[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

While most of these PDA vehicles got bodies from Starline, I am sure a couple of other small players also existed, besides even later local conversions. Here are pictures of what I suspect must have been these type of cases.

Attachment 1593927

Karl, this one is an original 1973 one with a "Starline" body. Totally un altered except routine maintenance & upkeep jobs till date including the Top Carrier (The door RV Mirror is the only addition which was put while the car had its last RTO passing, I am given to understand). The FOG lamps were fitted by Starline on specific instructions as the car was frequently used for the owners trips to his retreat in Ooty.

I had the pleasure of driving this car from almost new for about 4 years till July 1979. It was the personal "runabout" car of one of the prominent "Godman" of India (if I am not mistaken its still registered in his name - even though he is no more. It was a donation from one of his devotees (Kamani Steels Group if I recall correctly)

Some recent pictures are below (Dec 2015)







Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

[Skyline_GT]

In my opinion the Station Wagon segment has always been the most understated category in India. StationWagons have a lot of practicality and comfort for the "Big" Indian families and yet somehow the concept of stationwagons as family movers never really took off in our country.
Coming back to the topic the Premier Safari looks very clean and well designed. Looks very spacious and comfortable from the outside. A very classy and solid product from Premier Padmini.

[motorguy]

@karlosdeville - really happy that you have started this thread. I had a Fiat Safari in 1990 (an old one that my father gave me when I started work) . It had its share of problems too. We drove it down from Kottayam to Bangalore and during this trip in between Palghat and Coimbatore, we heard a grinding sound. Apparently the differential were giving a problem. We stopped in a rural area - a small village and a truck mechanic fixed it by doing something (I dont remember now what was done) . Sold it off after a couple of years when I got a Maruti 800. Still have fond memories of it.

[300 KMPH]

Karl, you must be aware but there is a station wagon fiat /premier eating dust at Shivaji Park in Raj's residence.

[satya180]

This thread reminded me of my childhood days. We too owned a Fiat Safari, MAS 5355, the last version with the vertical tail-gate, horizontal tail lamps (was it called the Executive by any chance?) I distinctly remember our drives from Pune to Fariyas Lonavala, and my seating of choice was on a folded mattress kept in the boot. On one occasion, the car just refused to climb up the Fariyas slope. A 15 min halt and some water in the radiator worked. I also remember the boot being huge, but then i could be wrong as I was less than 4 ft tall then. The car was eventually given to one of my relatives more than 15 years ago, and I have seen the car just once since. Will try to find pictures and put them up.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Karl, this one is an original 1973 one with a "Starline" body. Totally un altered except routine maintenance & upkeep jobs till date including the Top Carrier (The door RV Mirror is the only addition which was put while the car had its last RTO passing, I am given to understand). The FOG lamps were fitted by Starline on specific instructions as the car was frequently used for the owners trips to his retreat in Ooty.

I had the pleasure of driving this car from almost new for about 4 years till July 1979. It was the personal "runabout" car of one of the prominent "Godman" of India (if I am not mistaken its still registered in his name - even though he is no more. It was a donation from one of his devotees (Kamani Steels Group if I recall correctly)

Thanks for sharing Ram. Glad to see the car retained, and in good condition.

Presumably some trim was upgraded over the years like the grille, side trims and hubcaps, which are all later Padmini items.

[the mole]

Originally Posted by 300 KMPH

Karl, you must be aware but there is a station wagon fiat /premier eating dust at Shivaji Park in Raj's residence.

Thats a 1100 R, imported and quite an original car.

[KkVaidya]

We owned an Arctic White 1982 Premier Safari for 16years. I learned driving as well as tinkering on this car. I remember how simple cars used to be in those days. My first task was to clean the oil bath type air cleaner in 1994 which I learned was never cleaned after the car was brought. The car was very dependable and hardly remember it breaking down. As my father and grandfather used to drive it in the old city, the body had a lot of nicks and dents. Apart from that everything was original till the Mod ghost got on me and I started experimenting. I wanted dark tints with radials but my Father never allowed it. So the farthest i went was to change the steering wheel to late model Padmini 2 spoke 'a la Maruti'.
I regret doing those changes now and agree with my late Father on not 'screwing up a car'
We sold it for 15,000 in 1998 to accommodate our new Maruti Zen. It had clocked around 82,000kms. I saw it twice after that some 10 years back. The owner had repainted it and had changed the backlights.

My friend Parthsarthi (Parth.Mehd on the forum) still owns one and is kept in the way it came from the factory in 1982; -OH-REE-GEE-NAL. He is a sticker for keeping his cars STOCK which is a good practice. One has to see his car to believe it. One of the best SAFARI in the country.

[karlosdeville]

Here is the VIN stamping on a Starline Safari, the cars are marked PAD for Dirve-away chassis. The regular Padminis were just stamped PA.

[gopa99]

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Thank you for the nostalgic article about the Fiat Safari. This was one of the childhood cars fresh in my memory as my Father had owned one. I remember going to Marina Beach in this car. It was a classic station wagon. We had a white colour Safari which we took delivery from TVS. Later when I was a teenager we had bought a second hand Safari for a year or so. This was the first car I learned to drive in the service road of Marina Beach. If my memory serves right it was around 1990!I had a few photographs of this beauty. If I find those I shall post it.

Thanks again!

I too have beautiful memories from this post, as my father too got this car as our first car ever since I joined school. And I learnt driving on this car too as I grew up with it. I used to spend all my weekends inside this beauty trying to mop it up and make it sparkle. It had top of the line bucket seats, a clarion music system, a blade less fan and some emblems for styling on front fenders. I can never ever forget this machine!

[anjan_c2007]

A very common SAB advertisement from the early 1980's

[karlosdeville]

Some reading material from a 1982 issue of the Premier Automobiles Journal - luckily enough this issue talks in detail about Starline









I cannot remember seeing one of these in the Bond film Octopussy

[manishk123]

Nice thread. I remember the only reason my dad ended up with one of these was because the wait for the sedan was too long. The dealer promised immediate delivery for a Safari so we went for it. Ours was in a dull grey colour.

[cogWheel]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Much has been discussed about the Premier Padmini estate/station wagon built by Starline in Mumbai in the 70s and 80s (?) - more commonly just called the 'Fiat Safari'. Unfortunately it is scattered across many different threads. This is an attempt to consolidate information and reference into one place - for what I like to think was an iconic model, even if they don't have much of a fan following.

Excellent thread Karl!

Here's another example spotted a couple of months ago at Mysore (Reg MEM).



Unfortunately I could not take more / better photographs as I was in a hurry. It did look like it was in running condition.

[Klub Class]

A Premier Station Wagon from Ambalavilakku, 1980 Malayalam movie. The movie was shot in Trivandrum. This one looks more like a local conversion