[KartikeyaL]

More of the Pingle car

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

SAIL/Sipani
I believe that Sunrise Automobiles (SAIL) made the fibreglass 3 wheeler Badal in Bangalore, and then sold to Sipani. Engine was a 150/200cc Lambretta rickshaw engine? Subsequent models were the Dolphin (based on the Reliant Kitten) and Montana (4 door version) and Mondata D1 (diesel version). I do not know much about these products, they were probably more popular in the South. Over to the experts to shed more light.

More reading on the Badal, Dolphin and Montana.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Eddy Electric
Electric power, 12hp motor, fibreglass body. Priced under 2 lakhs.
Attachment 1779022

Some more interesting finds - Auto India September 1993, covering the Sipani Selica - a sporty coupe based on the Dolphin, and more on the Eddy Lovebird.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Aravind
One particularly interesting car that we seen a mention of now and again was the 'Aravind' - another home grown effort that did raise a lot of eyebrows. Of course the project didn't take off, but a little known fact is that there atleast 3 separate attempts. Not much is known about the first two. The projects seem to have been the brain child of one K A Balakrishna Menon.

Some interesting archival material shared by Aravind Automobiles

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Aravind
One particularly interesting car that we seen a mention of now and again was the 'Aravind' - another home grown effort that did raise a lot of eyebrows. Of course the project didn't take off, but a little known fact is that there atleast 3 separate attempts. Not much is known about the first two. The projects seem to have been the brain child of one K A Balakrishna Menon.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Some interesting archival material shared by Aravind Automobiles

Some more documents thankfully shared by Aravind Automobiles.

[ajay99]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Some more documents thankfully shared by Aravind Automobiles.

Attachment 2051587 Attachment 2051588

Incidentally the same Comrade PKV(as he is fondly referred to in Kerala) later held the portfolio of the INDUSTRIES in Kerala Government.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Some more interesting finds - Auto India September 1993, covering the Sipani Selica - a sporty coupe based on the Dolphin, and more on the Eddy Lovebird.

Something more on the Selica. I think it looked pretty neat

[karlosdeville]

The Venky Moped was developed in 1967. More reading here.

1967 : The first product of the company, the Venky Moped is produced. The engine, transmission and electronic ignition was indigenously developed. The moped was powered by a 44cc 2 stroke engine developing around 3.5HP. The moped had a maximum speed of 60 Kmph. The fuel efficiency of 56 Km/l. The company owes it’s automotive knowledge base to this project.

Do any survive?

[Cessna182]

https://youtu.be/e4HrZbzOAcg

A fantastic review of the Kazwa MPV. The owner of this channel is also a forum member if I recall correctly. This is perhaps the first video review of the Kazwa on YouTube. It is in Malyalam but subtitles are okay for the video to make sense.

The vehicle has held up well. The interior features like rear AC vents and modern MPV like seats are remarkable because this was made in the mid 1990s.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Atlanta
In 1961 an attempt was made to build a scooter dubbed the 'Atlanta', in South India. More reading here.
Attachment 1779220
Attachment 1779221

Some priceless literature on the Atlanta shared here (The first Indian Scooter - Atlanta)

[karlosdeville]

Here is something I am seeing for the first time, a commercial vehicle from Greaves Cotton - did they ever get built?

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

https://Youtu.be/e4HrZbzOAcg

A fantastic review of the Kazwa MPV. The owner of this channel is also a forum member if I recall correctly. This is perhaps the first video review of the Kazwa on YouTube. It is in Malyalam but subtitles are okay for the video to make sense.

Couple of links about Kazwa that I had found interesting:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post2103879 (Cars that havent seen the light of the day.)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post1436320 (Cars that havent seen the light of the day.)

[karlosdeville]

Here is a facebook find this morning - the Arjun light commercial. Do any survive? Any idea on the time frame?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Tempo
Some terrific details on a small car protype from Bajaj-Tempo are recorded in Adil Darukhanawallas seminal work "Classics and Thoroughbreds". The car survives in the Tempo museum in Germany.

Some nicer pictures here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vinta...ml#post5016076 (History of Cars in India)

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Atlanta
In 1961 an attempt was made to build a scooter dubbed the 'Atlanta', in South India. More reading here.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Some priceless literature on the Atlanta shared here (The first Indian Scooter - Atlanta)

Some more material on the Atlanta scooter - apologies but I do not recall the source.

[KartikeyaL]

This one off car/oddity deserves a mention so posting here.

Electric car by George Trotter



Source

Trotter Electric Car

This car was designed and built by George Trotter out of old aircraft parts at an airfield near Dacca, India (now known as Dhaka, Bangladesh) during World War II.

My Electric Car : By George Trotter

I was an aircraft electrical specialist at the time and we were very short of transportation, We had only one Jeep for the whole electric shop and some 50 revetments scattered along 15 miles of taxi strip for protection against enemy attack. We were expected to haul all the needed parts, along with the technicians and auxiliary power supply, to these revetments where we made the necessary repairs on planes. Being a “smart-alec,” I set out to find a solution to the problem and came up with the idea for this car.

This car was made from a discarded gas tank that was split down the seam and set apart 18 inches by a strip of wing metal. The wheels are small wrecked plane wheels, the fenders are tail skids from B-25s.

The power source was a 24-volt auxiliary power plant (the same as we had been hauling back and forth in the Jeep to furnish power needed for repairs).

This power plant kept two 24-volt aircraft batteries charged and the batteries in turn, furnished power to drive the car and its accessories which included electric brakes, lights, horn and self-starter. Its two speeds forward was accomplished by building a switch that could put the two electric driving motors either in parallel or in series. Reverse was acquired by simply reversing the flow of current in the field windings.

This was done by another switch. Both of these switches were operated by solenoids and controlled by switches which were handy to the driver. The accelerator and brake control was, of course, on the floor in the normal positions, while the other switches were on the dash board and marked for the benefit of unfamiliar
drivers.

The driving motors were two discarded 24-volt starters with part of their reduction gear removed to give a more desirable gear ratio.

These were connected by direct drive shaft to each of the back wheels making a differential unnecessary.

These motors were originally made to be used intermittently and normally would have overheated, if used continuously. By drilling a system of holes to channel cooling air through the aluminum housing and by rigging a blower from an aircraft heater to force air through them, I was able to run indefinitely without overheating.

As for performance, this car cruised at 35 to 45 miles per hour with the driving motors in series. At this speed, one could flip the switch that puts the motors in parallel and get the thrill of a drag racer. I never had the nerve to find out what the top speed was, but it could pass a Jeep doing 65 with plenty to spare.

Needless to say, this car was a great help to our transportation problem.

It not only got us there, but it also furnished necessary power from its built-in power plant.