[pramodpk]

My Father's Cars.

1. 1967 Model Ambassador Mark 2. He bought this car in 1982. It was converted to diesel in 1992. The BMC diesel engine lifted from a new ambassador was fitted in to it. This car was sold in Dec 2005.

2. 1991 Model Ambassador Nova- He bought this in Dec 2005. This was fitted with a Matador diesel engine. We later fitted AC in this in 2000. This car was sold in 2001.

3. 2001 Model Maruti Zen Lx - Bought as brand new in July 2001. Sold in 2006.

4. June 2006 to Present - Ford Fiesta 1.4 Exi Petrol. Bought as brand new. Covered 80K Kms.


I will also list my Grand father's cars.


1. 1960 model standard Pennant. Don't know the year when he bought this.

2. 1977 - 2000 - 1972 model Ambassador Mark 2 bought in 1977. I learnt to drive in this car. This was converted to diesel in 2003. It was fitted with a matador diesel engine. The body shape was changed to look like a Nova. An AC was fitted in to this car in 1994. This car covered almost 2.5 Lakh KMs with us. The car was sold in March 2000.

3. 1996 - 2009 - Maruti 800 Dx AC. This car covered 80 K Kms

4. 2001 - 2008 - Maruti Esteem Lx - This car covered 97 K Kms

5. 2008 - Present - Ford Fiesta Exi Petrol. He replaced the esteem with this.

6. 2009 - Present - Maruti Alto Lxi. He replaced the Maruti 800 with this

My grand father still drives.

[Torquedo]

As far as my memory dates back -

84 - 89 - The only chain driven scooter (the other one that I can think off is the Vijay Super) a Yellow Lambretta.

89 - 99 - A Bajaj Priya - 3 geared scooter, the smallest on the offering at that time AFAIK. The first 2 wheeler that I laid my hands on.

99 - 09 - Maruti Swift.

11 onwards - Ford Figo.

Happy Motoring !!

[AVR]

I grew up in a household where normal cars where rare sightings and I was the only kid in school who's dad came to drop/pick up in something that was not a maruti/fiat. Why? Continue reading...

1) Willys LHD Petrol (Green) - sold 1987 - used for weekend camping etc - I used to spend all my freetime in and around this Jeep!

2) Morris Minor (Light Blue) - sold 1986 - first and last attempt at teaching my mom how to drive

3) White Fiat (Everyone had it) sold 1989 - to blend with the crowd and do boring errands

4) Ugly Brown Fiat (Replacement) sold in early 90s - Mom insisted we have something to depict normalcy

5) Humber Super Snipe 1946 - Sold in mid 90s - Picked up from a barn back of beyond and restored to mint condition - now in the Pranlal Bhogilal collection - went for awesome Sunday morning rides in that

6) Plymouth Station Wagon 1950 - Sold in late 90s - Picked from a relative in mint condition and did long roadtrips in the Summers where I was usually sent with a jerry can for filling up a overheating radiator in the middle of nowhere!

7) 1978 Land Rover Series III 109" Green - Sold in late 90s - Ex-ambulance and then converted to a family-cum-luggage-cum-sometimes-a-cow transporter . My favorite vehicle. Learned to drive on it. Still obsessed with 4-wheel drives thanks to the Landy

8) 1994 Tata Sierra (White) - Sold in 2005 - Best looking car on our roads let down by the engine. Still have some wonderful roadtrip memories!

9) Maruti 800 (Diesel- yes correct!) Transplanted with a Daihatsu 3-cyl 1.0 and boy what a vehicle. Seated 4, touched 120 kmph and returned 25+kmpl. My idea of utopia in college. And also all my friends . Sold stealthily by Dad when he stopped seeing me at home for weeks together

So as you all see, normalcy was a rare experience. Today when I look back at it and remember him, I think I experienced something awesome! A guy who loved his vehicles and to quote him: "I don't care how late you come at night, I want my car in the parking before I sleep". If I am a motorhead of sorts today, it all thanks to this "odd" childhood!

Cheers,
Adi

[the VTEC guy]

This is what I can remember of-
Dad drove many enfields, yezdy and rajdoot that were loaned by the organisations he worked with.
Got his first vehicle a scooter - Sky blue LML Vespa
Sold it and got a CD 100 SS and a TVS scooty
First car in family was a second hand Premier Padmini
All of above are now sold.

[Velmurugan]

This is a lovely thread to relish my old memories.
My dad had an Ambassador, Mark-II, 1972 Model,Petrol.
This was bought as a second hand car from the Pudukhottai Maharaj family.
Its just basic model, no A/C. no Music , no power steering etc. In fact it had a slot, provision to hand crank the engine in case of battery failure.
This car was my first learning car.
We sold this one in 1997 & bought the Maruti OmniE.
Thats it. Not many car.
On the Two wheeler, My dad owned the Vespa Scooter 150cc!
Photos will upload later......
Those were the good old days........

[Aditya666]

My dads cars, don't remember the dates but remember the cars very well:

1991 Maruti 800 DX. Purchased new when dad got married.
2 Contessas, one with the rectangular headlamps and one with the round ones.
1986 Standard 2000
1967 Merc Fintail
Maruti Esteem
Opel Astra
Zen
One jeep, don't remember which.
2001 Daewoo Matiz. Our next brand new car.
2004 Skoda vRS. Purchased on Dhanteras of 2006 in exchange of the Matiz. Loved that car.
2004 Opel Corsa Sail 1.6. Still have this car and its done less than 30000km in 7 years!!

In Dubai,
2007 Merc E200k Silver. Sold in 2008
2003 Merc ML 350 White. Sold in 2009
2008 C200k sold after 3 months. Reason, underpowered and small.
2005 VW Touareg V6 after almost 9 months of searching for a good full options example. Sold that in 2010.
December 2010, we buy a 2009 Merc ML350 Black. Still have this.
And we also have a 2007 VW Golf Plus 1.6 which we bought in 2008. This has served us when we haven't had a second car as it is primarily my mums car.

[Lazy Driver]

Ah, the good old days. I remember the following:

1. Vespa PL 170- Vespa tied up with UP government or something like that and produced this peppy little scooter. I remember we had the one red in color and unfortunately, it was seen more at the local mechanic than our house. The engine sound was a cute little purr. To think of it, I am not sure if it was a 4 stroke engine back in those days?

2. Bajaj Super- Hamara Bajaj- My brother got a job at Tata Steel and took Vespa scooter with him. Dad bought a Bajaj Super- the bestselling scooter of those times. It went on and on.

3. Bajaj Super Excel- A reiteration of Bajaj Super. It was of dark green color and I learnt riding on it. It was given away to someone a few years ago.

4. Maruti 800- Our first tryst with a 4 chakka. It was white, it had an AC and it had a music system as well. The best luxury we could afford back in the day.

Dad now drives a Scooty pep, he is old and doesnt like to drive around much. His sons drive a Prius,Honda Odyssey & Honda City. I wish his grandchildren "learn to drive" just the way some of us "learned horse-riding".

[Enobarbus]

My dad was born into an agricultural family, but had no interest in the family occupation. He tried his hand at various things with little success. he had the following vehicles at various times during his many careers:

1. Humber cycle
2. Lambretta Scooter (bought second or third hand)
3. Bajaj Chetak Scooter(bought new)
4. Army discard Nissan Patrol GP

He was mystified as to why the Nissan was labelled "Patrol" while the engine actually ran on Diesel. I told him that I suspected that "Patrol" probably doesn't refer to the fuel used because the spelling is different. It never occurred to the two of us geniuses to refer a dictionary. Instead, we used to put this question to the people in the motor field (mechanics, drivers etc) whenever we met any of them. They came up with some very funny answers. The most convincing answers according to us were:

1. In Japan, Petrol means Petrol and "Patrol" means diesel.
2. This vehicle was originally meant to carry loads of "Patrol" in Jerrycans.
3. This was originally a "Patrol" vehicle, converted into a diesel by the Army.
4. Since this was an Army vehicle, they deliberately labelled it "Patrol"; so that if it falls into enemy hands, they will put "Patrol" in it and will have trouble using it.

I was convinced that the first one is the correct answer while my dad was inclined to believe the third one. Both of us agreed that there is a chance that the second one also might be true and both of us thought that the last one cant be true because the enemy would know that this is a diesel vehicle by the smell when you open the fuel cap.

He died peacefully, a few months after he bought the old Nissan, without fully resolving the mystery.

[earthian]

What a nice thread. I recently lost my father and have been off the beaten track (fora) for the past month or so. Even now, it is difficult to reconcile that he is not there any more. Well, he lived a full life (88 years) worked till the day he died and everything was over in a matter of 10 minutes. He was a confirmed car lover ( he bought a new car just 11 months back!)

Our first car was a 3rd hand Standard 10 which we bought in Bombay for a princely sum of Rs 8600/- and drove it down ( with a hired driver) to Broach (Bharuch) where we lived. He used it sparingly to commute to his office in Ankleswar and in and around Broach and then we shifted to A'Bad. The highlight of this car was a trip that we made (my father, mother and i) during 1969 from A'Bad to Madras, via Pune, Goa and B'lore. i was in school then. My father talked to a local mechanic to train me in the essentials of car emergency breakdown maintenance. Thus for a period of time ( i forget how long-maybe a month?) i used to go to the mechanic's shop in the evenings and during holidays where i was taught the essentials. This proved us in good stead, when we made the trip and though we had events like one of the leaves of the leaf spring jostling loose due to the bad road and falling off, or the coupling (copper) of the fuel pipe with the carburettor springing a leak, we could attend to it without any problem and continue on. We used to have a small quantity of cement, jaggery and soap which were mixed together, applied at the leak and bandaged- worked fine.

He then had to give up his car and bought a lamberetta which he used till 1984- when he bought the 800-Tomato red. A prized possession. Then came another Maruti 800, A chevvy Spark, Nissan Micra and lastly the Grand i10. He always liked small cars and in spite of all my pressure remained steadfast in his choice. The Nissan Micra was bought during January 2015 and had to be totalled due to the flooding of December 2015. The Grand i10 came in January 2016 and is there to this day, parked under the flat at Chennai.

My father would have loved to be on TBHP- i regret that i never broached the subject with him.

[akhilesh51]

My dad loved his cars through the time and bought a lot of them! Many of these were repeated over and over again. So here goes the list and I hope I have covered it all:

• Bobby Rajdoot
  
  
  
• Mahindra Jeep
  
  
  
• HM Contessa
  
  
  
• HM Ambassador (x3)
  
  
  
• Matador
  
  
  
• Fiat Premier Padmini (x3)
  
  
  
• Maruti 800 (x4)
  
  
  
• Maruti 1000
  
  
  
• Maruti Zen (x3)
  
  
  
• Daewoo Cielo
  
  
  
• Hyundai Santro
  
  
  
• Tata Indigo
  
  
  
• Skoda Octavia (x2)
  
  
  
• Volkswagen Jetta
  
  
  
• BMW 525i E60
  
  
  
• ...

These cars have been owned by my dad from 1980 - 2010. The reason for so many purchases is because we were involved in National Trading business which required dad to keep cars in different locations at any time. I have also eliminated any car that was probably purchased but not driven by him and were solely used for official or family purposes.

His sons take credit for purchases post 2010 .

PS: All images taken from Free Web. They are not my own. Moderators may pull them down if violating rules.

[pedrolourenco]

My Dad owned 3 Fiat 600's the first 2 were with the 600 engine and the 3rd was with the 750 engine. His official car (he was a Harbour Pilot) was a Mercedes Benz 180. I really don't remember the cars as I was too small.

Images from Google.

[theexperthand]

The first scooter my dad had was a 200 CC Lambretta, brought second or third hand from Mumbai. Later it was converted to resemble Lamby 150.

After he sold off the Lamb(y)retta, he brought a Bajaj Priya (KBE registration), which was followed by a Bajaj Chetak 12v (and for a very brief period of time, a Narmada Fuji) and then he graduated to bikes.

The first bike in our household was HH Splendor and we (me and my dad) did a lot of road trips on the bike.

His first four wheeler was an Ambassador Mark IV (1982 model, IIRC) and we had the car with us till 2010. She was replaced by the Indica Vista.

--Anoop

[praveen_sathaye]

From what i remember him telling him his first Car was an Austin 7 which he and few of his friends had pooled in money and bought. However no Photos of that car exist with us. His 2nd was a Willy's Jeep which again he and his cousins pooled in Money and Bought in the 1960's. He sold that and switched to 2 Wheelers in 1971 buying his First Motorcycle Jawa 250 which he rode all over the Country. I remember him telling me about a Trip from Calcutta to Mumbai in 1971.





He moved to a Rajdoot Scooter after this Jawa was Stolen in 1972 and rode that till 1976 when he switched back to the Czech beauty. He bought the Yezdi 250 Sometime in 1976-77 This was the Yezdi Model B which has been in our Family till now and eventually became my first Bike too.







Dad never Bought a Car and the 4 of us almost till i turned 13 always rode around on this Very Bike itself.

Cheers

Praveen P Sathaye
@TheGhostRIder31

[Stigissimo]

My dad's quite the character. He doesn't like showy things, but he totally digs understated quality. He also has a strange obsession with station wagons which, as you can imagine, is a difficult passion to indulge in in India. Here's his list:
- Maruti 800: I feel like this was a rite of passage back in the day
- Contessa: Apparently I road-tripped with my folks to Manali in this in the snow, couldn't tell you
- Honda City: OG first-gen City. Suffered a terrible fate at the hands of a careless gas station attendant in Ajmer
- Maruti Esteem: Another rite of passage
- Fiat Siena: Some great times in this car. It had a gem of an engine (I believe it was a 1.6)
- Octavia Combi L&K: We still have this baby 10+ years later. Meticulously kept and driven nearly 2 lakh km's, only some of which was yours truly's "stunt-driving" (as my parents so kindly put it)
- Mercedes B180: His first "fancy" car. Bought shortly after he drove our family E class on the highway and promptly fell in love with ze Germans

Honorable mention goes to the Audi RS6. He (and I, for obvious reasons) was equally obsessed with this thing until Audi India's *wonderful* sales reps had us walking away in disgust.

[Mad Max]

When dad moved back south, he inherited the Amby from my grandpa. That's the one you see pics of. Here's one.



I've heard that he had a Lambretta scooter and a Fiat in Delhi but I wasn't born then. I need to look for pics.