Indigenous car prototype "Pingle" no longer on display

The prototype of India's first indigeneously designed and manufactured car - Pingle has gone missing from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore, where it was once on display.

The Pingle was named after Pingle Madhusudan Reddy, popularly known as PM Reddy, who designed and engineered the vehicle back in the 1950s. The prototype was developed in Hyderabad but was built by HAL. It was first showcased at an industrial exhibition in Hyderabad in 1956. Mukkaram Jah, the grandson of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan had proposed to setup a manufacturing facility to produce the Pingle. However, the proposal was rejected by the central government and hence, the Pingle never went into series production.

Back in the day, the low-cost Pingle was targeted at the lower and upper middle class families. It was estimated to cost around Rs. 4,600 before taxes, given that the company would produce 7,000 vehicles.

A 2-stroke, 2-cylinder, air-cooled petrol engine that produced 7 BHP powered it. Apparently, the engine and transmission had fewer moving parts and were built using highly automated machinery. The body of the car was made from reinforced fibreglass.

After the disappearance of the prototype from display, the family of the designer including PM Reddy's daughter-in-law have demanded that the car should once again be displayed in Hyderabad as a heritage and vintage automobile.

Source: The Economic Times