[john a milne]

Originally Posted by sharma_sanjeevi

Hi John,

Is that Fiat Topoloino in yellow up for restoration ? is this car owned by Sanjay himself or this belongs to any customer ?

If after restoration he is interested in selling it do let me know

regards,
Sanjeev

This Fiat belongs to P. K. Chowdhury and is at his works. Not sure if he is interested in selling it as it needs an engine. His Mobile # is 9831027301

[john a milne]

Originally Posted by john a milne

This Fiat belongs to P. K. Chowdhury and is at his works. Not sure if he is interested in selling it as it needs an engine. His Mobile # is 9831027301

When I first stated this thread I thought it could be mushed all together but I now find I would be better to separate each profile so they can be tracked more easily. Therefore the change in the thread name.

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply, just one question out of curiosity, where will he find the original engine for this beauty, it should be next to impossible to find it till the time he gets a donor car for this, and that too is a remote possibility, what you say ?

regards,
Sanjeev

[john a milne]

Here are some shots I took when I visited his Works last week as he was preparing for the Statesman Rally.

[john a milne]

And here are photos of his cars at The 2010 Statesman Rally

-1913 Stoewer
-1957 Chevrolet

Cars he has restored.
-1942 Ford Jeep
-1948 Austin 16

[wasif]

Can you add some history to the Stoewer Car. It might not be a 1913 but a later model from around 1918.

Its rims have been changed. The current rims are from a Ford model A.

Please put up some pics of the Bel Air hardtop with the windows rolled up. This is a very rare bodystyle to have in India.

[john a milne]

Here are some photos that I took at Chowdhury's Works last week before The Statesman Rally held January 13th. 2013. Lots of projects waiting to start. He has done up some great Jeeps and the one that is shown started as just a chassis with and partial motor. An Outstanding job that has won a few Trophies.

[Automaton]

Originally Posted by wasif

Can you add some history to the Stoewer Car. It might not be a 1913 but a later model from around 1918.

Its rims have been changed. The current rims are from a Ford model A.

Found an interesting interview on the car, with these factoids:

"The car and a mechanic ....were shipped to India in 1907."


"In 1946-47, my father, Santinath Chowdhury decided to restore it. Back then, he had to use the rim and tyres of T-Model 4 to get the Stoewer running."


So must have had wooden wheels that were unusable after 19 years of doing the Malighati - Midnapore run on non-existant roads.

Wish the wooden wheels are manufactured again for the car.



Also the import year is 1907, whereas it is being referred to as a 1913 Stoewer, even in the headline of the article.


Since the interview is of Mr Choudary himself, the details given below including the year of manufacture must be correct:


http://www.kolkataonwheels.com/artic...3-stoewer.html



Some interesting things about the car.

Name: Stoewer
Date of Birth: February 1907
Country of Origin: Germany
Manufactured by: Emil & Burnherd Stoewer Co. Stettin,Germany
Brain Child of: Gebrüder Stoewer

Body work and Engine capacity: Custom built open Tourer. 15 H.P. 4 Cylinder

Specialty:
• The headlights glow with the aid of acetylene gas. There's a special chamber where calcium carbide and water is mixed to produce acetylene gas.

• The sidelights run on kerosene.

• Upholstery is made from cuff leather. (What is Cuff Leather?)

• The car does not have a temperature meter. A swan is attached on the radiator It is filled with wax. You can see the wax from the steering wheel. When the wax starts to melt, you know that the car is heating up.

• The throttle is on top of the steering. There's no battery — it has a magnetic starter.




But of course the possibility of the journalist making an error is very much there.

Anyone can throw some (acetylene gas) light on this?