[foby.sebastian]

Ford waiting for mercy !

[sharoncr_17]

Originally Posted by ajay99

No.This vehicle has been posted in the forum in 2007 itself.The vehicle is in Paripally

Sure, I remeber it lying there for atleast 6 yrs. I had been there to check out a WIP Willys sometime back in 2008 or so.
Thanks.

[foby.sebastian]

The Buick showed up at Kollam, Kerala. Thats TKM group's car . Any clue on the whereabouts of the other Buick which was up for sale last year ?

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by foby.sebastian

Ford waiting for mercy !

Looks like a 2-door so must be a Ford Anglia.

[foby.sebastian]

Built in ninteen sixtees by Ranjan Motor company Pvt. Ltd. Mazda House,kesavadasapuram,pattom P O, Trivandrum - 695014, Kerala, India.

More info :- http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-w...r-atlanta.html

Courtesy :- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-V...10424432374192

[foby.sebastian]

Citroen Traction Avant

[revintup]

Saw this classic undergoing restoration at a local garage. It had great presence even in the current state.

[r_nairtvm]

His Highness Sri Utradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma - the scion of the Travncore Royal family passed on today early morning at 2.20 am, in Trivandrun, Kerala



(the pic above is from - http://www.google.co.uk/imgres)

The relevance of this post here is that we all knew him through this thread as the first and only owner of probably the oldest 180 D in India.


(The above picture is from an earlier post by Foby)



An avid driver himself, had an affection for all things that moved on wheels.

To the end he maintained the dignity that is required of a King with out ever giving up the Humility and Compassion to fellow beings. His collection of photos - now exhibited in one of the smaller palaces in East Fort, trivandrum, shows his talents as photographer. He enjoyed horse ridding a passion he shared with his late wife (actually one of the reasons he was settled in Bangalore until he became the head of the family in 1991)

I am quoting some of the threads relevent to the late Maharaja.

Originally Posted by foby.sebastian

1954 ponton "The palace car"

the snaps of the same has been posted earlier but this is the current condition.

I have read in articles that "His Highness Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma" used to drive a merc from Bangalore to Trivandrum , guess this was that car. Can some one confirm please ?

Photos copyright to the respective owners

Originally Posted by travancore

What I have heard from H.H. himself is that he has made many a trip from Banagalore to Trivandrum in "CAN-42".

Here is an excerpt from The Statesman,Calcutta dated Mar 23, 2012:

"Marthanda Varma has been driving cars since the age of 17 and still retains three of his vintages — a 1955 Mercedes 180D, a 1975 Mercedes 220S and a 1975 model Valiant."

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Prem,

I don't know if you recall this - this car was actually KLT 42 (see the Kerala RTO extract - which confirms it as 180 D)

Then latter on it was transferred to Bangalore where H.H. was more or less a full time resident, those days and when the CA series started and # 42 was availble it was transferred to Bangalore.

I was a student in Bangalore during 1974-79 and used to feel very nostalgic/home sick, to see a KLT registration car often on the roads and in my college and hostel premises in Whitefield

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

Originally Posted by the mole

Great that probably makes her the oldest 180D in the country, Mine is 1956 and the Maharajah of Udaipur also has a identical 180D also 1956.

REST IN PEACE

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

[sharoncr_17]

I have had the opportunity to meet His Highness Sri Utradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma. A small person with a towering personality. The attribute that draws people towards him is his humility.

The 180 D has clocked more than 60K miles.

May the departed soul rest in eternal peace.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by sharoncr_17

The 180 D has clocked more than 60K miles.

I assume you meant to say 600k miles. I remember reading about those 100k badges given by Merc.

[zenren]

Uthradom Thirunal's Wikipedia article says 40 lakh miles though which is clearly incorrect. The World record is actually around 2.8 million miles if I'm not mistaken!

From what I understand, this badge is given by Mercedes when the odo clock resets to zero after a full cycle which I assume is after 100k km. CAN-42 had at least 6 such badges IIRC.

Can someone who know this car comment on the actual mileage clocked?

As usual, our beloved friends at Hindu newspaper have lifted this info and posted it in their news article without indicating the source.

His most favourite hobby is motoring. He has to his credit of driving more than 40 lakh miles in his Mercedes Benz 180 D and through crowded roads. He has won several medals from the Benz company at Stuttgart.

I guess news articles are no longer a reliable source of info.

BTW, to clock 40 lakh kilometers (leave alone miles) on a car, it needs to do a Trivandrum-Bangalore round trip (~1500km) every week in a year for more than 50 years.

Mods, please merge with my previous post

[anjan_c2007]

Sad to hear about the passing away of His Highness Sri Utradom.
May his soul Rest in Peace.

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

His Highness Sri Utradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma - the scion of the Travncore Royal family passed on today early morning at 2.20 am, in Trivandrun, Kerala

REST IN PEACE

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by zenren

Can someone who know this car comment on the actual mileage clocked?

Last year on the ocassion of his 90th Birthady or so, the programme called "Fast Track" in Manorama TV did an interview with him. You can watch it in the link below (hopefully)

http://www.manoramanews.com/cgi-bin/...tabId=14&BV_ID=@@@

In that amoung other things, he states that KLT/CAN 42 has done 23 Lakh KMS. - 2.3 Millon KMS

Other interesting things that he is talking about (for those who can't understand Malayalam)

• He started driving at the age of 16 in 1938
• He used to pester/work with Mr. Thanu pillai who was the Palace Engineer then
• The Palace Workshop used to be in the Premises where the KeSRTC City Depot garage is currently situated in the East Fort, Trivandrum
• His first car was a 1937 model Dodge
• Next one was a a 1937 Red and Green Cadillac Convertible
• In 1955 his elder brother HH Sri Chitira Thirunal bought the Merc 180D for then a princely sum of INR 12,000/-. When the younger brother expressed his admiration for the car it was immediately gifted to him, and that is how he got the car
• From 1952 he has been living in Bangalore and had to travel to TVM almost every month. He used to leave Bangalore at 4.00 pm and reach TVM by 4.00 am next day. 500 Miles in all with he and the driver doing shifts of 100 miles a piece. The car was diesel and the cost of Bangalore - TVM run was INR 15 only
• He says that a lot of the family and his friends used to call him a "minute-mile man" - as he would always like/try to maintain a 60 mile per hour average speed. He says that he used to cover the TVM - Nagercoil in 45 minutes - a distance of about 44 miles - and he considersit his good fortune that Travancore had few roads but those were always in excellent condition those days
• He was a director of Standard Motors, Madras
• He talks about his dislike about hatchbacks and syas that it distorts the beuty of a car's design
• He syas that he considers that the cars/vehicles have "life" and have to be treated as "living things". He compares this to talking to the horses, whilst ridding and says that he believes that the cars/vehicles also would respond in a similar manner as horses do
• He believes that the KLT/CAN 42 lasted this long because of his habit of treating it as a "live being".

What a "Petrolhead" !!!

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

[zenren]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Last year on the ocassion of his 90th Birthady or so, the programme called "Fast Track" in Manorama TV did an interview with him. You can watch it in the link below (hopefully)

http://www.manoramanews.com/cgi-bin/...tabId=14&BV_ID=@@@

Thanks Ram.

BTW, what is the story on his current car, the Fintail diesel with 1991 registration?

[foby.sebastian]

Citroen traction avant