[shreyasma]

Thats bad mate! any more information on what exactly happened?

[abhishek_bmw]

Actually we lost connection with our grand uncles(Brothers of my grandpapa).If anyone accidently found here,who can enlight about what actually happened with the car,or rather knew my grandpapa,with that expectation I am posting this picture.
He had another car,a Chevi-I dont know about that too.
Another rare to find collection,a Baby Austin was also belonged to him.

[Rotorhead]

Pardon my ignorence , but what is that car in the picture.

[abhishek_bmw]

Ford Cabriolet, beige 1936

That model is selling on a site, 1936 Ford Cabriolet - Used Ford Cabriolet for sale with 0 miles
Anyone knows,how to import such car?or what will be the end price,after paying all cutom fees?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

Pardon my ignorence , but what is that car in the picture.

The car appears to be a large(ish) Morris tourer of the 30s.

[*VT*]

Oh, Its really sad to hear that this beauty is not no more.
BTW,Do you own any other vintages currently?


VT

[abhishek_bmw]

Are you sure its Morris?I dont have the papers of that car.He had some business relation with Ford.So,I guessed it as a Ford one.But actually,Beige has some difference with the car in Question,particullarly the side lamps,I thought,he made some mods,he had beutiful craftman's hand.
No @ VT,sorry to say,my fathers view is that,old cars are rubbish one.
So,there is a generation gap.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

A real treat this time

Attachment 154971

This picture was graciously forwarded to me by fellow numberplate enthusiast sabinesnubbing.

It appears to be a (rather stylish) Škoda bus plying the streets of Bombay (Gowalia tank route) in the 60s/70s. What's more interesting is it appeared to sport roof mounted cabling like a tram. A little googling tells us this is a 'trolley bus' that ran on electricity. Does anyone remember these, and whether there were more of them?

Bombay was such an advanced city at the time - wonder where we lost the plot.

Ka

This was the first Škoda to set tires on Indian soil.

I used to enjoy traveling on BEST's electric buses in my childhood in the early 1960s. Gonna do some drawings of them some day. You'll be the first to get 'em.

The city of Bombay imported twelve Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybuses from Czechoslovakia in 1962.

A trolleybus is an electric bus powered by two overhead wires, from which it draws electricity using two trolley poles. Many cities around the world, still operate trolleybuses.

I remember having a close look at the 1962 Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybus. The year was 1964 and I was all of seven years old. My dad would go all the way to Gowalia Tank with me so I could ride aboard the trolley-bus. They made dads better back then. ;-)

The twelve Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybuses operated during my OLPS school years from 11th June 1962 until 24th March 1971. They operated on the route no. 48: Gowalia Tank to Nana Chowk to Bhatia Hospital to Tardeo TT to Bombay-Central to Nagpada to Saboo-Siddiqui college to Prince Aly Khan hospital to Dockyard Road and on to Mazgaon Docks. The route passed along very congested roads, so the trolley bus speed had to be kept much below its maximum; and a trolley-bus has to run at a good speed in order to be profitable.

I distinctly remember the questioning whine of the Škoda 9Tr as the electric motors spooled up.

Back in 1990, I had visited the BEST museum. Back then the museum was at the Kurla depot.

The curator of the museum told me, that miscreants would tug on the ropes, bringing the current collectors down, and then they would run away. The bus would be instantly disabled. The bus conductor would have then have to disembark, walk to the rear of the bus, tug on the ropes to bring the collectors down and reposition them on the overhead cables. Was a nuisance and the BEST staff resented the buses for that reason too.

Naturally, the service did not do brilliantly. The electric buses would go out of order repeatedly. They were finally withdrawn on 24th March 1971 in favor of ordinary buses.

The interests of the petroleum industry prevailed and the electric buses were finally withdrawn in March 1971.

Sad. They were energy efficient and environment friendly at the same time.

As any engineer knows, the torque of a series-wound electric motor is unbeatable. That's why they're used in electric railway freight locomotives that can pull 60-70 freight trucks at a time.

And they continue to do well in cities in the developed world.

Ram

PS. Gogi and I visited the BEST bus museum at Anik in August 2008, one year ago. We saw a beautiful scale model of the 1962 Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybus. That scale model was provided by Škoda in 1962 to BEST.

The Mumbai SCOMI Monorail yard is going to be built at Anik this year.

[predatorwheelz]

Hi Abhishek,

Glad to see another Kolkattan vintage car enthusiast on the forum. Welcome to TBhp.

As for the car you've posted, its definitely a Morris Tourer. The 1936 Ford Cabriolet was altogether a larger car and quite different looking (see attached pic). Are you sure about the info?

It may be possible that your Grandpa also owned a Ford Cabriolet, but this is not the car.

We'd be glad if you have any more pictures to share with us.

(Source - Old Car and Truck Pictures, Memory Lane)

[karlosdeville]

Thank you Ram for your valuable insights.

Originally Posted by Ram

This was the first Škoda to set tires on Indian soil.

PS. Gogi and I visited the BEST bus museum at Anik in August 2008, one year ago. We saw a beautiful scale model of the 1962 Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybus. That scale model was provided by Škoda in 1962 to BEST.

I wouldn't call it the first Škoda to set tyres on Indian soil, that honour would probably go to a Laurin & Klement of the early 1900s, shot somewhere near the Himalayas. Shall post the picture over the weekend, don't have it with me right now. There are a fair number of Škodas from the 40s surviving in India, including a 47 model of BHPian veldeep in Pune.

Could you take any pictures of the scale model?

[abhishek_bmw]

Thank you very much for the warm welcome.Here,this one this Chevy,it is clear from the Emblem.This shot was taken at Rangoon,Burma.
Yes,from his letters,I know that he had a Chevy,a Morris,An Austin and a Ford.He describes his passion for the Ford in this way ..."it just took its place in my heart next to my Darling(my late Grandmom),its handels and pedals are so soft to hold,just like her hand..."

[harit]

Originally Posted by Ram

Ka

This was the first Škoda to set tires on Indian soil.

I used to enjoy traveling on BEST's electric buses in my childhood in the early 1960s. Gonna do some drawings of them some day. You'll be the first to get 'em.

The city of Bombay imported twelve Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybuses from Czechoslovakia in 1962.

And they continue to do well in cities in the developed world.

Ram

PS. Gogi and I visited the BEST bus museum at Anik in August 2008, one year ago. We saw a beautiful scale model of the 1962 Škoda 9Tr electric trolleybus. That scale model was provided by Škoda in 1962 to BEST.

The Mumbai SCOMI Monorail yard is going to be built at Anik this year.

Nice detailed write up on these Skoda buses. As usual, some sort of apathy and lack of proper planning led to their demise. We are experts at this, see the Worli Bandra sealink, approach at both end is a mess because of lack of planning.
There are definitely vintage Skoda's in India. There were open sports tourers in Mumbai, Lucknow and one in Bangalore. Then there was another sedan in Delhi. And later Skoda's of the communist era were also seen, some will be lying around.

[predatorwheelz]

Interesting, thats a late 20's Chevrolet Tourer. Its also fitted with artillery wheels (unlike the normal spoke wheels this car came with). There is a 1927 Chevrolet Tourer being restored at Rahul Sircar's garage in Kolkata

Just an arbitrary thought. WW2, Rangoon, cars with artillery wheels - was your grandpa in (or associated with) Netaji's INA in any way?

[StarVegabond]

Hi Abhishek, one thing i can tell you

Your Grand pa was a very rich man
he owned 4 cars in 1940s !!!, you should be proud of him.

thanks for sharing,

[harit]

Originally Posted by Stanher

'found these really nice pics. of mostly Bombay (colour and BW) circa 1978 on flickr.
...
...
...

Well, these pics are not so old as the BW pictures which we have been seeing.
The golden/white car is a Ford Fairmont havinf a V6 engine. Incidently I own that car now. She was abandoned at Wellington Mews and had to be sold before the place was being demolished.

The cabs waiting for a fare seem to be actually standing at a signal, moving from Churchgate on to Marine Drive.

The rear seems to be a stationwagon of the Hillman Minx types, but certainly not a Farina.

That is not a R16 outside the Fort, this is a smaller car and later model. Will have to google because it is not a memorable car in any way. Not famous and not infamous.