[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by harit

Apparently, a while ago someone contacted T-bhp about a Bentley Saloon which they now own, and which was raced in India sometime in the 1950's.

Thanks for sharing, the thread in question is here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/pre-w...ml#post4037673 (Derby Bentley B104EF ex Culcutta India)

[travancore]

Originally Posted by harit

Apparently, a while ago someone contacted T-bhp about a Bentley Saloon which they now own, and which was raced in India sometime in the 1950's.

The owner at that time was a Mr. C. C. Sandys-Lumsdaine who was also the then president of the Calcutta Motor Sports Club.


Looking forward to some feedback and additional information.

Cheers harit

Sandys-Lumsdaine was a very colourful character. He was part of the Calcutta Light Horse SOE operations that attacked a German ship in then neutral Goa harbour during WWII. Later joined the family business in Calcutta.

Yes, the car was rebodied

http://www.historics.co.uk/buying/au...park-ward.aspx

[harit]

Our fellow enthusiast Diljeet Titus has shared with me this photo and wanted some info. We know a bit but our very own Karlos came up with the following:

This is DRD Wadia racing his Austin in the Bombay speed trials whichhat used to be conducted at Worli sea face. DRD and his brother ARD both had car dealer ships in Bombay including Cord.

The other car which is not in the picture would have been an Amilcar which was extensively raced in India. It belonged to the Maharajah of Lathia but went on to Pune, and ended up in Mumbai where it was destroyed.

Thanks to Diljeet for sharing, and to Karlos for the input.

Cheers harit

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by harit

Our fellow enthusiast Diljeet Titus has shared with me this photo and wanted some info.

Superb pic, thanks for sharing. It was probably dated 1927.

[travancore]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Superb pic, thanks for sharing. It was probably dated 1927.

Attachment 1559426

This photo was published in the Motor Sport magazine of February 1927

The Mehta / Wadia race was posted earlier on Post # 71 on this same thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintag...ml#post3683935

[KartikeyaL]

These pictures are supposed to be from India, the Gentlemen who owns them told me that at this time his grandparents were in India and he thinks that it is a sports car , he was not sure but thinks it could be in Bangalore.



Note the boy on the left side of this picture.




What is the make of this car or is it some home built example ?

Even the registration is all numbers , its also possible that the pictures might not be from India !

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

These pictures are supposed to be from India, the Gentlemen who owns them told me that at this time his grandparents were in India and he thinks that it is a sports car , he was not sure but thinks it could be in Bangalore.

Even the registration is all numbers , its also possible that the pictures might not be from India !

Very nice. Quite possibly India but I too cannot confirm. Could be another colony too.

Incidentally in case this was Calcutta, then 5765 was a 6 cylinder 5 seater Oakland, registered to W. Carr Edmun, P.O. Botanic Garden, Shalimar, Howrah.

[karlosdeville]

Cleaning up some stuff I found this lovely Souvenir booklet dated to 1956 of the Deccan Motor-Cycle Sports Club, dated Jan 1956 - races at Lohegaon, Pune.

[KPS]

Here is some racing history from Bangalore.

I have summarized FB Posts of Pratap Jayaram on his father's "Jayram Special"

AD Jayaram, the man who started the racing in our family and who is responsible for all we do today. Thanks Sheel Kumar Patil for the Lovely pic.

This is a home built car christened as " Jayaram Special".....Has a huge history behind.

Herald engine , highly modified, built in 1967 and created history till 1986

145 mph and with those tyres....boy was it fun

For those who wonder why a spot light ??.....This car used to be driven down to Sholavaram ...No flat bed ..No trucks.😀...Along with 6 other gp2 and formula Indian cars...A freight train of racing cars on the road.

Must have been a awesome sight to see 6-7 racing cars on the Bangalore - Madras highway. The sound of these cars must have increase heart beats for the fellow users of the road, much like to convoy of super bikes we see these days.

Thanks to Pratap Jayram for sharing these details

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Some more fantastic details on the Jayaram Special

Quoting Pratap Jayaram and his friends conversations

Year was 1967, has seen various levels of tune, best obtained was 130 bhp NA , and around 200 bhp supercharged

Dark green with the gold color on the nose cone

You can see the twin DCOE's on the left just ahead of the steering wheel.....What a creation this car was !!! The Maestro's masterpiece !!! Burnt the Sholavaram track year after year !!!

Oh yes, and a very memorable race was when it beat the E type Jaguar of the Maharaj Kumar of Wadhwan.

I remember that sprint race very clearly..... He played with Chetu till the last lap ,& then just sailed past.....for the GP, Chetu removed the E type's bonnet to make it lighter.…..!! & lost all aerodynamic advantage....!!

I will never forget the standing ovation Jayaram got from the mammoth Sholavaram crowd !!!

See the crowds at Sholavaram!

This small light car was obviously very fast! What fantastic racing history has been unfolded on this Indian Special! Beating the E Type must have been the talk in the racing circles for a long time!

Thanks to Pratap Jayram and his friend for sharing this on FB

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

More A D Jayaram history from the racing days

Thanks to his son Pratap Jayaram on FB

First forced induction car in the country supercharged Standard Super 10, 115 mph ..1960

At Yelahanka Airstrip, Fred Webb with the chequered flag


The Roots Supercharger

ADJ receiving a trophy at the All India motor race meet , also in the picture Pramod Chandok

Thank you Pratap Jayaram for sharing.

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

More from FB on Bangalore Motor Sports Club Events.

Thanks to Mr. Shailen Gupta for sharing

All India Motor Race Meet, BMSC
Yelahanka Air Strip
January 20th 1964
Motorcycles Senior Class at the start.

Mr Fred Webb..Chief Starter & Steward of the meet inspects the line up about 30 seconds before flagging off the race.

Left to right :
No. 32 - Vinod Gupta from Bangalore on a Matchless G45 ..500cc
No. 31 - U.D.Jinadasa from Ceylon on a Norton Manx 500cc
No. 30 - A.Arisena also from Ceylon on Norton Special 500 cc

All the three machines are production racing motorcycles meant/built only for circuit racing.(These machines therefore are not street legal, nor meant or complaint for use on public roads)

Cheers

KPS

[travancore]

Not quite in India, but with a lot of Indian interest.

The Singh brothers and their Volvo PV 544 at the East African Safari, 1965

[harit]

In 1953, The Automobile magazine of India reported about The First Indian National Motorcycle Speed Record being set up by Shanker Ramanan at the Yelahanka Airfield near Bangalore.
The bike he used was a 1000 CC Vincent, a very collectable marque of which at present only one is known to me in India. This bike, in all probability was modified for this event. We know of a Vincent in Pune which did not have the original front fork and was smuggled out of India. It is possible that these were one and the same.
It would be interesting if any information / material were to surface on this event.

Cheers harit

[KPS]

Originally Posted by harit

In 1953, The Automobile magazine of India reported about The First Indian National Motorcycle Speed Record being set up by Shanker Ramanan at the Yelahanka Airfield near Bangalore.
Cheers harit

My father recollects Shanker Ramanan very well. As far as he can remember he used to work in HAL. He was very well known figure for his speed records. My father has watched him practice his speed runs.

My father says that he died at a relatively early age of a massive heart attack, probably in Nagpur.