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Old 25th March 2009, 12:10   #61
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Originally Posted by harit View Post
Dodge Brothers a royal Dharbanga car with special coachwork.
What was special on the Dodge, was is custom made local coachwork? The car was in Pune for a while, I have travelled a fair bit in it.

Last edited by karlosdeville : 25th March 2009 at 12:11.
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Old 25th March 2009, 13:21   #62
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Congrats on a nice event. The rain played spoil sport but that is not in your hand. The venue was also very nice, and you all must have got the royal treatment.

The Ford A MHN 1116 may have been a Mumbai car which belonged to an Air India pilot who was living in Bandra and relocated to Hyderabad with his Jeep and Austin 7.
.
Opel rear body must be modified, looks nice but not original.

Good Luck!
Hi .

The Air India pilot guy you are refering to was Captain Vashist. His roadster is red and the plate is BMW something. Quiet a colourfull charecter !!

The MNH 1116 belongs to Iqbal Patni of the Bombay Andhra Transport. This car was in pieces all over Hyderabad and I put it together for him. He had ordered a lot of stuff that you see on the car from the states. Even the wooden blocks between the chassis and body were ordered.

The car looks great with the right accessories including the Trunk.

This guy really wanted a good result so a lot of time and money was spent on the car, a donor car was also sourced for some of the hard to find items.

Wonder what became of it.
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Old 25th March 2009, 14:22   #63
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DKG, I am deeeply moved by your write up and can identify with your feelings.I hope when I reach your age I shall have similar memories of time spent with my family and my cars (which are no longer in the family but I am working on getting a few back).your type of car lovers are a rarity and the best part of having this forum is to get to bond with such people and share their feelings.

Note from support team: Take part of qoute for your reply. Adding full quote doesn't make sense here.

Last edited by Rudra Sen : 25th March 2009 at 14:46.
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Old 25th March 2009, 14:29   #64
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While we have been attending rallies/displays since the 60's I can say this with certainty that for the first time we had a long run as part of the event. The earlier drives used to be within the city and even those had stopped on account of the high traffic these days.

Which means these vintage car events, if they are to include long drives, need to be a little out of Hyderabad. The Novotel airport event is the first time we all got to get out of Hyd and further ahead for the drive.

Its brilliant to once again have the chance to drive on open roads where these cars literally come alive. The morning drive for me from home to the airport via the new Gachibowli outer ring road was like driving on a runway!

Now not all think this way. Most oldtimers (meaning regulars at the events) were complaining about the distance of the airport from home. Many thought the idea of a long drive is utter nonsense. Some were put off by the weather (getting hot these days).

But lets look at what happened. The people who did turn up for the event had a grand time. They enjoyed the setting, loved the fact that they were looked after so well, wholeheartedly participated in the drive and kept going despite the rain (well the incentive of a free night's stay was a strong one ). They made the most of the opportunity to chat with fellow enthusiasts and simply chilled out all day, many not missing the chance to chat up Manvendra bhai.

After this recent event now if you ask me to come to an event in the city and simply display and go back I am clear that I am not interested. We have done that for 45 years and I find it too boring. Now I need the drives. I will attend events only if there is a drive and unless I get a chance to take the car out on open roads its simply not worth the effort. I have discovered a new high to owning these cars and its spelt "LONG DRIVES" !! I am hooked.

Inshallah, as they say, I should soon be ready to travel to Bombay, Madras and Bangalore too , as my father always did in APX 110

Last edited by DKG : 25th March 2009 at 14:37.
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Old 25th March 2009, 14:45   #65
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Inshallah, as they say, I should soon be ready to travel to Bombay, Madras and Bangalore too , as my father always did in APX 110
Pack your bags (and tool kit), see you in Mumbai on the 5th for VCCCI?
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Old 25th March 2009, 15:03   #66
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Quote:
I have discovered a new high to owning these cars and its spelt "LONG DRIVES" !! I am hooked.
These beauties need their share of fun on the roads too.

I presume most of the owners are too scared to get them on long runs, expecting them to break-down. (which of course, can be proven wrong).

Nice write-up of the event DKG Sir.
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Old 25th March 2009, 15:48   #67
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Thanks to all for the words of appreciation. I am glad you guys enjoyed my sharing a special Sunday with you all.

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Originally Posted by karlosdeville View Post
Pack your bags (and tool kit), see you in Mumbai on the 5th for VCCCI?
Karlos just before the Novotel event Kasli and I had a chat about getting together for drives and he liked the idea. Perhaps later this year we may get a group to meet here in Hyderabad and drive to Bangalore for some fun. Then we could start meeting at different locations in years to come. So you never know, you just might see APX 110 again at Marine drive soon

Last edited by DKG : 25th March 2009 at 15:50.
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Old 25th March 2009, 16:28   #68
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Originally Posted by wasif View Post
Hi .

The Air India pilot guy you are refering to was Captain Vashist. His roadster is red and the plate is BMW something. Quiet a colourfull charecter !!

The MNH 1116 belongs to Iqbal Patni of the Bombay Andhra Transport. This car was in pieces all over Hyderabad and I put it together for him. He had ordered a lot of stuff that you see on the car from the states. Even the wooden blocks between the chassis and body were ordered.

The car looks great with the right accessories including the Trunk.

This guy really wanted a good result so a lot of time and money was spent on the car, a donor car was also sourced for some of the hard to find items.

Wonder what became of it.
This means that there are 3 Ford A's in Hyderabad? Capt V, Capt P & Mr. Iqbal
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Old 25th March 2009, 16:55   #69
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Harith.

There were around 20 odd Modle A s in Hyderabad. It was by far the most common vintage car around. There were some interesting versions too like the woody wagon.

There are 5 roadsters that I remember and plenty of phaetons. It used to be the starter car of choice for all budding car restorers and collectors and there were plenty lying around begging to be cared for.

My grandfather had a lovely single owner standard roadster which he kept in running condition till his death in the eighties.

One day a collector from Pune showed up and talked my granny into parting with the car. The gentleman was Mr. Zarir Vakil and the car is in his collection with a ADL plate. Great car with around 60,000 original miles on the clock when sold with a room full of spares and a set of new tires.
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Old 25th March 2009, 17:23   #70
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Only wondering what happened to all the missing great cars in Hyderabad. You have a few Rolls, the LaSalle was missing more Packards are there.
Not to mention a few lovely Buick eights I know of- including APO 1, a lovely Black eight, and APX 1950- a two-tone one in Green and cream both of which I'd last seen at the HAIG rally in Secunderabad club, Feb. 2007.

Novotel GMR Airport Vintage & Classic Car Show and Drive, Sunday 22 March 2009-img_0345.jpg

Novotel GMR Airport Vintage & Classic Car Show and Drive, Sunday 22 March 2009-img_0306.jpg

DKG- were these cars present at this rally too?
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Old 25th March 2009, 20:12   #71
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What was special on the Dodge, was is custom made local coachwork? The car was in Pune for a while, I have travelled a fair bit in it.
Pardon my (obvious) ignorance - which one is the Dharbanga Dodge ? Cheers
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Old 25th March 2009, 20:24   #72
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Pardon my (obvious) ignorance - which one is the Dharbanga Dodge ? Cheers
It would be BRL 1907 in post 44 I guess,

And if I am not mistaken that is Inder Krishnamma and Doc V Rao standing with it ?????

Last edited by wasif : 25th March 2009 at 20:26.
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Old 26th March 2009, 14:20   #73
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Harith.

There were around 20 odd Modle A s in Hyderabad. It was by far the most common vintage car around. There were some interesting versions too like the woody wagon.

There are 5 roadsters that I remember and plenty of phaetons. It used to be the starter car of choice for all budding car restorers and collectors and there were plenty lying around begging to be cared for.

My grandfather had a lovely single owner standard roadster which he kept in running condition till his death in the eighties.

One day a collector from Pune showed up and talked my granny into parting with the car. The gentleman was Mr. Zarir Vakil and the car is in his collection with a ADL plate. Great car with around 60,000 original miles on the clock when sold with a room full of spares and a set of new tires.
I just noticed that the word Roadster was left out. There are 5 roadsters in Hyderabad? So in all in India there must be more than 25 of these.
It is true that Ford A is the best car to start this hobby. Parts are available but getting expensive. During college times a friend used to regularly go for weekend to Khandala effortlessly.
I managed a 2 door and 4 door sedan, open tourers and just now a roadster.
About your grandfathers car, did you know that she also gave away Stephen Grebel lights?
By the way, was there also a Chevy 1955 convertible? Somehow I had heard that 2 cars went from there.
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Old 26th March 2009, 14:25   #74
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Harith.

She also gave away a ton of spares, workshop manuals,and a set of brand new tyres with it.

One day the car was there as usual and the next it was gone. I was too young to get involved.

I don't know about the Chevy, not from my family.

To be fair toi Mr. Vakil he did pay what she asked for. In those days 125,000 for a car like that was top dollar.

Last edited by wasif : 26th March 2009 at 14:30.
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Old 26th March 2009, 14:38   #75
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So ADL 357 came from your end? A car I am very fond off. The gent who runs the workshop where the car is had told me many years back how it was acquired from a lady in Hyderabad along with a treasure trove of spares, he could not stop talking about it. He had mentioned to me that 2 cars were bought together, the other being a AP regd convertible 50s Chevy, but that was in poor shape he said.

Do you have period photos of the car? Would you recall the original regn number?
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