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 |