[theroadrunner]

What a fantastic topic to restart writing on TBhp! Our cars are extensions of our families and call it obsessive, it is really difficult to hand over our cars to even our best buddies for spin.
Our lucky charm is the 2011 Santro GLS - The Road Runner. I was looking to buy a Classic 350 our a used Ford Ikon when my dad advised to get a proper new car as we were expecting our first child. Well Hyundai Eon had just been released so I test drove that, right after that I paid the advance for Santro without even test driving it. As luck would have it, our daughter was born on 21st October and I took delivery of our car on 27th. Now every year we celebrate all our birthday's together as mine is on 18th. The Road Runner is the first vehicle I ever bought, my daughter's first car and my Dad's long cherished dream. Almost 10 years young and 88k on the odometer despite being out of country and state for 15 months, Road Runner is our lucky charm. A bit of history, my mom worked with a Hyundai+Bajaj Showroom and I still have the first souvenir - a scale model Santro with functional doors and her Boss was mighty impressed that I chose Santro as my first car. And more importantly, mom, wife and kiddo all swear by the simple yet functional Santro.
And glad that our love for our steeds are passed on to the next generation as this picture sums it all up:

[reinhardt93]

Good Topic!

Our family have had a slew of cars in Abu Dhabi. But ever since we returned to India due to some financial constraints, we were looking for a good and reliable runabout. Hence comes into the picture our 2011 Hyundai i20 Sportz 1.4 Diesel.



It has been a pleasure to drive it and has been our lucky charm ever since. Managed to get a job and support the family and still more yet to come.

Although it is due for a few maintenance related parts, I am now in two minds whether or not to let go of this car or keep it running till the end.

[Kochikaran]

How can I ever forget the good old rally bloodline black 2003 model Esteem that we have had for 17 years now. Has traveled with us from Vizag to Kochi to Bangalore to Tuticorin. This car was the one which dropped to my exam hall for 10th, 12th, engineering entrance and CAT. Aced them all and now it is resting in our garage, still can overtake like it has NOS. Learned to drive in this and travelled with 7 friends packed in it around the city and has been wedding car as well for my cousin’s wedding.

[Apex1815]

Interesting thread !

My Lucky charm is my current ride for daily commute i.e Grand i10 Sportz.

I had booked this car in the last week of December 2017 and coincidently it was delivered to me on the Day my Son was born i.e 30 Dec 2017.

[Ice]

Lucky? Try this on for size. This 1973 Amby - 0101 - was my grandfather's, and it was the car I came home in a week after I was born. After his passing, I have restored it and added some panache, and I drive it out on weekends. Over 600,000 km on the clock and 3 engine reboring, 0101 has never broken down on the road, or had an accident.

My son and daughter love this car to bits, too, and 0101 has been with us through thick and thin. 3 weddings (my mom and her siblings), 7 grandchildren's birth (my cousins and I, ranging from my 39 years to my youngest cousin's 20), my wedding, and countless landmarks.

The Matador Diesel engine is noisy, drinks oil, but torquey too. The torque served my grandfather well during while he served as the game warden in the Kalakkad - Mundanthurai forest range, often powering 0101 to places jeeps would baulk at. 0101 spent the best part of her years in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, crisscrossing South India with my grandfather and his driver, Narayanan. Narayanan incidentally taught me to drive on my grandfather's farm at 7, setting off a lifelong addiction to cars. The car used as the medium of instruction? 0101.

I hope to hold on to 0101 for many years to come. My Fortuner is also very lucky, and was bought the day my daughter was born. But that's a story for another day, because the Fortuner hasn't earned its stripes yet, with only 10 years and 1.5L km on the clock!

Leaving you with some pictures:

Lady in Red


The old look


The Pilot - Driver Narayanan, with my cousin


Col. Hathi earning its stripes as a viswasamaana vandi (translation: trustworthy car)


3 generations with 0101

[Cooltronics]

We have a similar aged Maruti 800, which has seen our family through thick and thin. My grandfather also travelled in this car proudly and so is my daughter
It was the first car my dad bought brand new and since then it has been integral part of our family.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Both the cars that I've personally owned have been lucky. My first car was a Nano, which was a hand-me-down and later bought outright from folks. My business kick started off when I had this car. So I consider this to be my lucky charm.

However, it was the WagonRs' homecoming which did turn out to be good for me. Financial and personal prospects went up like crazy in the little while that I had this car. Perhaps it was the number (totalled to 8 which is a lucky number for me) which did the trick and this was the reason why I had second thoughts about selling this car considering this very factor. Cedia's come home after that and it's too early to comment if this one's a lucky charm or a bad omen. Grandparents at home are already sulking about the car being black. Hoping that it doesn't turn into a bad omen. Fingers crossed.

On the other hand, one of the two Fiat Unos which my dad owned back in the day proved to be his lucky charm when he was at an all-time low in his life. Car has been through his thick and thin and eventually when he was doing well for himself, he refused to move away from the Uno. He stayed loyal to it for the better part of 13-years and eventually he was forced to sell it. Again, the number 7 did the trick (7567). As an anecdote to the Uno, we tried getting the same registration number for the Hexa in 2017 but sadly couldn't get it. So settled for a number that was close (5767). Touchwood, four years into the ownership and a lot of our investments have reaped next level returns with the incoming of the Hexa with the similar number. This could be another keeper solely for this very reason.

P.S: On one hand, we try to advance from superstitions like these but on the other hand, our upbringing and faith in the unknown doesn't let us move away from these :P

[TrackDay]

All my cars have seen me through my good and bad days alike. But one that would stand apart for me would be my bike, the Yamaha FZ-S I had back in college. To this day, I still consider the bike to be a lucky charm. I got the bike the day my first semester results came and I even got higher marks than I expected. From passing all semesters to having fun, rides and college drama, the bike was a lucky charm for me. I even went for my first job interview and first day of work on that bike. Later I had to get rid of it when I moved abroad.

Off-Topic : I have heard that certain folks consider Mercedes Benz to be unlucky/inauspicious, especially the film industry folks. Any light on that and what could be the reason ?

[gaurav.kokra]

I have to say that is thread is filled with emotions to the brim.

We have a 2006 Swift VXI (bought preowned in 2011) and 2013 Vento TDI (bought in 2018).

I would like to mention about the swift here.

My father was suffering from cancer at the point in 2011 because of which we bought the car so that it was more comfortable for him to travel around.

Sadly, my father passed away just 1 month after buying the car.

I really wouldn't like to associate the situation of my father's passing with the buying of the car, but the car has been extremely reliable in the period after my father's demise.

Post my father's demise, we have been on the rise emotionally as well as financially.

It has seen, untimely services, bad LPG station fillings, rash driving by different family members, huge suspension abuse, extremely bad rural roads, farm produce loadings, home furniture shifting, you name it and it has done that.

But I have to say it never ever gave up on us. It stood there beside beaten and battered but never let us down. Such situations and bulletproof reliability just makes you fall in deep love with your car.

We now drive the swift lesser due to it being in another city but even today, even after a period of sitting unused for 5-6 months, I feel proud in saying that she starts in a single crank.

I have mighty respect for the engineering involved in the G13BB engine.

Even if I think of selling it, it doesn't make sense both financially and emotionally