[karlosdeville]

The Calcutta - Delhi road run record proudly set by Hindustan Motors in December 1955

[kasli]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Calcutta - Delhi road run record proudly set by Hindustan Motors in December 1955

Attachment 1518336

It's about time to try it again

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Every once in a while we come across a real gem - this is one of them

The description reads

Does anyone remember this oddity? What mechanicals did it run on? What happened to the cars produced?

Originally Posted by v12

At first I thought that this was a wierd / whacky job on a Fiat. Checked on the net and found the specs for the car.

Some more pictures of this car : Meera (Might have been seen before)







Source : http://bharathautos.com/shankarrao-1...tata-nano.html

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

Some more pictures of this car : Meera (Might have been seen before)

Attachment 1522411

And what happened to its roof? Policemen leaned a bit too much eh?

Again, where was this produced, what mechanical specs behind this and who was the manufacturer? Have not seen even one of these in real life till now.

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

And what happened to its roof? Policemen leaned a bit too much eh?

Again, where was this produced, what mechanical specs behind this and who was the manufacturer? Have not seen even one of these in real life till now.

Please read the quoted posts and the source for most of the info on this car

http://bharathautos.com/shankarrao-1...tata-nano.html

[karlosdeville]

In a May 1953 issue of Automobile Topics Magazine shows a line up of about 2000 Studebaker pickup trucks assembled by Hindustan Motors for the Indian Army.





A lot of these were with various Government organizations as well.

[karlosdeville]

Another superb and informative ad on GM's Indian operations. This one appeared in the Times, February 18th, 1930. I am not 100% clear if this was an Indian or English newspaper.



Note the proud mention of 470 dealers and sub-dealers already back then.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Calcutta - Delhi road run record proudly set by Hindustan Motors in December 1955

That fog/spot lamp particularly looks interesting! 'wonder if twas a Notek Roadmaster:

http://www.historics.co.uk/media/654334/lot_55.jpg

Though I'm not sure what brands were available in India then.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by historyman

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a relative of a Mr Pestonjee B Press who, between 1878 and about 1930, owned the Fort Coach Factory in Mumbai....

Originally Posted by historyman

I've just added a brief history of the Fort Coach Factory to the Indian section of my Car History 4U - History of the Automobile, History of the Motor Car, Car Clubs & Car Museums web site.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Here is a period advertisement of the Fort Coach Factory, that was also on display at the Expo in January.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Here is an article that appeared last week in the Parsi community newspaper Jam-E-Jamshed, showing a carriage on display built by Pestonji Press for the royal family of Bhavnagar.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Here is a full artice that appreared in the Parsi community monthly magazine Parsiana, on the Fort Coach Factory.

Here is another ad from P B Press & Sons dated 1934

[karlosdeville]

It seems Goodyear's operations in India go as far back as 1922, as apparent in this ad from 1957.

[karlosdeville]

Some insight into Mahindra's earlier years in India.

[karlosdeville]

A selection of literature from some of Bajaj's export markets in the 1980s. I wonder when they first started to export.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

A selection of literature from some of Bajaj's export markets in the 1980s. I wonder when they first started to export.

They started exporting after their collaboration with Piaggio expired. The collaboration expired in 1971. My dad had booked a Vespa scooter through Bajaj Auto and after a long wait he was delivered a Bajaj-150 in late 1974!

Bajaj was exporting scooters in good numbers and that too to first world countries! It soon emerged as a serious threat to Piaggio in the international market. The inside back cover of every TIME magazine issue in late 1970s used to feature a full page Bajaj scooter ad! In response, Piaggio filed several legal cases against Bajaj Auto in multiple jurisdictions across Europe and US, alleging passing off, infringement of technical know-how, industrial design, etc. Piaggio was successful in obtaining injunction orders against Bajaj in some territories. Eventually, Bajaj gave up! Also, it did not come out with newer and more modern designs even as Honda started making scooters.

Here is a quote from the judgement given by a California court, dismissing Piaggio's claim against Bajaj Auto for lack of jurisdiction:

The contract expired on April 1, 1971. Piaggio asserts that Bajaj then violated the license agreement by refusing to return the plans and specifications. Piaggio contends Bajaj misappropriated the designs to "slavishly" and illegally continue to manufacture Vespa vehicles after the license expired. Bajaj maintains it tendered the plans, but Piaggio allowed it to keep them. More importantly, Bajaj claims that the last agreement between the parties was executed with the express understanding that Bajaj's right to produce these vehicles would survive the license agreement. Indeed, Bajaj argues that this was a condition of the Indian Government's approval of the final licensing agreement.

In 1980, nine years after the alleged breach of contract first occurred, Piaggio and its American distributor, Vespa of America Corporation, brought this suit. In the intervening years, Bajaj has risen to become the world's second largest manufacturer of scooters, second only to Piaggio. Bajaj scooters are sold in 171 countries. They first entered the American scooter market in 1977. To date, however, total sales have amounted to only about 1,300 scooters. The three-wheeled vehicles have never been marketed in this country.

More details here:
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/...0/224/1451344/

[karlosdeville]

This article was published in the December 1958 issue of Wheels magazine, mapping the progress of the Indian automobile industry vis-a-vis its Australian counterpart. Unfortunately it is incomplete - does anyone know how to access archived copies, if stored somewhere?

[karlosdeville]

With news of General Motors pulling out of retail sales in India (for the second time, the first being the 1950s?), here is an ominous reminder of General Motors India at their peak in the late 1940s, with diverse interests ranging from refrigerators, coolers, air conditioners etc.