[Abbas]

Originally Posted by wasif

18 cars parked in an Apartment Building Garage ?

what cars were there and did you take any pictures of them.

The apartment was owned by him with just couple of flats rented out. Also, he said he kept his cars somewhere else and it was there just for the rally at sec club that morning.

It was in the evening when i went back to him and it was getting dark. It didnt hit me to take pictures and i didn`t identify any of the cars as i have the least knowlegde of vintage cars and i was heck tierd myself since i was awake from morning 5 a.m.

And to give you an idea of how tierd i was : i was travelling from aurangabad to hyd by bus on a chilly night and had to catch a flight to vizag from hyd. I couldn`t sleep all night in the bus and when i finally reached hyd airport, i checked in and grabbed a newspaper when i saw this add. I rang up that guy and settled for a price over the phone without seeing the car, then i left my flight took my luggage and directly went to a friends place. From there the whole day was spent in several trips to frends for arranging money since it was a sunday.

Anywayz getting back to the classics. All i could make out was how clean and and well maintained they all were. Big long hood with those crome bumper/ dials and white circled wheels etc.

I left from his place at 8 p.m. that day and started driving immediately to vizag. I reached vizag the next day at 10 a.m.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by Abbas

His name was Munawwar Khan and stayed at banjara hills

I have his number, will speak to him and go see his cars.

[Abbas]

Originally Posted by DKG

I have his number, will speak to him and go see his cars.

Great !!! Looking forward to revisit those cars. Also, do remind him of me. He might not remember my name since we met for a very short time but if you give him reference of the buyer of his sierra then he might remember. I too just remember his name, that it.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by Abbas

Hey DKG !!!

A very classy collection of classics you have got there. Thank you very much for the pics.

Also, last year on 3rd Feb 2008 i was in hyd to buy a tata sierra from this guy who advertised it in the local news paper.

When i went back in the evening he showed me his collection of 18 classic restored superbly. I was amazed at that sight, i could have asked him to take me for a spin but his body lang seems that he was very tierd and hence i didn`t ask. But he did allow me to step in some cars and get the feel..

Wow 18 classic cars.Do you remember any of the cars ?

Originally Posted by DKG

I have his number, will speak to him and go see his cars.

We are waiting to see them desperately.Thank You

[wasif]

Here is an note on DKG's much loved Packard APX 110. It is taken from an article by Ushasri Ponnaganti , dated April 6 2009 about vintage cars in hyderabad.

This was posted on a forum called "Charminar Connection". This is a web forum popular with expat Hyderabadies who like to keep in touvh and speak about the old days of Hyderabad.

The writer has included a brief note on APX 110 and its history which is indeed very colourfull.

Since DKG has been promising to post the cars history but unfortunately doesn't seem to find teh time to do so I am taking the liberty to post the said portion of the articel mentioning APX 110.

The full article is on the link below

Yahoo! Groups

Chandrakanth Gir’s1939 Packard 120 CD touring Sedan has been
witness to a life-changing and history-changing episode itself, but none that is visible now. It was ordered by the Nizam Government in 1939 and was used as the Hyderabad Commissioner’s official car by two successive Commissioners. Post Independence, the then Commissioner bought it from the government. It was then bought from the Commissioner by Chandrakanth Gir. His wife Lalitha Gir, who was seated in the front seat of the car has fond memories of the car. “It has been with us ever since. Our marriage procession in 1959 was in this car. The only difference was I was sitting in the back seat then,� she said with a smile.

Her son Deepak Kant Gir recollects the eventful episode that he had heard and fills us in with the details. During the second Commissioner’s ownership, an Arab gentleman had applied for an ammunition license but was denied the same for some reason. So to retaliate he had climbed onto a high-rise building, opposite the then Commissioner’s office near Abids, and shot at the Commissioner’s car with a gun he had procured on his own. His attempt to assassinate the Commissioner proved futile, since the bullet had hit the fender and the Commissioner survived.

Deepak has fond memories of the car and says, “It is almost like our family car and we have very fond memories with it. In 1967, we went in this car toTirupati and then Bombay. The last time we took it out, on such a long journey was in 1996, when we went from Hyderabad to Madras and back. Even now, the car is used quite often and I take care of it on my own.]


I have also hear from the family of Deen Yar Jung who were the cars owners after it was sold by the Nizam's Government. They have mentioned that the car was originlay Navy Blue in colour.

A very colourfull history indeed and the car has had some very colourfull owners too !!

[DKG]

Originally Posted by wasif

Here is an note on DKG's much loved Packard APX 110...

Only two small corrections. The car used during my parents wedding was a Chrysler New Yorker convertible and the original colour of APX 110 was Ivory with green leather. The car was subsequently painted blue (police dept colours). When we bought it in 1967 it was in blue, but as a kid my father remembers seeing the car in ivory.

After my father bought the car he had it painted ivory again and chrome plated the grill shell (like what came on some of the super 8 cars). Later he painted it Maroon and then back to ivory as it remains.

When I get around to restoring the car the choice will remain either its original ivory or maroon. The car looks gorgeous in both colours

[vintagepoint5]

While browsing I find this interesting article about white Packard:
in the Hindu News dt. 18 August 2004

But old is gold


THIS STORY takes place in 1939 when three Packards were shipped to Hyderabad for Rs. 13,000 each - one for the Nizam's brother, Basalath Jah, another for commissioner of police, Rahmatyar Jung, and the third for the agent of Berar. Chandrakant Gir was only a junior-school student, then.
One day, while returning from school at Abids he happened upon a commotion where thousands of people gathered at the place where the Ramakrishna theatre, presently stands. It transpired that an Arab had applied for a gun-licence and upon refusal by the government, wanted to shoot the police commissioner, Jung dead.
Jung was passing by in his spanking new cream-coloured Packard when the Arab fired, but luckily the bullet missed him and hit the left mudguard. Ever since the mark has left an indelible imprint of history on the pristine Packard that Chandrakant Gir - now 75 - owns.
On a balmy Sunday morning, such stories smelling of times gone by floated about at Necklace Road, - the venue for a vintage car and bike rally to celebrate Deccan Heritage Automobiles Association's (DECHAA) second anniversary. If Gir bought the characteristically luxurious Packard for a meagre Rs. 4,000 from Dinyar Jung (Rahmat-yar's son who was also a police commissioner).

Full article can be read at:
The Hindu : Mean machine


Cheers!