[vcash]

Originally Posted by speedy

the car was not owned by Tata's, the first owner was my friends father. both these cars came in at the same time. one to Mr tata and the other blue one to Mr Gogawalla brought from Canada ( this is what i was told by my friend) it stood a few buildings away from house and i would see it everyday without fail. it was like going to a temple for me. i wanted to buy the car and even expressed my desire but i was told it would never be sold. then one day there was a split in the family and the car was sold over night.

i wont be greedy on this one as i have a 230c (LHD,Manual,carberated). there are two others besides this that i would hope one day would come for sale and i can purchase them.

I think we are talking about two different cars in this case. First of all, Mr. Tata never got the Red 280ce shown in the picture above. Another very flamboyant and eminent EX Tata Steel MD who is also a Parsee got the Red 280 during his tenure with the company. The car did not come from Canada either. This was brought to Calcutta from Bhutan and the car was originally owned by the Queen of Bhutan's brother. At the same time a Blue 280ce was bought by the Tata Group (Not sure of the originating source). This was subsequentley sold. I thought that Mr. Gogawalla's blue car was the same but now that you have confirmed that it is not, the Tata's blue 280 is still untraced.

And also, in the 80's Ratan Tata was no where in the picture, and JRD never had a great interest in procuring such cars. Most of the cars were ordered and bought by the Managing Director's of the Tata Companies such as TISCO, TELCO, etc. on an individual basis. The same MD who had the 280ce also had a Merc 300D and a BMW 524td.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by vcash

I came across the car this very evening and I must say that it is still beautifully maintained in true Tata fashion. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Originally Posted by vcash

I think we are talking about two different cars in this case. First of all, Mr. Tata never got the Red 280ce shown in the picture above.

you are contradicting yourself Vcash.
as i mentioned i was told this by my friend. they do have a house in toronto so i would think it true. unfortunately i dont know where his father worked (now retired) in Tata so i cannot confirm. i do know the current owner so i can check the papers for the first owner and confirm.
i never said Ratan Tata was in the picture. there are many more Tata's before him too Vcash. Mr JRD Tata was also fond of cars and was seen in many a beautiful ones in his time. the only difference was there was no going over board. his house was on Altamount road if i am not mistaken.

[BEEM3R]

I dont think he contradicted himself Speedy. After he says the Mr Tata didnt get the Red 280CE in the next line he clearly states that the car was brought by an ex Tata MD. And the cars probably being in the company name are still maintained by the Tata Group.

[speedy]

Vcash i found the Dark Blue 280ce. just saw it this afternoon turning into Breach Candy from Nepeansea Road, i was in the opposite direction going to drop my neice so could not take pictures. this could be the one you are talking about. this is in Bombay incase others are wondering.

[vcash]

Originally Posted by speedy

you are contradicting yourself Vcash.
as i mentioned i was told this by my friend. they do have a house in toronto so i would think it true. unfortunately i dont know where his father worked (now retired) in Tata so i cannot confirm. i do know the current owner so i can check the papers for the first owner and confirm.
i never said Ratan Tata was in the picture. there are many more Tata's before him too Vcash. Mr JRD Tata was also fond of cars and was seen in many a beautiful ones in his time. the only difference was there was no going over board. his house was on Altamount road if i am not mistaken.

I think you misunderstood me. No where have I said that this was RNT's or JRD's car. This was a Tata Company owned car and has nothing to do with 'personal' ownership.

Not to go off topic but prior to RNT, their was JRD and prior to him in 1938 was Dorabji - The stewardship of the company lay mainly in the hands of these key people. Other members of the Tata family such as Noel Tata who have had a recent active role in new ventures such as Trent and Croma has never had much involvement with Tata's core operations, i.e. Steel / Auto / Power etc whose CEO's back in the 70's and 80's lived an entirely colonial life with sprawling mansions and imported cars - something that was very rare to find with the employees of family led businesses in corporate India back in the day.

JRD never cared as much for automobiles as he did for his other passions such as aviation and philanthropy. So the Tata Family in it's own never tried to create a stable such as say the Mallyas. So basically, when I was referring to Tata cars, I mean company (Not Tata Sons but Tata Steel and the like) owned.

Hope this clears the confusion.

Originally Posted by BEEM3R

I dont think he contradicted himself Speedy. After he says the Mr Tata didnt get the Red 280CE in the next line he clearly states that the car was brought by an ex Tata MD. And the cars probably being in the company name are still maintained by the Tata Group.

That is exactly what I was trying to convey!

Originally Posted by speedy

Vcash i found the Dark Blue 280ce. just saw it this afternoon turning into Breach Candy from Nepeansea Road, i was in the opposite direction going to drop my neice so could not take pictures. this could be the one you are talking about. this is in Bombay incase others are wondering.

Great news but we will not know for sure whether this is the car I am talking about since we do not have definitive ownership history tracing back to the Tata's. I am sure that their must be several blue 280ce's in the country - two have been documented by you on this forum itself.

I am sure that eventually this car will be traced and archived in these threads.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by vcash

Great news but we will not know for sure whether this is the car I am talking about since we do not have definitive ownership history tracing back to the Tata's. I am sure that their must be several blue 280ce's in the country - two have been documented by you on this forum itself.

I am sure that eventually this car will be traced and archived in these threads.

Confusion over now lets get cracking on this baby. i had seen it before also but it had slipped my mind. now i saw it today and now it has got my interest again. it is somewhere next to my house cause i have seen it twice at breach candy itself, which means it is from this area and i shall find it.
the other two cars i talk off is the light blue one belonging to my friend. the other is a 300sd i think but it is an american version diesel coupe. now there are three 280ce ( red, light blue, dark blue) one 300sd (silver) and one 230c (dark blue) that we know off. i am not mentioning the older coupe's.

[sunilgee]

Some years ago there was an immaculate red colour LHD 123 coupe in Mysore, if I remember correctly it was a diesel, does anyone know its present whereabouts? did they make diesel coupes??

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by sunilgee

Some years ago there was an immaculate red colour LHD 123 coupe in Mysore, if I remember correctly it was a diesel, does anyone know its present whereabouts? did they make diesel coupes??

They made the 300 CD (w123) but is was only for the US

[imperial.s.a]

Originally Posted by desdichado

Hi all!

What a great place this is! I was wondering if someone could help out in volunteering some information on the W 123 series Mercedes Benz models and their experience with them.

I am contemplating the purchase of a MB coupe, for those who want to know the W123 body style which was the Mercedes-Benz middle-class sedan from 1976 to 1986. The W123 body represents the final evolution of the "classic" Mercedes dating back to the age before the wind tunnels. I understand that there is a common 407 platform which makes procurement of spares relatively easy locally.

Does anyone own/have for sale any of the following?

230C
230CE (fuel injection)
280C
280CE
300CD
300CD Turbo



Thanks. Any leads would be much appreciated.

hai diehard merc entho there should be a 300 cd in mumbai bought by vinodkhanna about 10 years back klb reg and the w123 is like an battle tank on the highway i am using a manuel 300d i am very hard on the car on the highway and with a minimum maintainence

[speedy]

Originally Posted by sunilgee

Some years ago there was an immaculate red colour LHD 123 coupe in Mysore, if I remember correctly it was a diesel, does anyone know its present whereabouts? did they make diesel coupes??

The car is still in the south. I had even posted pictures of it. Shall try and dig them out again. The car is in Red colour.

Originally Posted by imperial.s.a

hai diehard merc entho there should be a 300 cd in mumbai bought by vinodkhanna about 10 years back klb reg and the w123 is like an battle tank on the highway i am using a manuel 300d i am very hard on the car on the highway and with a minimum maintainence

He still does have the car and as far as my knowledge goes it is not for sale. Rightly said these are battle tanks always ready for a hard run and real work horses.

[Caddy]

Friends, I'm looking for radio antenna gear parts for a 1984 w123. While the 123 is not very classic, any leads will be most welcome. Thanks.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Caddy

Friends, I'm looking for radio antenna gear parts for a 1984 w123. While the 123 is not very classic, any leads will be most welcome. Thanks.

Hey Caddy,

Have you tried opera house yet? There are quite a few stores there which have new parts for the W123s.

See this post for a few names of shops you can try (though there are quite a few other shops which might have the stuff) > http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/498433-post7.html

cya
R