[john a milne]

Re the 1942 Ford Jeep.
I thought I should add that it was restored by P. K. Chowdhury, a low profile Collector/Restorer.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by wasif

Nice pictures John. Keep them coming. I am very keen on seeing pics of the Lancia engine.

A half picture till others post proper ones.

Sutripta

[harit]

Originally Posted by john a milne

Yes the Cars in Calcutta have tended to be embellished unnecessarily and it's been my mission here as a semi-purist to encourage them to "de-clutter" their cars. "Less is More" and I am pleased to see some progress. There has always been a serious competition amongst the bigger collectors as they vie for Trophies and that has resulted in the current state.

I've mentioned this in response to your comments that the two MGs "were not authentic". I've watched these cars being restored using only MG after market parts The MGA had been previously owned by Shashi many years ago and now is part of his own collection as is the TC.

Both these cars if shown in any North American MG Concourse Competitions, I would expect that they would be judged as 99.+pt. Cars.

Dear John,

As I have always maintained, the finish of the cars restored in Calcutta is fantastic. To add to that, there are so many restorers over there with quality output. On that I am sure many will agree.
Where we disagree is the extend of accessories. There are just too many. While the MG A is in reasonable limits, the white TC has gone overboard. You mention aftermarket parts. Well, let me inform you that in my young formative vintage years, I have seen dozens of MG's, some were used as daily drivers, others were in pasture. But they were as they were, not dolled up.
Now let us look at the white MG TC.
Twin exhaust pipes?
Twin stepneys?
Created country plate holder?
Wire mesh grill? All MG's I know had vertical slats.
Twin horns and twin spotlights? All MG's I saw had a single horn and a single spotlight.
Padding on top of the door? Never seen that before.
Two extra small meters on the right.
Those Brooklands type small screens. Yes, they were indeed an accessory, but I had NEVER seen them on an MG before 1990.
Two side rear view mirrors. Excessive accessory, maximum one side would have been enough.

The green MG TC you have shown is much more original looking at these pictures.

Since the car is so dolled up, I thought that more could have been added. Missing accessories could include bonnet straps and another stepney on the bonnet. And why not a luggauge rack behind the stepneys? And a "blower" in the front. It would need a blower to carry all that extra weight.

The accessories are excessive, no longer would it matter if the car had an MG engine or another engine, say that of a Stanher.

This sort of excessive decoration went on in Pebble Beach till they realised the error in their ways.

Please do not take offence, please try and appreciate what we are trying to say. When I was in college my friend had 5 MG's, in fact one came from Calcutta and another from Jaipur which were airlifted to Mumbai. And I got my 1st MG in 1981. They all looked different, rather plain. Now they suffer from an inferiority complex.

Cheers harit

[shamik.bose]

A friend of mine Soumya Rajat Mukherjee had taken part in the show on Sunday in a 1952 Morris and another friend had gone there to photograph. Couple of pictures from his side. He was mostly using his film SLR so will post more pictures once he gets the negatives scanned.
Picture courtesy: Rohitangshu Saha

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by harit

The accessories are excessive, no longer would it matter if the car had an MG engine or another engine, say that of a Stanher.

On another lighter note, should an MG with such an engine come up, I would consider taking the engine (only), but I cant promise if I can give an original MG engine in exchange for it! So the car may still suffer in originality aspects!

[IndrojitSircar]

Hi guys

sorry for my late reply on this event as i had no internet access so couldn't post.The evebt was a great success and i have taken a few pics of the cars on the judging and the rally.Will put them up shortly.Some clarifications firstly.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

IndrojitSircar's Citroen Traction Avant 15 SIX

The car doesn't belong to me however it was restored by my father.


Rahul Sircar's much photographed rear engined Mercedes 130H

Sir this car is also not owned but restored by my dad again.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Someone is going to have a fit!

Sutripta

I can imagine him seing this and going up in smoke.

Originally Posted by amit V8

t

@ indrojit sircar, your citroen looks nice.

Not my car again sir just restored.

Originally Posted by wasif

BTW the T-BHP team looks pretty nice as does the Citroen.....130 KMPH ??

Yes indeed it does go to 80 mph equivelent to 128 kmph.The car even at that speed wants to be driven faster but no such road to do so..

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

@Sutripta - Care to explain dada, why someone would have a fit?

Originally Posted by Sutripta

To explain that would mean getting into details which are best kept private. Ask Sparky, he can give you some details if he so chooses.

In retrospect, shouldn't have posted that.

Sutripta

The owner is really very possesive about his car and i am very certain that he would not like it being called someone else's car.By the way his name uis Mr.Shubrata Sen (Tipu sen)

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

John's Fiat

John's little beauty didnt take part. But after the show, all 6 of us piled up inside and went for a joyride. I drove!

Attachment 261765

Having owned a 72 Amby and a 90 Premier Padmini in the family, I didn't find it difficult at all to drive this little beauty. Only wish was for a longer drive, which I'm sure John will fulfill soon enough.

It was indeed fun for all of us to squeez into this car .

[wasif]

Indrojit they were saying you are 17 years old, that would mean you are not officially licensed to drive a motor vehicle but yet you have stated that you drove this Citroen at 130 KMPH.

Pray do tell how this came about, is it a good idea to drive a car without a licence on public roads and that too way above teh posted speed limits I might add and incidently in a car not very well known for its stopping power.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

• Lastly, Indrojit claims he took the Citroen to 130 kmph and the car was perfectly stable at that speed.

Aniket i confirmed that the car was taken to that speed on the AJC bose road flyover but I never said I took it to that speed.

Originally Posted by wasif

Indrojit they were saying you are 17 years old, that would mean you are not officially licensed to drive a motor vehicle but yet you have stated that you drove this Citroen at 130 KMPH.

Pray do tell how this came about, is it a good idea to drive a car without a licence on public roads and that too way above teh posted speed limits I might add and incidently in a car not very well known for its stopping power.

Hi Wasif,

They are correct about the age.By the way kindly go through the posts again because i have only confirmed that it was drive at 130KMPH but no where have i written or mentioned that I drove the car at that speed.I know what made you land up on that conclusion but that is not correct.There was a communication gap.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by wasif

Indrojit they were saying you are 17 years old, that would mean you are not officially licensed to drive a motor vehicle but yet you have stated that you drove this Citroen at 130 KMPH.

Pray do tell how this came about, is it a good idea to drive a car without a licence on public roads and that too way above teh posted speed limits I might add and incidently in a car not very well known for its stopping power.

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Aniket i confirmed that the car was taken to that speed on the AJC bose road flyover but I never said I took it to that speed.

Hi Wasif,

They are correct about the age.By the way kindly go through the posts again because i have only confirmed that it was drive at 130KMPH but no where have i written or mentioned that I drove the car at that speed.I know what made you land up on that conclusion but that is not correct.There was a communication gap.

Grow up guys!

I'm sorry for incorrectly quoting Indrojit. If I expected someone would start discussing underage driving on a Vintage Car Forum, I'd have been much more careful with what I write. FYI, I started driving around when I was 16, that too in a car that was 25 years old. Not a good idea at all!!

To set things straight, Indrojit told me the car was taken to 130 kmph, he never said himself. Not a communication gap between him and me, but a slip in framing the sentence. Happy now?

PS: Indrojit, dont take the Grow up sentence literally!

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Grow up guys!

I'm sorry for incorrectly quoting Indrojit. If I expected someone would start discussing underage driving on a Vintage Car Forum, I'd have been much more careful with what I write.

To set things straight, Indrojit told me the car was taken to 130 kmph, he never said himself. Not a communication gap between him and me, but a slip in framing the sentence. Happy now?

Hey Aniket

No problem at all.Its just that everything is discussed in detail here so no issues be careful next time or else the next thing i will see that i have been handed a chalan for underage driving .

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by wasif

Indrojit they were saying you are 17 years old, that would mean you are not officially licensed to drive a motor vehicle but yet you have stated that you drove this Citroen at 130 KMPH.

Pray do tell how this came about, is it a good idea to drive a car without a licence on public roads and that too way above teh posted speed limits I might add and incidently in a car not very well known for its stopping power.

C'mon wasif! This is India! Common to find lots of underaged drivers and even of age but w/o licence driving cars anywhere and anytime here!

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Aniket i confirmed that the car was taken to that speed on the AJC bose road flyover but I never said I took it to that speed.

Hi Wasif,

They are correct about the age.

Wow, holy smoke!!
Just 17 years young and a restoration expert already??! And going by your posts in the Vauxhall thread where you've been guiding me, I had assumed you were even older than me! I'm impressed!
Looks like you've received hands-on training at your dad's garage ever since your LKG days!!

[wasif]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Grow up guys!


PS: Indrojit, dont take the Grow up sentence literally!

Oh thats nice to hear ...you mean the above is ment for me !

Somehow along the way I stopped growing up and ai actually find it more fun this way !! You grow up you grow old !
Ok now what is this AJC flyover ?

[NOS Power]

Originally Posted by wasif

Ok now what is this AJC flyover ?

AJC Flyover is kolkata's longest flyover at 2.53 km length, its a 4 lane flyover which is arrow straight with just a slight bend, to the right on entry and to the left on exit both ways. Makes for good speed runs .

[john a milne]

Originally Posted by wasif

Oh thats nice to hear ...you mean the above is ment for me !

Somehow along the way I stopped growing up and ai actually find it more fun this way !! You grow up you grow old !
?

My fathers favourite comment was, "You can't stop growing Older, But you don't have to grow Old," which he kept saying until he was 85 years old and was every bit as old as I was at the time, and come to think about it, some times even younger.

What I enjoy most about this great Team-BHP is how it encompasses both young and old. Meeting "Sparkie", Indrojit on Saturday and the other members was such a pleasure and this is what this web-site is all about.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by john a milne

My fathers favourite comment was, "You can't stop growing Older, But you don't have to grow Old," which he kept saying until he was 85 years old and was every bit as old as I was at the time, and come to think about it, some times even younger.

What I enjoy most about this great Team-BHP is how it encompasses both young and old. Meeting "Sparky", Indrojit on Saturday and the other members was such a pleasure and this is what this web-site is all about.

It was indeed a great pleasure to meet everyone at the rally.Hope to see some pics of the tolly show.