[Prabal]

Originally Posted by racecrafter

Hi all, i am new to this website and this forum. It seems like a lot of you are really interested in vintage cars so i thought i would post some pictures of cars that are with me presently....

Hi racecrafter, nice set of wheels there!

Was the Chevy Chevelle with a Maharshtra number by any chance in Poona once upon a time and was there a metallic green paint on her with a vinyl top? A friend, big-time builders in the region, had one while I was in Fergusson College in the very early 80s. Slightly Off-topic, but we had a 69-70 Nova coupe bought from the showroom in this, rather similar, copperish-reddish-rustish colour, so this just could be an original-spec recoat done and therefore another car. Just curious. Anyway, she should be of '71 vintage, given the single headlight?

And the red Peugeot 204 cabriolet, was she with a Sikh gentleman in Defence Colony, Delhi originally? Stopped seeing her suddenly one day. Hope this is the one. That gent also had a red 66/67 Humber Hawk/Snipe (and probably a station-wagon) too, or maybe a neighbour of his did cause that was in the locality too. Gosh, wish I had a time-machine!

Edit: Just noticed this from Harit...

Originally Posted by harit

About the Peugeot convertible mentioned by Wasif, well that was a 404 and there were two known to me in India. One was black, probably the one mentioned by Wasif. Where it is now I do not know. It had some trouble with front brakes or suspension. The other one travelled Indore to Hyderabad to Mumbai to Bangalore to Delhi. Somewhere colour changed from yellow to blue. V16 knows this car I am talking about.

Hi Harit,

Is this the powder blue Peugeot 404 cabriolet with the big premium-cars collector in Delhi, recently in the news here too for a 'buy/find'? If yes, and if the same one that I'm taking about too, you know the funny part? There's a big 'Pininfarina' badge at the back and the present owner's spokes-people are pushing it as, 'You know it's a Pininfarina, blah, blah, blah...' as if there were 404 cabriolets that were not so! I wonder where that badge got crafted and put?!

Cheers,

[wasif]

Originally Posted by harit

Hi Racecrafter,

About the Peugeot convertible mentioned by Wasif, well that was a 404 and there were two known to me in India. One was black, probably the one mentioned by Wasif. Where it is now I do not know. It had some trouble with front brakes or suspension. The other one travelled Indore to Hyderabad to Mumbai to Bangalore to Delhi. Somewhere colour changed from yellow to blue. V16 knows this car I am talking about.

Hi there Harith.

The Peugeot I was talking about was Red. It was with a guy on Road No. 12 Banjara Hills and was a regular driver with no known problems. The car had the "Pinninfarina" script on the passenger side of the dash and there was a small Pininfarina logo with the name below it between the front wheel arch and the door.

I tried to buy this car but the price was always too high. What a looker it was. I think it was a four cylinder car.

If I'm correct it was with the Gulam Haider/ Ali Haider family. They also had a Datsun Fairlady roadster too in silver. Nice looking car too.

[harit]

Hi there Harith.

The Peugeot I was talking about was Red. It was with a guy on Road No. 12 Banjara Hills and was a regular driver with no known problems. The car had the "Pinninfarina" script on the passenger side of the dash and there was a small Pininfarina logo with the name below it between the front wheel arch and the door.

I tried to buy this car but the price was always too high. What a looker it was. I think it was a four cylinder car.

If I'm correct it was with the Gulam Haider/ Ali Haider family. They also had a Datsun Fairlady roadster too in silver. Nice looking car too.

So now we are comming to the end of one 404 convertible story. The car you are talking about is the blue one in Delhi. Absolutely sure. As mentioned before, there was a black one with Ap registration which came to Mumbai and had these problems. The car you are talking about is another, was picked up by Ali from Indore and then it passed on as mentioned in my post before. I did not know the colour in Indore, but in Mumbai it was yellow and in Bangalore Blue. I am sure that someone could put up pics.

Regarding the Malibu mentioned by Prabal, I do not think that she was in Pune. She belonged to an industrialist family automotive related.

[syedhafeez]

Pics of my friends cadillac.
Just love the caddy's rear view...
although many pics of it have been posted but still when ever i see the caddy i cant resist myself from taking a pic of it..

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by syedhafeez

Pics of my friends cadillac.
Just love the caddy's rear view...

No doubt, a lovely car indeed!

[9thsphinx]

Spotted this 1950's DeSOTO near Nehrunagar Circle, Ahmedabad...
Have a lookie!

[RandomUsername]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

Spotted this 1950's DeSOTO near Nehrunagar Circle, Ahmedabad...
Have a lookie!

That looks like a '55 Plymouth with a de-soto grill?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by RandomUsername

That looks like a '55 Plymouth with a de-soto grill?

Dodge DeSoto and Plymouth shared the same bodies in India in the 50s, they just differed in cosmetics externally. Badge engineering.

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by RandomUsername

That looks like a '55 Plymouth with a de-soto grill?

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Dodge DeSoto and Plymouth shared the same bodies in India in the 50s, they just differed in cosmetics externally. Badge engineering.

And some of them were assembled by Premier Automobiles at Kurla? Anyways, this one is a DeSoto due to the side lights, the badge on the bonnet and the script on the boot (besides of course the signature grille). The bodyline looks clean, so definitely not shunted. The guy couldn't have gone swapping so many things just for kicks, even during the less-rushed era.

[RandomUsername]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Dodge DeSoto and Plymouth shared the same bodies in India in the 50s, they just differed in cosmetics externally. Badge engineering.

Didn't know there was DeSoto too, i thought just Plymouth and Dodge

[harit]

This is a Tempo which disappeared in Mumbai. Was lying as a junk at Breach Candy, then was purchased by a famous jeweler family and lying on Nepean Sea Road, has come for some Mumbai rally's and was present in an exhibition. There are others in India, Jodhpur, Goa, Dhanbad, Pune with modifications, but where has this gone?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by harit

This is a Tempo which disappeared in Mumbai. Was lying as a junk at Breach Candy, then was purchased by a famous jeweler family and lying on Nepean Sea Road, has come for some Mumbai rally's and was present in an exhibition. There are others in India, Jodhpur, Goa, Dhanbad, Pune with modifications, but where has this gone?

What year did this car (?) make an appearence? Did it have the twin engine system intact? So many in India, wonder how they came in. Were they ever in active service here?

[harit]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

What year did this car (?) make an appearence? Did it have the twin engine system intact? So many in India, wonder how they came in. Were they ever in active service here?

This car certainly had its "twin engine" intact.
Please note carefully, there were not two engines. It was one engine, having two cylinders in the front and two at the rear. The crankshaft ran throughout the length of the car. So there was a large tunnel in the middle of the car. And no propshaft.
Why and how these came to India is not known to me. Active in service meaning military? Very doubtful. Only German machinery active in military service which I know of were BMW R12 bikes used in Goa.

harit

[V-16]

Originally Posted by Prabal

Is this the powder blue Peugeot 404 cabriolet with the big premium-cars collector in Delhi, recently in the news here too for a 'buy/find'? If yes, and if the same one that I'm taking about too, you know the funny part? There's a big 'Pininfarina' badge at the back and the present owner's spokes-people are pushing it as, 'You know it's a Pininfarina, blah, blah, blah...' as if there were 404 cabriolets that were not so! I wonder where that badge got crafted and put?!

Cheers,

Well actually Prabal the 404 cabriolet was an original Pininfarina design and therefore there are two badges bearing the Pininfarina logo on either side of the front fender.

I know because i believe this is my ex car which i sold to someone in Bangalore some years ago. The car was complete missing nothing but had some mechanical issues. I was told the car was red and restored beautifully but i have not seen it. It was Yellow when I had it. It has an MRH registration. I wonder where the rear badge got crafted from as there was none on the car when i had it.

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by V-16

Well actually Prabal the 404 cabriolet was an original Pininfarina design and therefore there are two badges bearing the Pininfarina logo on either side of the front fender.

I wonder where the rear badge got crafted from as there was none on the car when i had it.

Exactly my point, Gogi, all Peugeot 404s - sedans, estate, pick-up, coupes and convertibles - were designed by Pininfarina. The Pininfarina badging was only put on the coupes and cabriolets and, if I'm not mistaken, they were originally put just behind the door towards the bottom (just above the rocker panel or running-board level). Maybe on some model years as you say they were on the front fenders, but I've not seen that. In any case, irrespective of the placement, it was the subtle stylised 'P' logo of the design firm and not a cursive script of the full word 'Pininfarina'. Therefore I find the big bold running script on the boot absolutely hilarious - but some folks may fall for it as a 'special' car designed by Pinifarina and pay more for the privilege of owning it!!

404 sedans and station-wagons came to India in susbtantial numbers and could be spotted regularly till the late 80s. Although tough cars otherwise, some 404s were prone to transmission problems and the later fuel injected models had some issues with the FI system. I have no idea about the mechanical condition of this car. Otherwise this particular 404 cabrio is very very pretty in an icy blue colour; the price quoted left me icy cold as well! But I don't want to quote that here and start another senseless discussion on what should be the right price, etc.

I'm also wondering whether I should craft a 'Giacosa' script for my dukkar's butt!