[ajmat]

Originally Posted by harit

The Dalal family from whom these pictures originate has been identified, the lady is the aunt of a fellow t-bhpian. And, here is the weird co-incidence, she lived just 10 minutes away from my home.
And funnily, the family was not into motor sports, my friend felt that they had encountered the rally at Lonavala by chance and took photos.
The photos covered the bike event, in what connection were these photographed is not known.
Here is a Fiat Abarth Diesel experimental car, there were two and one crashed in Australia. Maybe Prabal will like this.

Cheers harit

This is the 1977 London to Sydney Rally. Only time Mercedes came into motor sport in the 1970's. their w123 Merc 280E came first and second. Another two were in the top 10. one of the fiats made it to 13. 4 Citroeon CX's , a peugout 504 and a Mazda made up the top 10. A Porsche 911 was actually leading till it broke down before reaching India.

I remember seeing them pas though Bangalore. The Citroens were huge and impressive!

[terry mcgrath]

Harit,
are you indicating the the Allard pictured at a UK race meeting is/was the Ramsay car or just using the pic to indicate what the Ramsay car looked like?
Do you have a chassis number/registration number or current owners details and do any pics survive of the car in India?
terry

Originally Posted by harit

Natives of Kolkata will be happy and annoyed to hear that the Allard J2 raced by Allan Ramsay has been located and is alive and restored(happy). It was dismantled and taken out in boxes, and lives in UK. Smuggled out of the country probably in the 1970's/1980's(annoyed). This was the car. I have photos of her in action.

Cheers harit

Sorry for back to back posts, does no one have anything to contribute to history of motorsports?

[travancore]

Originally Posted by terry mcgrath

Harit,
are you indicating the the Allard pictured at a UK race meeting is/was the Ramsay car or just using the pic to indicate what the Ramsay car looked like?
Do you have a chassis number/registration number or current owners details and do any pics survive of the car in India?
terry

Here are two pictures posted earlier in the Nostalgic Cars thread from the invaluable collections of Harit and Ron Braid.

[harit]

Originally Posted by travancore

The Allard may have been taken to Calcutta by Jimmy Baird originally. Had a "Wizard of OZ" registration...........

Yes, Jimmy Baird was the original importer, he sold the car to Alan Ramsay. The present owner is not yet known to me. I was wondering at the lack of appreciation from our Kolkata friends when revealing an answer to a long pending mystery.

Originally Posted by ajmat

This is the 1977 London to Sydney Rally. Only time Mercedes came into motor sport in the 1970's. their w123 Merc 280E came first and second. ......... A Porsche 911 was actually leading till it broke down before reaching India.............

Ajmatbhai, did you see pics of the W123 Mercs? They had bumpers fitted which I could imagine could be bolted together to make ramps. These looked like muscle cars, I would build a replica if I could get a suitable engine. At the Rally, when it passed through Bombay, I had the opportunity to meet up with the Mercs somewhere out of town and escort them to the United Motors workshop and walk into the basement and see them being inspected, etc. What a thrill for a school boy. That was thanks to my neighbours dad who was working with Telco.
You are wrong about the Porsche, it very much reached India, Sobieslaw Zasada was so fast that he reached Bombay about 2 hours before scheduled time when nothing was ready and there are very few pictures of him arriving. I believed that he crashed in Australia.

Originally Posted by terry mcgrath

Harit, are you indicating the the Allard pictured at a UK race meeting is/was the Ramsay car or just using the pic to indicate what the Ramsay car looked like? Do you have a chassis number/registration number or current owners details and do any pics survive of the car in India?
terry

Yes, the very same car. This photo was taken at some Irish event before she came to India. Aston Martin is behind her. I have no details of the chassis, etc, travancore has reposted a photo of mine.

Cheers harit

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by harit

You are wrong about the Porsche, it very much reached India, Sobieslaw Zasada was so fast that he reached Bombay about 2 hours before scheduled time when nothing was ready and there are very few pictures of him arriving. I believed that he crashed in Australia.

I never said he did not reach India, he completed the rally, he broke down earlier on before India and lost the winning advantage. i believe the Porsche is going strong and used in a few revival rallies!

[harit]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I never said he did not reach India, he completed the rally, he broke down earlier on before India and lost the winning advantage. i believe the Porsche is going strong and used in a few revival rallies!

Sorry, I misunderstood. The Porsche was the first car to reach Bombay, he lead all the way till the accident in Australia put him into 13th place. There was a website on the event, http://londonmexico.homestead.com/index.html but it has been disabled.

Will put up a few pics shortly.

Cheers harit

[travancore]

The Allard was first owned and raced by Desmond Titterington. Attached are some period pictures courtesy of autonorthonline and Bonhmas and motorsport.ie









Still have not found the chassis number.

[harit]

Originally Posted by travancore

The Allard was first owned and raced by Desmond Titterington. ....

Thats the site I found this on, its the same picture as I put up first. I was looking for Allan Ramsey on google and found this.
Somewhere in a magazine I have a picture of Allan Ramsay driving a Jaguar Mk 7 at some trial, and he can clearly be seen. Does anyone have a picture of him? I also have pictures of Jack Wilks Motorcycle racer in Kolkata, posing with I think Nari Kapadia.

Cheers harit

[harit]

Deccan Motor Sport Club also held meets at the Juhu Aerodrome, not restricted to only Lohegaon Airfield.
Here is a ticket of 1967.
The stamp on the right asks one not to loiter as the Aerodrome is a protected area.

Little has changed between 1967 and 2013, chief ministers relief fund is still giving relief.

Cheers harit

[harit]

Though not pre 1965, sad news about the other flying Sikh. Could not find another suitable thread. He did come to Mumbai for the first Himalayan rally in a Merc 450SL.

RIP

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by harit

Though not pre 1965, sad news about the other flying Sikh. Could not find another suitable thread. He did come to Mumbai for the first Himalayan rally in a Merc 450SL. RIP

We saw his Volvo sitting in the Volvo Museum in Arendal, Gothenburg, Sweden, a month ago or so.

[karlosdeville]

A superb story on the restoration of the Calcutta Allard J2 appears in the latest Classic and Sports car.



http://www.classicandsportscar.com/n...rst-appearance

[KPS]

The Bangalore Motor Sports Club (BMSC) was the pioneer movement for motor racing in Bangalore.

My Dad as an enthusiast was one of the early members and had membership # 25.




Following pictures have been taken from https://www.facebook.com/groups/bygonebangalore/ , where Jenny Fernandez & Melanie Webb from the famous Webb Family has posted paper clippings and pictures , which are shared below

Mr. Webb's racing cars. Fantastic picture of the MG in racing gear. Notice of the headlights have been turned to reduce the wind resistance. Wonderful picture


Chevy


Paper clippings of the BMSC and connection to Webbs posted by Jenny Fenandez. Thank you Jenny Fernandez for sharing on FB.





















The Yelahanka Race Circuit where the BMSC races used to be held.




Cheers

KPS

[vinay kamath]

Good Events were happening annually / regularly so close to my home ! "RMDC shield" , "BMSC winter rally", "handicap race", "11th All India Championship motor races" , "Soth India trophy", "Castrol shield" , and "Burmah Shell shield" .

Why did these races stop ? Does the Webb family reside at Bangalore?

[KPS]

Originally Posted by vinay kamath

Good Events were happening annually / regularly so close to my home ! "RMDC shield" , "BMSC winter rally", "handicap race", "11th All India Championship motor races" , "Soth India trophy", "Castrol shield" , and "Burmah Shell shield" .

Why did these races stop ? Does the Webb family reside at Bangalore?

I think BMSC got merged with KMSC, stand to be corrected though.

The Webbs migrated to Australia, if I am right. They still some property at Raheja Towers on MG Road.