and the main differences between the Mudlark and the Champ.

Looking forward to your posts.

[ChampAnd]

Good day Wasif.
I am sorry I have not written sooner but have been very busy preparing for the Austin Champ's 60th Anniversary Rally which we are holding in the UK at the end of this month (June 23rd & 24th).
With the help of some Champ-owning Australian friends who are visiting at the moment I now have the Mudlark running smoothly and it will be attending the rally.
I have been doing some more research on the Mudlark and it seems there was a rumour in the 50s that 2 Mudlarks had been manufactured and sent to India. This is impossible to verify without finding the chassis number on Mr Rashed Kayuum's vehicle.
Some reports say that there were 33 Mudlarks but no evidence exists of more than 15. 3 Prototypes and 12 'pre-production' vehicles. My Mudlark, chassis P24 is the third of the pre-production ones. It has the earliest Rolls Royce B40 engine known to exist, number 532.
Eventually it will be fully restored but at the moment I am anxious that it attends the Rally so will leave the restoration until after then.
I'm afraid I don't know how to download photographs on to the Team-BHP website, there are no obvious instructions but if you know how to do this then send me your e-mail address and I will send some to you.
I would also appreciate being able to contact Mr Rasheed Kayuum to discuss the Mudlark with him.
Many Thanks. Andrew Wardle.

Originally Posted by wasif

Hi Andrew.

Great to hear you are the new owner of the Mudlark that was on EBay. It looked very nice and complete so you got yourself a great car there.

Please post some pictures of your Champs and the Mudlark. If you are having a proble uploading the pictures please mail them to me n wsfahmed@yahoo.com and I will upload them on your behalf.

The Austin Champ is my all time favourite car, its technology never ceases to amaze me, the independant suspension for one and the gear system.

Please share the email fro Rashed Bhai if possible, I left India a decade ago and have not been in touch with him at all.

I was there when he bought the Mudlark and was looking after his collection for some time. Always wanted to get the thing running but an electrical fire had destroyed most of the wiring and it was a bit too complicated for me to take on in those days so we wisely left it alone.

Interestingly the guy who brought the Mudlark to Hyderabad didn't know it was a Mudlark and sold it to Rashed Bhai as a Champ.

He had always wanted a Champ as he had ridden with Mukaram Jah in his Champ and had loved it but was not able to lay his hands on that one.

Did you notice in the pictures there is evidence of some radio equipment having been installed on it, there are supresor boxes visible.

Also is the windscreen frame that you ee on the car the original one in your opinion. There has been much speculation that the original frame was lost and what you see on the car now is actually one from a WW2 Ford or Willeys Jeep

If you get in touch with Rashed Bhai and get the chassis number of the car please let me know.

His full Name Is Mr. Rashed Khayuum.

Please do a detailed write up on the important features of the Champ so we can all understand the car a bit better and the main differences between the Mudlark and the Champ.

Looking forward to your posts.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

I have faded memories of the M38 which i saw, but i remember what the Nawaab Sahb had to say that day.He said that the Jeep belonged to the pakistani army and was confiscated by our army during the India-pakistan war.It looked similar though.

Stumbled upon this thread ,I owned this M38 A1 after the iranis from Ideal jawa who were the original owners .Sadly i was unable to get it to the spec i was looking at and i ended up selling it to shefat ali khan who visited me one day in Bangalore . I have ehnce lost tough with him but would love to see any pics of the jeep as he had mentioned that he was doing extensive restoration .

Here are some pics of the same when sold by me ...

[wasif]

Dear Andrew.
Great to hear back from you after a long time.
We all would love to see pictures of your Mudlark. Please mail them to me and I will post them for you. The email address is wsfahmed@yahoo.com

Your friend from teh Wolsley Reegestry was in touch with Mr. Rashid and can supply you with his email address.

I have his phone nymbers and will send them to you in reply to your mail. Since I don't live in India anymore it will be best if you contact him directly for further info on the chassis / engine numbers.

Looking forward to recieving the pictures from you.

All the best for the 60th anniversary event. How many Champs will be attending ? It will be great if you can send pictures of teh vent as well.

Maybe you will meet someone at the event who can shed more light on the Mudlark connection to India.