[RS01]

What a nice topic! Glad that the technology is ever evolving and vehicles have significantly upgraded in the past decades.

I fondly remember soft top jeeps from yesteryears with no doors. Additionally, there were small little black flap doors near the accelerator pedal for more air. For hard top jeeps, arrangements could be made for the windshield to open up slightly for fresh air by turning levers at the sides (don't know if that was standard or aftermarket but our Jeep and many others at the time had this facility). Bench seats allowed one to carry people and luggage all at the same time.

You could hear the engine crying from more gears in the 3 forward + 1 reverse gear combination.

Another thing I'm happy to have changed is that the average speeds at highways have increased significantly with the slow old trucks and buses gone and the roads becoming better.

Talking of trucks and buses, if I'm allowed to broaden the horizon of the topic a bit, I clearly remember my school bus driver sweating it out through the city without a power steering. He needed help from an attendant if he ever needed to shift to reverse on the huge gear lever sticking from behind the engine cabinet.

On two wheeler side, tilting the Chetak to one side before start, broken clutch wires every now and then, kick starting a Kinetic Honda on cold days are some of the things I'm glad are no more there.

[monster2]

I think there are list of things that come to my mind from 118NE to Maruti 800

1. Carburettor and jets
2. Points and condenser
3. Charging dynamo not reliable
4. Self starter carbon brushes give up without a sign
5. Rattling air filters( some even use to burst if they were lpg converted cars)
5. Seat springs
6. The window beading had to be replaced often if the car was parked in sun.

I love the way automobile industry have evolved over time overcoming the above.

[Iksvaku]

This is a great discussion! Thank you, GTO!

I used to live in the tea gardens of Assam. My parents were passionate about touring by road and I have been travelling to different parts of India since 1966, in the Landmaster/Ambassador (different models, across the decades), until 1988. I have continued to do so, in more modern cars.

There is no doubt that modern cars have made life much easier. Once-a-year maintenance, minimal regular checks, higher-output and more efficient engines, much better brakes, the hop-in-and-go ability for long drives etc.

My comments below are in response to observations of other forum members and are based on highway and cross-country travel (all over India, Nepal and Bhutan) in the Ambassador.

• Our optimum (fuel consumption versus travel time) long-distance driving speed was 70kmph. The average speed would be 50kmph. We would drive from 06:00 hours to 15:00 hours (or less).

• We never had the problem with overheating.

• When we were posted in Darjeeling, we used to drive the Ambassador up an extremely steep incline (3rd gear + 4-wheel drive in our 1956 Land Rover), even with full load when we were returning from one of our tours. The only problem was holding the car on that incline, when faced with opposing traffic.

• Yes, we did carry a full set of tools, hoses, belts, fuses, spare oils, distilled water, a 20 litre jerrycan of fuel, towing rope, an extra spare tyre etc. I do not remember using anything other than spare tyres, on two punctures in 22 years!

• Since we changed to new models every three years, I do not remember rust being an issue.

• Servicing on a monthly basis was the norm, so it was not an inconvenience. Living in remote areas, our cars used to typically run 30,000 km per annum, being sold after they crossed 1,00,000 km.

• Yes, there were no safety measures, yet we never had any accident injuries due to the solid build.

• A single IRVM was the norm, so we never missed ORVMs.

• Smoke from the exhaust was not an issue if the car was maintained, except on cold starting.

• Fuel consumption was extremely variable, from car to car, due to the fact that every Ambassador car was unique. There really was no concept of uniform quality. The standard was 12kmpl. One car, which we had in the 1980s used to give us 17kmpl! Please note that our use was 100% open road driving.

• The bench seats were also of variable quality, from car to car, ranging from extremely soft to extremely hard. Yet, we were used to spending up to 9 hours a day in it without getting off as cripples!

• Starting was never an issue. Even when we were in Darjeeling, where the Land Rover was the regular car, it was my job to run the Ambassador engine every morning for 15 minutes. The process was to use the starting handle for 20 turns (I used to treat it as a part of my exercise regimen :-), then pump the accelerator and start the car.

• Only the first gear was not synchronised. We did not need to double clutch, though it was fun to do so!

• Swallowing petrol while clearing fuel line blocks is something I really do not miss!

• Manual steering was a workout only at low speeds. Since were in an open road environment, steering effort was not an issue.

• We never had a problem with reliability on our long drives. Small issues, such as fuel line blocks and distributor cleaning were all on local drives.

• Standard checks for oil, water and tyre pressure was done daily. Most of the maintenance would be done at home, weekly. After converting to modern cars, it took me a long time to stop opening the bonnet every day or checking tyre pressure weekly (once nitrogen was introduced).

• Painting the upper half of the headlamps black was only done at wartime.

• In the 1980s, we were posted in the hills and the virtually non-functional hand-brake of the Ambassador demanded the development of right-foot skill in lighting quick shifts from brake to accelerator.

• Changing tyres was a challenge! My mother used to time me and my record was 7 minutes.

• Central locking was not an issue as we never locked our car unless we went out of the state on a road trip. The moment we crossed our home state border “lock the car” became my father’s constant refrain at every stop.

• The high-beam/low-beam switch on the floor beside the clutch was actually quite convenient. In-between, the switch became a pull-push one on the centre panel (can we really call it a dashboard?) which was quite tricky to operate in high-speed (80kmph, in those days) night driving on the highway.

• Child locks existed! As far as I remember, all our cars had child locks on the rear doors.

• The requirement for a full-car check-up before a long tour is definitely not missed. Please note that (local) regular airport trips for us was of 220kms.

• Load capacity was at a different level. I have crammed up to 12 friends into it on a short trip within Kolkata. In one of our postings, Ambassador taxis used to run with both the left doors and the boot open. Five people in the front, six in the back, three people out of each left door and four people in the boot.

[GrammarNazi]

Growing up, we used to have a Premier 118NE. The car had wire-spoked mag wheels bolted with the kind of lug nuts which needed a really high quality allen key, because those lug nuts would be SO tight to open that tyre-mechanics' allen keys would break if it wasn't made of very good quality iron. It used to be a royal pain incase of a puncture.

The wire-spoke type wheels looked absolutely brilliant though, especially those days it was something unique, and they were mighty tough too!

It's a blessing that so many the things that go into building a car are so very standardised now. Back then it could be quite a task to find a mechanic who knows how to work on that particular model & considerably shot up the cost of maintenance of old cars.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Better brakes...

Back in the day the term brake failure was so common because of the brake line going kaput ever so often...

Partly also because often their vacuum-servo used to be quite inadequately small/ill-designed.

[kosjam]

Our first diesel car, the indica v2, had a glow plug that had to be warmed up before starting the car, it was obviously religiously carried out, to ensure a clean start.

6-7 years later, it was replaced with a petrol SX4, and the practice was stopped as there was no glow plug.

Another 7 years later, the SX4 was replaced with a diesel S-Cross, and low n behold, no need to warm up the engine with a glow plug anymore!!!

Technology upgrade? or maybe just better engineering and higher compression ratios.

[amitayu]

Oh Boy!!

Reliving the days of owning an Amby Mark-IV.

A. Back then, you had to get off a car, then physically roll up every window, and then lock each of them separately after parking.
To start, you had to roll down every window manually to ensure ventilation.

God, I love central locking and power windows!

B. sucking oil to start a car? it always spoiled my appetite for the day.

C. Tight parking a amby without power steering = free gym workout! Thank God we have power steering.

D. All switches on the central console was a pain. One had to take off the eyes from the road to even turn on the headlights!

E. BUT, I miss the steering mounted gear lever. I somehow was more comfy with that.