Quote:
Originally Posted by veldeep . |
'Saw a nice Millecento (aka Dukkar FIAT) after what seemed like absolute ages. This was at Veldeep's parking slot.
Okayish condition, overspray evident everywhere, rear bumpers and front grille were painted silver (and were NOT in chrome), the FIAT monogramme in front was on the verge of falling off, the instrument cluster was also sprayed blue, when it should've been black (or white?).
Headlights seemed the larger, non original ones to me.
However- The interior smell was nice.

Just the way a classic should smell. XD.
The car looked lovely- Inspite of all the flaws I pointed out above.
Ladies and gentlemen,
MHJ 8497.
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Don't you just
love seeing the rear of the Dukkar? Those lovely boot hinges, small windscreen, and of course, the well rounded boot.
The well-rounded rear of the Millecento reminded the Bombay Taxiwallah's of the Fifties, of the
pig's rear. And hence, the car (in slangish terms), came to be nicknamed as the
Dukkar FIAT, or the
Piggy FIAT.
Unfortunately, the nickname stuck. Note the original '
anda' (or egg) type taillamps on this one.
I think, I like the number-plate font. Pretty good, wot?
Noticed the moped beside the car? Has been discussed here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-w...aha-75-cc.html
My very recent comment :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-w...ml#post3604987
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Whitewalls. Note the drilled wheelcap. These wheelcaps used to have some sort of clips to fit them onto the rim. However, as these clips wore out, these wheelcaps were very
crudely drilled through, and were mounted to the hub, using a lug nut.
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Note the chromed front bumper, and the painted front grille. Bigger, non OE headlamps. Minus points-IMO. Yes- notice the lack of a cranking hole in the front bumper. The little FIAT was pretty advanced for 1954, don't you think?
However- The engine design dates from
1934.
20 years older- Than previously thought.
The main competition, the Ambassador (Or the Landmaster)- used to have cranking holes, well upto the 'Eighties. Very primitive, no?
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Don't you love opening that door handle?
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The glasses were of
TUFEX Make. Original ones were branded as '
Securit'.
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The previous colour was turquoise. Many FIAT 1100 103G Select's bore this colour. Used to be a pretty popular colour, back in the day. Karl, remember
MHP 121? Even that car had this particular shade of turquoise.
Wait- Even our 1100D,
PYS 5775 used to have this shade once. Lovely, no?
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Holy moly!! It had the original, utterly rare ''Millecento'' Dash monogramme. Or so I thought.
This one was a home-made jugaad, made on a veneer sheet. With a permanent marker, it was handwritten-
Millecento 1100. Pretty
sweet, I thought.
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The original dash monogramme looks something like this:
This one is BHPian Farhan's Millecento, in Delhi.
Flawless car.
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Before I forget, this car is
MHJ registered. This would be of the Poona Central RTO, of sometime in 1966.
MHJ 7281 is a 1966 FIAT 1100D.
But this car is itself 1954/55ish. Must've come from somewhere, and would've been reregistered in Poona, circa '66. @Karlosdeville's VW Beetle, which came from Germany, was first exported to East Africa, in 1954/55. This car came here with an Indian expat, and was reregistered in Poona, in the
MHJ series, just like this car.
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If you've managed to read so far, well- thanks for reading!
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