Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 1349213)

Yes it was made to look Bombayish- but ironically a series even older than the car (BML = 50s!) It happens only in Indian movies!

It even appeared in an entire song (where the hero deflates one of the tyres and then eventually helps them refill it) but I unfortunately can't find the link to that particular song on youtube now!

As for the plump heroines, :OT but can't help it! hehe.....I thought Rajasree (who was also borrowed from the tamil original, alongwith the herald!) was the only plump one? :D

Originally Posted by Abbas (Post 1349874)

Hey Guys !!

Can anyone identify this car in the pic??

it was my uncle`s car who use to work @ HPCL. He never drove the car just kept it in the garage so that he could get fuel allowance from office.lol:

It must be around mid 80's period. Hope he never comes to know about this post or else i am on my way to the grave yard.

Originally Posted by Abbas (Post 1349874)

Hey Guys !!
Can anyone identify this car in the pic??
it was my uncle`s car who use to work @ HPCL. He never drove the car just kept it in the garage so that he could get fuel allowance from office.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 (Post 1350656)

Thats a Standard Herald of the early 1960's. In the 1980's these were sold at dirt cheap prices like some Rs 5000/- or so.there was no demand but now the car is very rare as many have been junked.

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 1353249)

As anjan said, its a Standard Herald. Read more about these cars in the "Standard cars in India" thread if you're so inclined. This is an early model dating around 1961-62. It's got the original front bumper but missing the original front indicators. It still looks complete/restorable.
My guess is it would've ultimately been sold for scrap when your uncle was through with it.
While in Visakhapatnam a few years ago, I'd heard of many Heralds bought even by Vizag Steel Plant employees around the same period, for the same purpose! :Frustrati Although 'never got to see any. They must've been disposed of by then.
Here in Hyd. too, it was once a common sight to see Heralds/Standards rotting away in the open in areas like ECIL/BHEL, where they were bought for petrol allowance, and retained by the owners until they retired, or could afford a new car.
Now Fiats (Padminis) and even 118NEs have replaced those as the present victims.

OT: Is that your uncle behind the wheel?? No offence meant but he looks kind of like KCR (you may know of him?) :)


Indeed! 5k was considered a "standard" price that they could fetch. I was told of many prime examples (even one-owner ones!) bought by scrapwalas here for even 2-3k back in the 90s! And now, you know what prices they command (or rather demand, but either way that's the kind of price tags attached to them now!)

Note: IMHO this photo should be in the "Nostalgic pics." thread.
MODS: could these last 2 posts above (#92 onwards) be moved to said thread, thanks!

Originally Posted by harit (Post 1353258)

Not every Standard rotting in Hyderabad was scrapped. Some were 'converted' into Jeeps. A couple were even used in movies. They were relatively popular. Till one day Mahindra threatened to sue.
They then made a few non jeep like conversions which did not find much appeal.

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 1353273)

Yes harit, not every one of them was scrapped. A couple of them even passed through my hands....and into other safe hands! I was just mentioning the kind of prices scrappies used to pay for them when they bought them.
And not every Standard in Hyderabad was converted into a Jeep either. ;)
Speaking of which, contrary to their popular name of "Herald jeeps" they were almost never based on Heralds, but on Standard 10/Pennants, because the latter had the rigid rear axle, as Behram Dhabhar had mentioned once. He himself had tried to get one done using a scrap car but didn't manage to find the right guy in Hyd. to do it, so gave up.
Even these are rarely seen now.

I wasn't aware that they were stopped because of M & M's threat. But whom did they threaten to sue? The makers of these "jeeps" or the owners who bought them?

Incidentally, I'd heard of one guy here who used to even make Beach buggies out of Heralds, using just the chassis and mechanicals. He is said to have sold 8-10 such buggies to people in Bombay, Goa etc. Anyone who's seen any of these?

Originally Posted by harit (Post 1353278)

See what I did in post 95 aboveclap:

Good morning harit

Originally Posted by the mole (Post 1354468)

can one of you film aficianados please confirm that this car was used in the Film Qurbani in the basement scene. Just bought by a friend and soon to be restored

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 1354475)

Wow! I read in a Filmfare issue once that FK had actually destroyed the car in the movie. If its indeed the same car, she must've gone through a complete resurrection!

Originally Posted by the mole (Post 1354468)

can one of you film aficianados please confirm that this car was used in the Film Qurbani in the basement scene. Just bought by a friend and soon to be restored

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 (Post 1354578)

The car was brand new in maybe 1979, during the shooting.It was shot in a parking lot, in the basement.The film was released in 1980.The villain (was it Shakti Kapoor coz he is one of the villians in the film apart from Amjad Khan ?) behind the wheel was ridiculing FK and telling to move away from his path.He said "can't you see this is a Mercedes"? FK got wild, pushed the villian out and took control of the wheel. FK started reversing the car again and again opening its four doors one by one. Each door fell off dashing against the concrete pillars. The bumpers were also dashed and came off. other than that there was no other perceptible damage to the structure of the car.
Its a surprise to see this car surface as you say the mole , having been bought by your friend.