[Mpower]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

They rotated this transmission around the vertical axis by 180 degrees, so in the MInidor the transmission back faces front. Essentially the Matador's back is the Minidor's front. The engine then went behind the transmission. Then how did they get 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear ? Simple - the single cylinder engine crankshaft is made to rotate anticlockwise as seen from the back. As the transmission orientation is reversed, the gear shift pattern is also reverse of what we normally use in passenger cars. Normal 4th is 1st and vice versa but in this segment, it does not matter. It is an ingenious idea. They used to have a 499 cc vertically oriented IDI engine upto the year 2000. Due to Euro 1 coming in on 1 April 2000, they had to changeover to IDI engine which they oriented almost horizontally. They used to advertise that their emission norms were almost Euro 2, but they lost a lot of ground on account of poor fuel efficiency of the IDI engine (from 24 kmpl to 18 kmpl). Starting was through a dynastarter which operated the engine through the drive belt and then reverted to becoming a dynamo as soon as the engine started.

Thanks for the awesome insight. It is indeed pretty ingenious to use a Matador GB. But would'nt it be an overkill from a torque rating standpoint.

I guess there is one thing that is similar between the Minidor and the Porsche 911, the GB layout.

Did you mean, they went from DI to IDI after Y2K?

[trrk]

Hi directinjection,

> I think even the petrol version was called Matador.

No. I very definitely remember the 'Viking' in the front above the grill!

[suren181]

Could somebody add value to this thread by adding some pics. It'd be a great reference point for us to look out for some of these in our cities. Anyone with Pics?

[riteshpawar]

I have some photos of the Tempo Matador both Indian and the original that I have uploaded, lets await approval from the moderator

[Ashley2]

Now these fotos takes me to good old school days where I use these vans to go school!
Nice fotos

[riteshpawar]

Got some more Matador pics also the Viking Diesel .. these ones are killers !!

[Addy]

I just saw this thread, and it brought back my memories of how much I travelled in these Matadors. I used to go to school everyday in them, go for short picnics, Mysore. I think I have pics that I can upload.

[swiftdiesel]

One interesting observation when I travelled in a Matador van: this engine has erratic idling. When the engine is idling, it's RPM (me thinks) is so low that it feels like it's going to stop but then it continues to idle. Anyone has a technical explanation for this occurence? I'm just curious because the recent Force Traveller engine does not have that erratic idle. The idle RPM is steady.

[SPEED_DEMON82]

Aah sweet (rather sweaty) memories from those school days Dirty and dusty rear cabins with little air coming in, being driven through the narrow lanes of south mumbai dropping off friends and then finally came home ..... last. Took these almost for all days of my school life till the 5th Standard. After that i 'upgraded' to the Double Decker BEST Bus

Anyone knows if there are any decent Matadors in or around Mumbai/Pune?

[Sudarshan]

Something from my side to share

Bajaj Tempo Hanseat , few interesting things -- from the forgotten files












Sudarshan

Note for the BHP support : I could not find a place to post these pics , so posted here ,than creating a new thread . Please take appropriate action if needed

[Frankenstein]

Matador 305s were used in the Ambys. They had some serious torque period and would damage the petrol hand gear box.

The hill station crowd swear by the 305 engine since it pulls hard from low down .
There was also a 301 later version engine which was an improved 305 engine , any details on this?

Even in the Jeeps the 305 will beat the 307 and xdp4.9 with low end torque .

It has a distinctive clanking bell like sound .

The BMC england/HM trekker were useless up the ghats with 7 to 8 people .

[Ajaybiz]

Thanks Sudarshan for sharing the details, specially the engine specs are very useful, I found 4-5 Bajaj Tempo Hanseat near my house in home town and I remember they use to sound very similar to RD350, had plans to do something with these water cooled 2 stroke engines but just 15 BHP output is forcing me to think again.

[honeybee]

A couple of these Matadors can be found near my office area, still doing the same duty i.e. ferrying school children to and fro.

Re the hanseat, the three wheeled version, I found a few of them around Bhopal. Incidentally Bhopal also had a high number of jeeps on its streets.

[Sudarshan]

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

There was also a 301 later version engine which was an improved 305 engine , any details on this?

here it is , ( also from the forgotten files )

Originally Posted by Ajaybiz

Thanks Sudarshan for sharing the details, specially the engine specs are very useful,

Ah , ok , but all the thanks go to my better half , who finally allowed my library in the house

had plans to do something with these water cooled 2 stroke engines but just 15 BHP output is forcing me to think again.

I actually tried to do something too . I had bought an Hanseat engine from scrap some 20 yrs back . But my attempts failed & I sold it . Conclusion : some projects can not be completed just by getting carried away -- there has to be some substance , in Ideas & in applications

Sudarshan

[Sudarshan]

Another from my side , Might be interesting to people






This particular model attracted me




Sudarshan