[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Just saw the song - Madras looks so neat and clean! Well paved roads, marked pavements, et al

Yup....even the taxis/transport vehicles of that time look so well-maintained!

[stampro]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Yup....even the taxis/transport vehicles of that time look so well-maintained!

Nice song (alagia mithilai) with standard cars.Those days standard cars were modified widely as per users choice i believe.Hence white pennant van.

Movies upto 1970 were full of standard cars and taxi.

"Sadhu mirandaal" has a standard vanguard throughout the movie.

"kathalikka neramillai" has a standard herald.

Like steeroid said clean city,nice cars those days

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by stampro

Nice song (alagia mithilai) with standard cars.Those days standard cars were modified widely as per users choice i believe.Hence white pennant van.

Hmm....but it seems quite nicely executed, very professionally.....so thought it was original.....

"kathalikka neramillai" has a standard herald.

Yup thats an early ('61 or 62) Herald, metallic maroon with white stripe, MSW 6959....a factory made convertible (few were made so), ....bought the VCD of this movie just to look at that car!! Incidentally, the same car was used again in the Hindi remake of this movie (Pyar Kiye JA), with the regn. changed to BML 6959 for the movie, although that would make it anachronistic (since Karl told me BML appeared in the 50s alone)....'wonder if the car still exists!
Any other yesteryears (60s/70s) movie with Heralds in them? I believe ThengAi Srinivasan drives one in the ending scene of Thillu Mullu (a la Amol Palekar starrer Golmaal )...tried in vain to get the VCD of that movie twice on visits to chennai!

Like steeroid said clean city,nice cars those days

True......nowadays it doesnt raise eyebrows to look at dented/scratched brand new cars!

[speedy]

guys i got bad news for you'll. both the heralds are not for sale the first herald with the falling door, the owner says he is going to restore and the other in the house belonging to the old lady. her husband says it is his sons car and they will not sell it for sentimental values.

[Stanher]

Ohh...thats too sad speedy!
Reg. the 2nd herald, I wonder why the old couple want to preserve the car of their son who doesnt care for them in the first place!

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Ohh...thats too sad speedy!
Reg. the 2nd herald, I wonder why the old couple want to preserve the car of their son who doesnt care for them in the first place!

dont know stanher but i think they feel he would come back some day and that the car is like his being here. the parents are in their 70's. i did not feel like pushing it further. perhaps on a later date they do change their mind.

[karlosdeville]

Heres an update.

Standard Flying 8 and 10 in India

[JayD]

Karl, u've said "[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]It is part of a large collection, but is the only Standard."
Dosent the standard 10 count?
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Stanher]

Warning: Caution to be excercised by those who love rare standards (includes yours truly though!)

I used to see this rare early (61/62) Herald mk1 sitting in a colony at the Masab Tank area here, where my Dad's former office was....I used to pass by it everytime I accompanied/visited my dad at his workplace, it was he who first told me about this car.
I first saw it in 2000 in more or less the same condition (except that it had the 'Standard' roof badge on the right intact) so it must've been sitting there since years then itself!
And in course of time appears to have been totally stripped of its interior (only the top half of one of the front seats was all that was left of it when I took a peek!).....even the gearstick had been knocked off! And I guess the rear quarter bumper on the right had been yanked off by some of those urchins who sell scrap metal for sweets etc.!
Sad part is, on enquiring while taking these pics. I came to know that the owner lived just nearby in the pink building you see beyond the car in one of the pics.....turned out that it was his father's car & he was keeping it in the latter's memory.....there were a lot of people asking for it when it was a lot better, apart from the expected scrapwalas of course....but he never consented to sell....last saw it in 2003......when I finally went to look at this car on going to that colony this year I didnt find it at this spot again...no need to guess where it went off to!

[speedy]

sentimentally to the scrap yard. what a shame i dont know why but people should realise that their beloveds would be more happy seeing the car in worthy hands than being scrapped and robbed off.

[Stanher]

I know....infact the way he let the car end up is more like insulting his father rather than respecting his memory! I've herad of & seen quite a few cars with stories like that behind them.....& most of them have a sad ending!

[speedy]

i agree completely more of an insult than respect to his father. i have been through quite a few of these stories. there was one incident where the person called me up to tell me that he had to send the car to the scrapyard and would have prefered me takeing it. i told him i had never told him no and he could have called me. the guy just thought i would not want it any more and got it broken down. it was a dodge convertible.
all my stories have had sad endings. oh yes there was one of an old lady who changed her mind and restored her 220s in 94, and now the car is given to me 13 years later.

[stampro]

Can members post their experience "driving" standard cars?

Should be interesting to read.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Yes Stampro - I can give you lots of data on driving Standard 10s, Standard Super 10s and Standard Heralds.

BMC8582 - a black Standard 10 which my father had purchased in 1968 and he sold it in 1970 to his colleague when he bought his first Fiat. I used to go to school in it. I remember pulling the headlight switch when my father used to drive.

BMC1158 - a green Standard Super 10 which was purchased in June 1979 when I was a trainee in Telco. I used to go to my college in it. It used to belong to one Prof.Kotwal in my colony. I had used it to teach driving to one of my friends and we had the rear right hub heating up on the way to Lonavla. This car used to glide smoothly on the road and was a sheer pleasure to drive. Was sold after a couple of years. I still remember a funny incident. I was almost at the end of a narrow lane when a moronic taxiwallah rushed in and we stopped. He was angry and gestured me to reverse. I told him "reverse mein nahin jaata hai" (he never knew how to engage it). He had to go all the way back, I stopped next to him, reversed for a few metres and merrily drove away. His face was worth seeing.

BMC9008 - a metallic blue Standard 10 which we painted black in 1991 due to a marriage in the family. I had a huge problem with the reserve fuel valve so I had removed the tank, blocked the factory pipes and had fitted a Fiat pipe inside the tank. This car was also fitted with a Fiat carburettor with a 28/32 adaptor made by me.

MRDxxxx - I don;t remember the number - a green standard Herald which one of my colleagues at M&M had purchased in 1981/82 when he was a junior engineer (he is now Sr.GM and drives a civic). We became experts in replacing halfshaft bolts as the things used to break quite often. This car never ran properly. Don't know what happened to it though. I think I will ask my friend today.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[stampro]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Yes Stampro - I can give you lots of data on driving Standard 10s, Standard Super 10s and Standard Heralds.

BMC8582 - a black Standard 10 I remember pulling the headlight switch when my father used to drive.

BMC1158 - a green Standard Super 10 This car used to glide smoothly on the road and was a sheer pleasure to drive.

BMC9008 - a metallic blue Standard 10 which we painted black in 1991 due to a marriage in the family. I had a huge problem with the reserve fuel valve so I had removed the tank, blocked the factory pipes and had fitted a Fiat pipe inside the tank. This car was also fitted with a Fiat carburettor with a 28/32 adaptor made by me.

MRDxxxx - I don;t remember the number - a green standard Herald. We became experts in replacing halfshaft bolts as the things used to break quite often.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Yes.Switch has to pulled for parking lights, then a quarter turn and a pull again to switch on head lights.Wiper (single speed) too has a pull switch.

Gears are smooth with a hydraulic clutch except that they are not synchromeshed.Cannot engage first on the move.While all standards had similar gear pattern a herald varied where the gear lever has to be pressed down to engage reverse.

Reserve fuel (around five litres) like a motorcycle is also funny probably unique.Original carb was a solex and did its job well.The fuel pump also has manual lever to fill the carb before first start allowing the engine to fire on the first crank.

Some heralds had a funny stance with wheels at an angle ,as you mentioned some axle problems!