[vinay kamath]

"A tale of generations"
It’s hard to take your eyes off Tosher G Hormusjee’s 1927 Fiat. And it’s not just the colour that grabs one’s attention, even the design and shape are typical of cars of the 1920s. One can’t resist the temptation of wanting to know more about the vehicle and get an insight into how Tosher restored the grand old lady. Tosher has grown up around vintage and classic vehicles. His father was a connoisseur of these old beauties and that passion has been passed on to Tosher.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...nerations.html

[vinay kamath]

Deccan Herald 10-01-2017

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...back-past.html

[vinay kamath]

"Netaji's great escape limo to zoom again"
Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Udit Prasanna Mukherji,Kolkata:
Jan 17 2017 : The Times of India (Bangalore)

Seventy six years after it became part of the great escape -taking Subhas Chandra Bose from his Elgin Road residence in Kolkata to Gomoh Railway station in Jharkhand to catch the Kalka Mail to Delhi -the iconic four-door German Wanderer sedan has been restored to its original pristine vintage form.

On January 18, Sugata Bose, Netaji's grand-nephew and Trinamool Congress MP, will drive the car with President Pranab Mukherjee on the rear seat to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the great escape.Bose has been practising to drive the 1937-make car for the past few days.

The sedan was driven regularly till 1957 by Sugata Bose's father, Sisir Kumar Bose, who was also at the wheels during Netaji's escape from Kolkata. The restoration of the 1.8-litre limousine was not an easy job with the original maker, Auto Union of German, having shut down after World War II. But one of the four entities that the company metamorphosed into, Audi, was a big help.

“Audi gave technical ex pertise for the restoration to a vintage car restorer, Pallab Roy . His team started working on it in May 2016. It is the most prized possession of the Netaji Research Bureau museum. Now, once a week, people will see this car in motion at the driveway of the building,“ said Sugata Bose. Roy had successfully restored a 1928 Studebaker President 8 State Limousine and a Mercedes 230 S 1967 before he was roped in by Audi.

The great escape was meticulously planned by Netaji, who was under constant surveillance of the British, with help of his nephew, Sisir Bose. “There was a great deal of discussion on the choice of car. First it was decided to use the car of his elder brother, Sarat Chandra Bose. But it was too well known. Then it was decided to take the Wanderer, which was bought by Sarat Chandra Bose and registered (BLA 7169) in the name of Sisir Bose, my father. Back in 1937, the 1.8-litre four-door limo cost him Rs 4,680,“ said Sugata Bose. It was in the middle of the night on January 16, 1941, that Netaji left home in the guise of Mohammed Ziauddin. He took the rear seat as Sisir, then only 21, drove the Wanderer from Kolkata to Gomoh and back.

“I remember riding it regularly after my marriage in 1955,“ recalled Krishna Bose, wife of Sisir Bose and a former MP. “By then, the car had got a fresh coat of a black paint. Later, it was painted grey . Even as a baby , Sugata, my elder son, took many a drive in that car with us. At times it used to break down and I have so many memories of having to push it down Rashbehari Avenue,“ said Krishna Bose, now the chairperson of NRB Pallab Roy said he agreed to restore the Wanderer to be part of history . He started work on July 1 and will formally hand over the refurbished car to NRB on Tuesday . “We did it in record time.A restoration work like this takes more than a year. But this job was like a passion for me and I worked round the clock,“ he said.

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...17012017008043


PS : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-...c-kolkata.html

[vinay kamath]

Do not miss to view Pictures put up on http://presidentofindia.nic.in/

President Pranab Mukherjee unveils Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's 1937 Wanderer W24 in Kolkata

Manogya Loiwal | New Delhi, January 18, 2017

President Pranab Mukherjee today unveiled the car in which Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had made his 'great escape' from his ancestral home in Kolkata in 1941, while under house arrest by the then British government.
The German Wanderer sedan of 1937 make has been restored to its 1941 look by automobile giant Audi and is now in excellent running condition. Krishna Bose said she and other family members had taken ride in the car till 1957.

President Mukherjee to unveil Netaji Bose's restored Audi 'Wanderer'
She said though the car was in a good condition, the family and Netaji Research Bureau wanted to restore it to the 1941 look when Netaji was driven from Kolkata to Gomoh by Sisir Kumar Bose in the month of January.
"Engineers from Audi with the help of our technicians worked tirelessly for the past six months to bring that look in the car," she said.
Under the 1937 Wanderer W24 lies a 1767cc, 4-cylinder engine that produces 42hp @3500rpm which can take it up to a top speed of 108kmph. The engine is mated to a four-speed manual transmission.The Wanderer W24 came with a wheelbase of 2600mm, with a length of 4280mm, width of 1645mm and height of 1600mm. It has a ground clearance of 200mm - the same as of the present day Audi Q5 and has a fuel capacity of 40-litres.
Auto Union had manufactured only 22500 units of the Wanderer W24 and Netaji was said to be the first Indian to own an Audi vehicle in the country.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/auto/st.../1/860515.html

[schakravarthy]

A video of Dr. Raviprakash and his collection of vintage cars & bikes at his farm house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore.

https://www.facebook.com/deccanheral...5327647743128/

[vinay kamath]

Economic Times 01.02.2017
"How demand drives up the cost of $2,400 vintage car to $100,000"
Bloomberg


The first-generation Ford Bronco has become a highly coveted artefact these days among millennials, say experts

Move over Ferraris and Jaguars. Mainstream domestic cars such as the first-generation Ford Bronco are the new collector's item now.

While baby boomers dream of vintage muscle cars, millennials with money to spare want vintage SUVs. “This interest has been surfacing for a while -the younger buyers love vintage SUVs,“ said Jonathan Klinger, a spokesman for Hagerty, a Michigan company that insures vintage and collectable cars. Barrett-Jackson alone sold 12 of them in the recent ly conclude d Scottsdale auction, with 21 offered throughout all auction houses.

Their values have risen as well: The current average value of one in perfect condition is $47,025 vs. $ 23,40 0 five years ago. For one in drivable and generally good condition, but not perfect, the value is $ 29,188 vs.$14,500 five years ago.

An old faithful

The `first-generation' Broncos that Ford made from 1966 to 1977 are by far the most coveted.T he se wer e t he c o ol metal squares set high on big, knobby rubber tires, often with no top at all.

The pilot seats inside were vinyl, with a simple, minimal dashboard design, a straightforwa rd manua l, t h ree sp eed t ra nsmission on a short wheelbase and choice of rugged, 105-horsepower straightsix or (later) V8 Ford engines that made them notoriously easy to repair.They excelled at navigating uneven terrain and inclement conditions a n d we r e r e l at ively cheap (around $ 2,404) at the time. Ford made nearly 24,000 of them in the first year.

A good investment

Prices on these vintage jewels vary widely depending on their condition, age, the amount of miles on the engine and the amount of restoration they have had.

Hemmings lists a 1969 version in white, with pristine burg undy interior, for $115,0 0 0 ; Autotrader lists them for $ 2 7, 9 0 0 , $ 21,4 9 5 , $77,000, and everywhere in between. You can even get a ba re -bones one for less than $ 7,000 -though the likes of that require plenty of extra work.

O n e o f t h e bi g g e s t draws is their simplicity. Broncos are reliable .and easy to use, as far as vintage cars go

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...01022017301017

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by vinay kamath

Economic Times 01.02.2017
"How demand drives up the cost of $2,400 vintage car to $100,000"
Bloomberg


The first-generation Ford Bronco -----------SNIP-----------]

One of these, though probably not the first generation used to be parked in Sujan Singh Park car repair area till about 8 years back. In blue and white. At least I think it was a bronco. It was ginormous, but rotting away. The guy I used to go to over there told me nothing was being done on it.
Exactly here on maps:
28.602048, 77.228072

[ajmat]

Wheeler Dealers recently acquired and renovated a Bronco and made quite an obscene profit on it

[KartikeyaL]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...w/57089753.cms

Hindustan Motors sells Ambassador car brand to Peugeot

KOLKATA: Ambassador, the iconic Indian car brand that till less than a decade ago carried both the Prime Minister and the common man, is being sold to French carmaker Peugeot.

The C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors formalised the deal for Rs 80 crore on Friday. Production of Ambassador cars had stopped around three years ago.

"We have executed an agreement with the Peugeot SA Group for the sale of the brand Ambassador, including the trademarks... We intend to use the proceeds from the sale to clear dues of employees and lenders," a CK Birla Group spokesperson said.

To those who grew up in the 1960s and 70s, Ambassador wasn't just a car; it was an inseparable part of India's urban landscape.
The car's absence of looks was never in doubt. But in an era of limited choices, the spacious fourwheeler was the preferred choice for most Indians who could afford it. Even today for many, the car remains synonymous with memories of their fonder and younger days and a marker of a more innocent India.
It is not clear if Peugeot will use the Ambassador brand for its cars in India. A questionnaire mailed to the French company remained unanswered.
The Ambassador brand was introduced seven decades ago when Hindustan Motors launched the Morris Oxford series II (Landmaster) in a new avatar with minor changes.

[vinay kamath]

21 Gun Salute plans 3,500km rally in 2019; vintage car rally this Feb 17-19

http://www.hindustantimes.com/noida/...0Zo26MJqJ.html

[vinay kamath]

"Bengaluru had its first date with air show a century ago"
Chethan Kumar, Feb 20 2017 : The Times of India (Bangalore)

2 Pilots Brought Aircraft To City For The Event

As the curtains were drawn on the 11th edition of Aero India on Saturday, thousands who thronged the Yelahanka Air Force Station need to know that they are not the first patrons of such a show. In fact, they are not even the first generation.
Bengaluru, India's aviation capital, had its first date with an air show 106 years ago -February 3, 1911. Cricket hadn't become the religion it is today in India. The Chinnaswamy Stadium was a barren land, and parts of Bengaluru were still a functional cantonment.

While people from districts neighbouring Bengaluru had made their way back then to catch what the organizers had called a “miracle in the skies,“ Bengaluru's quest for the flying machines remained intact in 2017 with at least three lakh people reported to have visited the aero show.

In 1911, Jules Wyck and Belgian adventurer Baron Pierre De Caters were the two pilots who brought their aircraft to Bengaluru, for a show that garnered a huge response.“Police had been prepared to handle the crowd here, after things had gotten slightly out of hand in Kolkata,“ historian Vemagal Somashekar said.

If the elaborate preparations of the organizers a century ago are any indication, then it only shows that a lacklustre event, like the 2017 edition of Aero India -just 53 aircraft on display and four aerobatic display teams -may fail to garner similar response in the coming years. The fact that organizers did not reveal the right number of aircraft at Aero India 2017 is an indication that even they know it. When TOI enquired about the details of the show and the preparations in the run-up, Mayaskar Deo Singh, director, Defence Exhibition Organisation, the nodal government agency organizing the show, said: “An official release with the final numbers on participation and other details will be issued so that there is no confusion.“

The official release days before the show had claimed that the number of aircraft par ticipating would be 72, as many as the 2015 show, rated much better, had seen. Answering a specific question, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, however, had said on February 14: “There are 53 aircraft participating...“

Also, there are ways to watch the show for free, hundreds of citizens who stood with their cameras on terraces, the highway, some even got hospitality at villages around the air base.

But organizers in 1911 had figured out a plan for such free viewers. A poster in Urdu, issued by merchants and businessmen from the Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) area, reveals that the organizers, who had learnt that people would not buy tickets as they thought planes could be spotted even other wise, had organized the show in such a way that only those with tickets (worth 25 paise each) had a one-hour exclusive.

“...Between 3.30pm and 4.30pm the planes will fly at a height of just 30 metre which only the ticket holders can see. For a few minutes after 4.30pm, the planes will fly a little higher,“ reads a translation of the poster documented by the state archives department.

Mustafa Khan (mandi merchants, Ibrahim Sahib Street); Abdul Razak (businessman, Modi Road); Ibrahim Sahib (Meenakshi Kovil Street), Abdul Razak Sahib (steel merchant, Narayan Pillai Street) and Mastan Khan from Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) were the men who had signed off on the poster --they are an indi cation of how Bengaluru had a good trade set-up.

While TOI got a look at the poster, permis sion to take a photograph was denied. The poster, which has been sourced from fly.his toricwings.com, reveals as Somashekar had pointed out. Police had been ordered to patrol major roads leading to the venue such as South Parade Road (now MG Road), Brigade Road and Church Street and even in Cubbon Park.
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...20022017004033

[vinay kamath]

Statesman, Kolkata 25-02-2017

[vinay kamath]

About Iran's Arrow , a Film Show based on Paykan

[vinay kamath]

Video of Delhi international vintage car and bike show widely watched on Times of India website http://bit.ly/2kYQfk9
Old cars & bikes win hearts

[vinay kamath]

DH 27.02.2017 Statesman Rally