[nura]

A beautiful coincidence, lovely pictures & an appropriate song for the mood.
Narrowly missed out on owning a Premier Padmini many years ago. Our bid fell short by a couple of thousand. My wife & I were miserable for weeks.

[inreverse]

Bikes (all of 'em sold)
=================
1987 : Yamaha RD 350
1998 : Kawasaki KB 125
1999 : Suzuki Shogun
2001 : Hero Honda CBZ
2003 : Hero Honda Splendour


Cars
========================
1999 : Maruti Suzuki Zen (Sold)
2000 : Maruti Suzuki Esteem (Sold)
2001 : Ford Escort (Sold)
2002 : Tata Safari (Sold)
2003 : Toyota Qualis (Sold)
2004 : Toyota Corolla
2007 : Skoda Laura
2007 : Mitsubishi Pajero
2009 : Fiat Linea 1.4

[sunil_k_u]

The folks here wrote great write-ups about their previous cars. here goes mine..

My first car was a Toyota Corolla 1.8 XLi Fully Automatic - but that was in the Midle East. This is the car on which I mastered (?) the art of driving. (In those countries, by the time you get a driving license you need to be good at driving anyways. otherwise you never pass the driving test). I drove to many places in that including to the airport to pick my wife who joined me after mariiage. This is the car that's very close to me (of course the same applies to my wife as well - she keeps reminding me about the same whenever she get a chance) b'se of imotional and personal reasons. Of course that was a good car by performance as well. I sold it in 2008 in very good condition, when I relocated to India.

My current car is a Tata Safari 2.2Vtt Lx, happily motoring in it.

[sree70]

My small list

2Wheels
1988-Luna
1990- Herohonda
1994- Suzuki Samurai
2000- Bajaj Caliber
2009- Discover135 (presently held)
4Wheels
1999- Omni
2006-Omni
2009-Hyundai I20 (presently held)
I love all!

[Viraat13]

Wow. I just saw this thread and read through all 21 pages of it!

I guess I'll start with the 1st car my family ever owned. It was a Ambassador way back in 1959. My dad wasn't even born back then. Anyway that car got stolen in THREE days. And the waiting period for a new one was 6 months but since my Dada-ji was in a senior position in the govt he got himself a new one pretty fast. After that He owned countless Ambi's thanks to him working for the govt. I think he got maybe 12 different Ambi's over a few years. Once he retired he got a Premier Padmini and now a 800.

My dad's story, along with me in the later parts of-course. His 1st pair of wheels was a Bullet 350 that he built from army junk while he was in collage. Ran very well. He sold it for another Bullet because his had an annoying sound that he couldn't fix. The second one was a rip off and he spent a lot of time in the workshop with it. Finally sold that and took some money from Dada & Dadi and bought himself a brand new Yamaha RD350, the legend that was the fastest production bike for a long long time (and maybe still is in the under 350 CC category). He unfortunately had a near death accident in it and decided that things with 2 wheels are too unsafe.

And the stereotype that is that everyone's first car is a Padmini held true! Bought one that was 3rd hand and beaten to death, it ran well. Had a surprisingly peppy engine from what I remember (I came into the picture at this point. Circa 1992). (The peculiarity of all these Padmini's was that since the engines were assembled by hand they all varied a little. My Dada's Fiat never moved fast and it took ages to hit 50 but Dads on the other hand could have raced in a rally). The Padmini one fine day caught fire and whatever little insurance was claimed. He also had a 1956 Willy's Jeep during this period. It was his friends and he had gone to Moscow for 6 months so dad took care of it.

After that, my dad was in a fix. He didn't like the Maruti 1000 or the 800. Was tired of the Fiat & had been through too many Ambi's to buy one again. So we went in for a nearly brand new CONTESSA! It was bought fairly cheap. 2 years old with barely 15,000 KMS done IE the engine barely run in. It became a part of our family and forever a part of my heart on that fateful day, 15th Feb 1993. Life was good. Got salutes wherever we went, doors being opened for us, valets making lines to get the chance to park the car (none of them ever did!), people giving way on the roads and the stupid ones getting smoked out of their brains. Never having to stop at a police check post, laughing at people who used to say Bhai saab itni badi gaadi have, chalti bhi hai? and dad responding with Maruti 1000 dekhi hai na? Uske saath jode le Maruti 800. Uske barabar hai and watching the persons jaw drop.. & countless other things. The car never let us down. EVER. If it ever ran out of fuel, it was next to a fuel pump. Ever got a flat, it was next to a tire wala. Get the picture? We got the engine overhauled in 2000 after completing 200,000 Kms and did another 175,000 before we finally sold it in 2005. It was a sad day but I think I am going to buy one again and restore it with love.. I want it to be "MY" first car. Oh and in 2003 we bought a Opel Corsa Swing which we have till date and have no plans to sell any time soon because its great!!

Whew, that was one long post. I hope you guys enjoy the read just like I enjoyed reading every post on this thread!

[spadix]

Wow, so much history and nostalgia in one thread! I don't think our list can even hold a candle to some of the lists described here, but I'll try. I'm going to include vehicles that we didn't own but were asked to take care of at some point of time or the other because the owner relocated abroad or became too old to drive or temporarily didn't need the vehicle (while we did).

4-wheelers
-----------
1969 Premier - Dad bought this 3rd hand (if I remember correctly) in the late '80s. A lemon if there ever was one. He bought it for around 27k but maintenance over the next few years cost him 3 times as much. It gave us good service while it lasted but the experience wasn't memorable. My tasks were to fill the radiator with water and give the car a good polish and shine before every outing. Fun sometimes, frustrating some other times. To this day, Dad feels that he should have made a more prudent purchasing decision (wait a few months or a couple of years and buy a new vehicle first hand). We eventually sold it off in 1994 to someone who really liked the registration number.

Fiat 1100 - I don't know the model year, but my maternal grandfather and uncle bought this in 1980/81 and used it for a few years. Smooth jewel of an engine and awesome-looking car (loads better than the Premier we had). We were to look after it after uncle relocated to the US in '96, by which time it had begun to show its age. Original spares were also difficult to come by. There was a time when the headlamps stopped working and try as we might, we couldn't get them to work. Mom would then sit with a huge spotlight-style torch in the co-driver's seat and use that as a headlamp! We had it for hardly a few months and then sold it off.

Maruti 800 non-AC (carb., 4-gear) - Dad bought this in July 1998. Man, the quality and refinement, compared to the Fiats and Padminis, was unbelievable. The tiny one gave us stellar, reliable service. It could take any amount of abuse (read: payload, horrible roads) without complaint. No topping the radiator up with water either! I bought this car from Dad in May 2006 and used it for a further 4 years. This car enjoys a very special place in our hearts for a multitude of reasons. For Dad, it was his first new car. For me, it was the car I learnt to drive in and also my very first car. Nimble, peppy, frugal, smooth. I decked it up with an AC (mainly for Dad's sake) and once I bought it, with a nearly full-blown ICE setup which probably was overkill for its size. As per plan we were to retain this car until the wheels started coming off the axles but maintenance started getting expensive as the car aged. We finally sold it to True Value just this last month.

Tata Indigo LX - May 2006 to date. A hugely under-rated car, I feel this is the perhaps the best value-for-money sedan in the country even today. Well, the CS goes a step further, perhaps. The engine and dynamics may not appeal to people like us, but no one can argue with the loads of interior space (better than most in D-segmenters), the huge boot, the comfortable ride, the chiller of an AC, ease of ingress and egress for the old, and the economy and TCO. I would go so far as to call it the modern Amby. Tata Motors had a clear mandate in mind when they designed this car and I think they nailed it spot-on. So what if it's notorious as a cab. We've seen numerous Ikons, Accents, Logans, Fiests and even NHCs being used as cabs! I would never buy an Indigo, but to those of my friends looking for a strictly utilitarian, hassle-free Pt. A to Pt. B "big car" experience I have always recommended the Indigo (or CS).

2-wheelers
-----------
Bajaj Chetak ("square headlamp") - This was the first vehicle I remember from when I grew old enough to remember things. Dad bought this 2nd or 3rd hand and used it to ferry the three of us (Dad, Mom, me) around town. This workhorse was with us from the early to mid-late '80s. I remember the person who bought it from us saying he would have paid a higher amount if it was a round headlamp version!

TVS 50 XL - Mom needed a vehicle since public transport started getting a little inconvenient for her commuting needs. I think we bought it in 1986 and it stayed with us till 1992 or thereabouts, when Mom gifted it to our very loyal maid's son once he started his career as a professional photographer. I can't even begin to count the innumerable trips Mom made on this moped to drop me to and pick me up from school.

Bajaj Super 150 - My grandfather, who never owned a powered vehicle throughout his working career, bought this *after* he retired and immediately began touring the state with grandma in tow. Once this touring bug started to get out of hand (from his wife's and sons' perspective) the scooter was forcibly taken off him and we started using it. I don't remember who we sold it to or when, but this was the first geared vehicle I ever rode and boy, wasn't it really "Super"!

Kinetic Honda DX - "Two-wheeled Maruti" as Mom would call it. Purchased in November 1992 and let go of in September 2003. Butter-smooth, refined, powerful, swanky and still extremely flexible/reliable to carry on the TVS' duties. Perfect mix of style and substance.

Bajaj Pulsar "Classic" 180 - My current bike, which I purchased in September 2003. Very lightly used because of small commutes but it comes into its own on the highway. It's the first vehicle I purchased with my own money, so I have a soft corner for it.

Regards,
Spadix

[narendra.vw]

As I was growing up, I believed my father’s cars were my own. I used to love them. The first car I remember was a green Herald 10. My father had to travel a lot on business and I used to accompany him on my holidays. My father used to give me the steering wheel on straight roads and I used to feel the whole world was mine. The second car was an original Italian Safari with 1200 cc engine and original bucket seats.
In 1985, I came of age to drive and we had an Ambassador with 305 Matador diesel engine we put in. My first vehicle was a bike. BSA Falcon. I had a tape player fixed to it and it used to be the talk of the town. When I was in 4th year engineering, I built my own Willis Jeep, which was my first four-wheeler.
In 1990, we bought a Contessa Classic 1.8 GL. I think it had one of the best Isuzu engines. I traded my Jeep for a Gypsy. In 1992, I sold my Gypsy and bought a brand new Tata Mobile. At that time it was an eye catcher. I added A\C and a CD deck. When we went to Kanyakumari on our honeymoon in this vehicle, there were two things people were sighting. My Tata Mobile and of course the sunset.
In 2002, I bought a VW Golf, turbo diesel, and my father bought a Ford Escort.
At present, my father drives a Swift. I still have my Tata Mobile which I use on my farm. I also bought a Jeep Commander for the same purpose and I drive my ever loving Golf.

[unoczar]

2 wheelers:

silver pulsar (2001 i guess) (second hand) - i learnt riding on this!
black pulsar 2007 currently


4 wheelers:

previous-
learnt driving on our Mahindra MM540
Ford Escort white '97
Tata Safari grey '96 (i guess)
Maruti zen white
Tata Safari EX limited edition (dint use it as a tourer and got tired of it driving here in the city.)

NOW:

Maruti Swift 2006
Mahindra Scorpio 2008 mhawk green and white 2009
Hyundai i20 silver 2010

we still have that jeep (MM540), overhauled though!

[Visaster]

Well my first car was an amby, Second car also an amby, third car also an amby ( my Dad just loves it), then finally a new generation car a Santro, then Indica, Lately a swift. working my way towards a sedan in few months. Tough making the desicion

[aa_asif]

At home including dad's collection:

4-wheelers:-

Fiat 1100 '82 (Sold)
Jeep CJ3B '75 (Sold)
Amby Mark-4 '87 (Sold)
Maruti 1000 '94 (Sold)
Zen '95 (Sold)
Maruti Esteem '97 (Sold)
Ford Escort Orion'98 (Sold)
Tata Safari '01 (Sold)
Maruti Esteem VX '02
Mitsubishi Lancer SLXd '02 (Sold)
Hyundai i20 CRDi '10 (Delivery Awaited!! :-D )

2 Wheelers:-

Bajaj Chetak '85 (Sold)
Yamaha RX100 '89 (Sold)
Yamaha RX100 '93 (Sold)
Yamaha RXZ '98

Heavy Machinery :-

JCB 3DX '09
Eicher 10.90 '09

[buntydey]

Four Wheelers:
---------------
1. Fiat Premier Padmini (1978) - Sold
2. Maruti 800 (1997).
3. Maruti Swift (2005).

Two Wheelers:
------------
1. Lambretta Innocenti (1964) - Sold
My dad sold it off to a scrap dealer when I was studying engineering away from my home . I still repent the decision. Someday I will procure another Lambretta.
2. Bajaj Legend (1999)
3. Hero Honda Pleasure.

[troublemaker]

1992 KB100 (aka "troublemaker") - sold
1994 Maruti 800 AC-TG (family car) - sold
2001 Honda Civic LX (US) - sold
2002 Toyota Camry SE (US)
2010 Mercedes C300 Sport 4Matic (US)

[libranof1987]

ah! well..

maruti suzuki 800 std. (1996) - sold.. splendid memories associated with this one.. in 8 years, had clocked 80k km.. dad got it from his company when I was 10.. every weekend meant a drive to sinhgad, panshet or mulshi.. taken her all over maharashtra and goa.. it was a huge thing! learnt driving on this one.. took it to school in 9th and 10th without parents knowing it!
this car epitomized "simple is beautiful".. had no a/c or stereo in this car.. dad rarely drove it beyond 60km/hr.. but memories abundant!
this car was quite an obsession.. I remember my dad taking it to the best service station in Pune which was 20km from home for something as small as changing a bulb to getting it serviced.. For the entire time we had it, I remember cleaning it every weekend without any concern for the amount of water I used and checking if every bulb worked!

maruti suzuki alto std (2004) - sold.. had it for barely a year..

maruti suzuki zen lxi (2005) - the 1st international car we had.. the 1st a/c car! during the 800 days, zen was THE dream car! still going strong..
this one is the 2nd zen launched (the one before estillo).. the original zen is the classic!
love this car for the engine firing sound at idling..

opel corsa 1.4 sail (2005) - the beauty I drive now.. rock solid and the 1st luxury (read : more than typical maruti standard) hatchback..

honda city SMT (2010) - the 1st sedan.. and WHAT a car! it's still sinking in!

[vgsr]

The first vehicle we got, was a brand new vespa 150 in 1966. It cost all of Rs 1500 or less. it stayed on the front portico of the house , untouched for over a month as my dad did not know how to ride it. By the time he learnt, he had fallen off a few times and scratched the sides of the VESPA.
We then got a 1963 3rd hand FIAT. 1957 model , with the front door opening from the front.That was actually a good idea, making entry and exit rather easy.. That was in 1970. That cost my dad rs.7500 The cars wiring was in such bad shape, that the wiring would smoulder often and it caught fire atleast twice. I used to be really scared of getting into car for long rides.
We sold that got a brand new FIAT in 1973, in brown. That car cost all of Rs18500 OTR.
I had just turned 18 and remember driving it to PREMNATH motors , Delhi for its first service and getting gypped. It cost us over rs800, a princely sum for checking out the brakes. My dad was furious.
1973 was a landmark year when i got the first vehicle in my name. , a bajaj 150 in a bright orange color. I had not ridden a scooter before and my first drive was on my own stead from the showroom to the house. That scooty cost RS 2500 OTR. No freebies. I had to but my own mat and grips for the accelerator and brakes. Those were the days of of the licence raj and all consumers were at the receiving end. The car/scooter manufacturers and dealers were doing us a favor by selling us their stuff.

That was with me thru my college years, and till I got my job. I went to Gujarat and my dad promptly sold off my scooter without telling , me for Rs 4700. I kicked up a huge fuss. So he spoke to someone in BAJAJ and got me another new one in 1978. I had to pay for this one myself, as i was earning by then. That cost me Rs5500.

Then i got married 1980 and my dad gifted me a 2nd hand AMBY. that was the worst possesion I ever had. I used to spend more on maintenance than on petrol. Finally after struggling for 2 years , i sold it and gave the cash to my dad.
Then in 1985 when my son was born, , we didnt get tickets to travel back to Gujarat from bangalore. So, i bought a 2nd hand 1969 FIAT in bangalore and drove it to Gujarat. Wow, what a car. Relatively trouble free, that car used to give me an amazing mileage of over 15 kms on the highway and 10 in the city. Not common for vehicles ion the 80's.. I bought it for rs 30000 and sold it in in Hyderabad in 1987 for rs 33000 when I bought a maruti van ,. The FIAT had done several trips like, Bangalore to Baroda, Baroda to Udaipur, and Mumbai, and finally from Baroda to Hyderabad.

The Maruti was a class apart. and the van was fun to drive. It cost 57000 OTR I have driven from Hyderabad to kanya kumari and back over 14 days and from Vizag to bangalore several times. Then my wife learnt driving and took over the van and I was back to my bajaj.
But having driven the maruti , i wanted a 4 wheeler back. So I bought myself a maruti 800, the very next year in 1988. By that time the prices had gone up and this one cost me Rs 78000. I had both these vehicles for over 10 years.
The TATA dealer in Hyderabad was a buddy and I had my eyes on the SIERRA. he gave me a hefty discount and I got myself a white SIERRA. I had a whale of a time with it That was 1998 and this one cost over 5 lacs. I have done Hyderabad-Bangalore in less than 7 hours in that car
In 1999, I changed jobs and my office gave me a MARUTI ESTEEM !!. That was the height of my ambition , then,. i found we had 4 cars for the 2 of us. So we sold off our maruti van for Rs 55000 .Not a bad deal. Till the turn of the century, one could easily , buy a car, use it well and resell for the same or higher price ! Not like today, where the car value drops 10% when you drive it out of the showroom.
Meanwhile i shifted to delhi , my office had upgraded our car entitlement and I was now eyeing the HONDA CITI,
The big diesel was not being used and very very reluctantly my head ruled over the heart and I and I sold off the SIERRA .
In delhi I frll in love and bought home the Honda CITI in 2001 march. Absolutely brillliant car. The stance, the looks, ... . I really enjoyed that one. As we had compulsory upgrades as company policy, i had to buy a new one in 2005, by which time I was in Chennai.

After evaluating the OPTRA and the ELANTRA(the skoda guys were totally not interested in showing their OCTAVIA) . i plumped for the ELANTRA. The decider was the rear leg space and the fully loaded cabin.I have never regretted that decision. In my opinion, the ELANTRA is one of the most under rated cars and under marketed and undersold by Hyundai. I still have this one and planning to sell this.
In 2002, my wife wanted and upgrade and we sold off her maruti 800 for 70000 and she got a PALIO 1,2. i must say i am quite disappointed with its driveability. I know lots of people swear by it , but i have never bonded with the palio , like I have with my other cars. I must confess its never given trouble and behaved well on the highways too. But I found it boring, the turning radius too high, the steering is too hard and car itself is too noisy.. Its still there due to my sheer inertia.
Now on to my latest... I bought myself a chevy CAPTIVA LTZ AWD on 3rd Nov 2010.I have posted a thread on the first drive header. I havd decided to take a early retirement and indulge myself in all my passions, driving being one of them. I had planned on buying a SUV and drive all round the country.
I like the feel of the captiva , its roomy interiors. I find its acceleration quite stunning and I am enjoying the feel and the honeymoon right now.
So now i have the pali, the elantra and the captiva.
Palio will be upgraded to either the i10 or something from the maruti stable

[shk 8896]

Cars
Do not know which year.Bought pre owned Premier Padmini (Fiat 1100) My fiat love.White in color. Parted away from us in 2002.FCB is very nostalgic thread.
2002 Indica V2 DLE-Nice car .I was loving the rear seat and the space.Stead Violet was the color.Bid away in 2009.
Then came 2009 Ritz DDiS VDi.Bakers Chocolate is the color. Our current car.Love it and love it more.
2 wheelers
Bajaj Chetak -sold
Kinetic Honda -sold
LML freedom -sold
Hero Honda Glamour -2007
TVS Scooty Pep -2006