[Psycho]

A classic Amby on a drive to Nandi hills with an enthusiastic old man behind the wheels, and all his enthusiasm goes down the drain the moment he hits the hairpins, somehow manages to get up to the parking lot and walks the rest. That was 10 years ago.

Guess that is what drove the old man again to try conquering his fears by dragging Anoop and me over for a early morning drive to Nandi hills. The old man came over home and insisted that he gets his car along and I was adamant to test the turbo on a long distance drive; finally agreed that both the cars would go. Met Anoop enroute near Hebbal with his Palio and drove straight to Devanhalli couldnt find any decent place to have breakfast hence decided to stop on along the route. Setting off once again saw Rudra and Anoop overshoot the turn (guess they had a foggy memory of the route), got together again and stopped 3 km ahead at a shop next to a temple for tea.

The first question we got asked 3 guys in 3 cars where are the women!!!

Once we were done with tea we headed on to the next turn to our destination, stopped again for some weird Idly Sambhar and started our climb with Rudra in the lead followed by me and Anoop, remember the 10 year old saga!!!

Avg Speed : 40
Hairpin turns : 2nd gear (all the way up) excepting the last one where we are forced to go to the first gear
Water Temp:
Rudra's Amby - 60
My Conti - 100 (Was running too lean on higher revs .. good I took the drive have sorted it out now)
Anoop's Palio - temp was higher but dont know how much

Stopped at the parking lot and saw a wide grin on Rudra's face and trust me the grin never faded...

Next we went up to the ticket counter to enter the main Nandi Hills area and heard a familiar commitment

3 guys 3 cars!!!

Drove into the fort area and spent some time clicking snaps and chatting about, Anoop and me wanted to make it back for the MRF time trials happening at Palace grounds hence decided to head right back with Rudra in the lead stopped 2 hairpins down to let Rudra get some photographs and to let Anoop find the bus that seemed to be coming up the route somewhere.

The way down found us doing an avg speed of 60 and once we got to level ground we were back to our normal driving styles. Once we hit the Highway saw a drag taking place between a black Amby and a Green Palio (1.2; Rudra vs. Anoop) it was good fun seeing the Amby taking the car on but leaving the Palio behind. The six lane diverged to a single lane and we were back to driving normally till a flat on the Amby made us stop again (how many people does it take to change a wheel? 3)

A couple of coconuts and a changed wheel we headed down to the races, spent some time there watching the cars and a crash then Rudra and Anoop bid Adieu...

Moral of the story "the old man never gives up".

Note: Guess it would also be fair to let the team know what the old man had done to the Amby:

1) Ported and polished Head with a slightly altered compression ratio
2) K&N
3) Matched CFM carb
4) Custom free flow exhaust without headers(left Anoop trying to figure out how)
5) Completely rebuilt stiffened suspension

[mclaren1885]

very well put up psycho..

[anoops]

ok guys, this is my experience of the drive:

for starters everybody on the road was gwaking at these two full blown classic monsters...my palio has never felt more ignored than this EVER!... these two were on a roll...ive never seen an amby smoke a ghat section like rudras...she was on steroids!!
it was a joy to cruise along these two cars...i was crusing at 120 when rudra overook me from the left (3 lane highway) my jaws nearly dropped...must have touched a max speed of about 140. ive always respected these two cars in a nice "they cant go too fast sort of a way".....boy how that attitude has changed!!
gentlemen, it was an absolute pleasure...ive never enjoyed a drive more!!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

very well put up psycho..

Great story. Reminds me of my Nandi Hills experience about 19 years back where me and a buddy took 2.5 hours to climb 9 Kms of hilly road on cycle. Not to mention the 50Kms we had cycle to reach the bottom of the hill. We were too tired to do any sight seeing once we reached the summit...

[typeOnegative]

Yeah Nandi hills. All I can remember are school picnics and bike races. I smoked a Shaolin while going double on my RXZ. LOL Ahhh the good old days. Nice write up Psycho. And Rudra, I like your spirit - oh and your talent as well.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

And Rudra, I like your spirit

Hey thanks. I suppose that's the way to control one's sanity.

The fact is I’m now really enjoying my old baby. A big thanks to Psycho once again. But he probably doesn’t know what he got into. Few more things to be done on Amby but can be done slowly.
This was the first time I took her on ghats (after Psycho’s surgery) and it felt great. I never felt that engine going out of breath.
Anoop’s Palio makes an awesome sound(K&N conical filter, header.etc) and it was fun to roll down the window to hear that while shifting down to third at 4500…just to overtake.
Psycho’s Conti looks too menacing on my rear view mirror especially when it approaches too fast and too furiously. His twin headlamps and bottom skirting are the visual cause for sure.

At the end of the day, let me tell you guys..these old cars have soul which you won’t find in modern machine. They’re crude. They’re pre-historic. They’re way bellow the so called modern cars’ efficiency parameters. They’re wild.

And that’s what I love.

GTO’s jeep. Psycho’s Conti. My Amby…we’re in the same boat brother.

[ajmat]

Last week - heavy hi-tech breathing, this week retro roaring, what next ?

[v1p3r]

How about inviting some small children in their 'stock'ings?

[Psycho]

Well old man i guess i gotta own up some day... working on your car gives me the jitters at times (always worried that it would end up with a scratch), but truly the retro's are best left to those who know their cars inside out, its like being a doc in an emergency ward continuosly monitoring the behaviour of the car (feeling its pulse would be the right way of putting it). Hey at the same time i do well enough with the modern monsters too. Noops how about another run with the esteem???

Ajmat :
"Last week - heavy hi-tech breathing, this week retro roaring, what next ? Drinking and then snoring"

[iceman91]

man that was awesome...you guys had a blast i sure missed it. anoop yes that amby is a shocker man, the best part being even at those speeds she is rock steady...

[GTO - Touring]

At the end of the day, let me tell you guys..these old cars have soul which you won’t find in modern machine. They’re crude. They’re pre-historic. They’re way bellow the so called modern cars’ efficiency parameters. They’re wild.

And that’s what I love.

GTO’s jeep. Psycho’s Conti. My Amby…we’re in the same boat brother.

Spot on Rudra! Hit the nail right on the head.

I would rather cruise in my Jeep than the 220 or the Vtec...anyday and anytime. Its not what a car can do. Its more about how a car makes you feel. And thats where our classics stand out. As you said - They have a soul compared to the plastic bags that most new cars are getting to resemble. Unlike buying a new car with "go-go" speed dials from a showroom and having the colour as the only touch of personalisation, we have built these machines ourselves. Just the way we wanted it with a lot of customisation and personal touches. In effect, they are an extension of our personalities. Your Amby is like the old yet powerful workhorse which refuses to budge and keeps pushing ahead (not to mention a lot of smoke and carbon build up). Psychos Contessa is just like him : Individualistic, Mad, Insane and high-maintainence.

Theres nothing quite like the real thing.

GTO

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Vtec = Dolly Parton

Over developed in the front
Under developed at the back
But a great ride

hahahahahahaha

[balenopower]

booo hoo... im missin my premier padmini after reading this.....