[priyo]

Originally Posted by directinjection

A small correction: The drive took place after Tata had set up the Jamshedpur plant and was meant to prove that Indian-made Mercedes trucks were as good as the German ones.

Does that mean that these trucks were made at Jamshedpur and shipped to West Germany, then driven overland back to India to prove their reliability ? That is not how I remember it. These wereGerman built, regular cab, canvas covered trucks with one piece windshields, side marker posts on front bumpers and amber turn indicator lights on either front fender. The article had the story of the overland drive thru Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe the idea was to publicize the ruggedness of Mercedes truck which Tata was about to manufacture under license - the name at that time was Tata Mercedes Benz.

[sameervg]

Spotted this Chevrolet truck on Satara Kaas road, seems its in proper working condition (Pic of this truck was already posted by SuperSelect - Location is also looks same.)

Cheers !

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by sameervg

Spotted this Chevrolet truck on Satara Kaas road, seems its in proper working condition (Pic of this truck was already posted by SuperSelect - Location is also looks same.)

That's a Dodge/Fargo P6 series (or something like that) from the Chrysler stables, Canadian Division - assembled by Premier Auto in India. Not GM's Chevrolet.

[sameervg]

Originally Posted by Prabal

That's a Dodge/Fargo P6 series (or something like that) from the Chrysler stables, Canadian Division - assembled by Premier Auto in India. Not GM's Chevrolet.

Hi Prabal,

Thanks for correcting me.
In rural areas there are still many old truck are doing daily jobs. I will post more photos whenever I spot while travelling.

Cheers!

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by priyo

Does that mean that these trucks were made at Jamshedpur and shipped to West Germany, then driven overland back to India to prove their reliability ? That is not how I remember it. These wereGerman built, regular cab, canvas covered trucks with one piece windshields, side marker posts on front bumpers and amber turn indicator lights on either front fender. The article had the story of the overland drive thru Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe the idea was to publicize the ruggedness of Mercedes truck which Tata was about to manufacture under license - the name at that time was Tata Mercedes Benz.

Both of us seem to have read the same article but have differing versions to offer about the exact facts. Unfortunately, I'm unable to locate the article now; will post it if I can find it.

Ruggedness/quality of MB trucks was already well-known - it's the Indian made stuff that had a point to prove.

The name remained Tata Mercedes Benz right till 1969.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by directinjection

A small correction: The drive took place after Tata had set up the Jamshedpur plant and was meant to prove that Indian-made Mercedes trucks were as good as the German ones.

Originally Posted by priyo

Does that mean that these trucks were made at Jamshedpur and shipped to West Germany, then driven overland back to India to prove their reliability ? That is not how I remember it. These were German built, regular cab, canvas covered trucks with one piece windshields, side marker posts on front bumpers and amber turn indicator lights on either front fender. The article had the story of the overland drive thru Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe the idea was to publicize the ruggedness of Mercedes truck which Tata was about to manufacture under license - the name at that time was Tata Mercedes Benz.

Dear Mr Priyo,

I have managed to find more details of that journey, thanks to the Internet! The event which took place in 1955-56 was called "Geneva to Bombay Car Rally" and involved three Tata-made Mercedes trucks. One of the trucks was driven by JRD Tata's brother DRD Tata. Pictures of the event were published in the April 2011 issue of Tata Motors' in-house CV Magazine called "Strides" which can be accessed here:

http://cvglobal.tatamotors.com/media/magazine.html

Kindly have a look at pages 2, 13 and 14 of the said issue. In the image on pages 2 and 14, the board on one of the trucks has "Tata Mercedes Benz" clearly written on it. On page 13, the caption of the photo showing JRD Tata greeting DRD Tata reads like this:

In 1955, three Tata trucks made an 8,000-mile journey as part of the Geneva-Bombay Rally without a single breakdown. JRD Tata greeted the team, which had DRD Tata as one of the drivers, at Bombay

According to another website, the rally started from Geneva and reached Bombay via Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. Principal stops on the tour were: Trieste, Italy; Thessaloniki, Greece; Istanbul, Turkey; the archaeological sites of Palmyra and Baalbeck, Syria; Jerusalem, Israel; Isfahan and Baluchistan, Iran; Delhi, Benares and Agra.

The link to the above website is here:

http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/...!0&term=#focus

Hope I have cleared your doubts!

[priyo]

Thank you for your research on the Tata Mercedes Benz proving trip. In 1956 I was 13 years old and interested in automobiles as I am even now. The trip evidently ended at Hotel Taj Mahal as seen in the back ground. The gril of the truck has a MB star and the word 'Diesel' but no TATA MERCEDES BENZ as yet . The map on the bed of the truck, indeed, outlines the route.
The article states that three 'TATA' trucks made the 8000 mile trip - this clears my earlier belief that these were built in Germany and not in India. Thank you for clearing the fog in my memory.
However, the car rally that you have quoted is un- related to the truck adventure. There were many car rallies during those years. I was in Delhi till 1974 and witnessed many of those . Many makes of cars were to be seen - Land Rovers, MBs, Saabs, Volvos . They used to come from west thru Pakistan to Delhi and proceeded toward Calcutta and then on boat to Australia and usually ended at Sydney.
Such rallies were good for the different makes as they proved the durability & endurance of their cars. Do you remember the East African Safari ? From Nairobi to Johanesburg where the consistent winner was the Saab ?
Once again I thank you for shedding light on the TMB story.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by priyo

Thank you for your research on the Tata Mercedes Benz proving trip........Thank you for clearing the fog in my memory.......Once again I thank you for shedding light on the TMB story.

Thank you Sir for your kind words!

Originally Posted by priyo

In 1956 I was 13 years old and interested in automobiles as I am even now.

Great to learn about your passion! Keep it going!

Originally Posted by priyo

The trip evidently ended at Hotel Taj Mahal as seen in the back ground. The gril of the truck has a MB star and the word 'Diesel' but no TATA MERCEDES BENZ as yet.

All trucks and bus chassis made by Tata Motors between 1954-1969 carried:

1. Large Merc star on the grill, sometimes with the word "DIESEL" written at the bottom
2. Small Merc star ornament on top of the bonnet (only in case of "normal control" or "cab-behind-engine" trucks)
3. Small Merc emblem above or sometimes below the grill

Out of these three, the first two were untouched original Merc versions. However, the third item had a design modification done to the original whereby the word "TATA" was incorporated at the top as visible in the photo at the bottom. This emblem used to be very small and the words could be read only from close quarters. No wonder you missed the "Tata" part!

The star was replaced by "T" and "TATA" only in 1969 when the 15-year technical collaboration agreement between the two companies (which also allowed Tata to use Daimler's trade marks) came to an end. However, the financial collaboration continued right till 2010, although with reduced equity participation from Daimler.

Originally Posted by priyo

However, the car rally that you have quoted is un- related to the truck adventure. There were many car rallies during those years.

The link provided by me appeared when I punched "Geneva to Bombay Rally 1955" in the Google search box. The trip details seem identical to the rally the TMB trucks were involved in. The site contains a film which provide details about the trip. However, I wasn't able to view it; I think you need to pay to view it.

Originally Posted by priyo

I was in Delhi till 1974 and witnessed many of those . Many makes of cars were to be seen - Land Rovers, MBs, Saabs, Volvos . They used to come from west thru Pakistan to Delhi and proceeded toward Calcutta and then on boat to Australia and usually ended at Sydney. Such rallies were good for the different makes as they proved the durability & endurance of their cars. Do you remember the East African Safari ? From Nairobi to Johanesburg where the consistent winner was the Saab ?

No Sir, but I remember the London-Sydney Rally of 1977 that passed through Delhi. I was 12 then. There's a web site dedicated to that rally - check this:


http://www.londonsydney77.com/

[travancore]

Overland to India 1957

courtesy aecsouthall.co.uk


If this has been posted before, I apologize!

[anjan_c2007]

Some classic truck pictures sent by my FB friend Abhishek Kushte of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. The pictures are from Kolhapur and Ratnagiri:















Two pictures above shows the Nissan dash





A windscreen view of the outside world from the Nissan cabin







The ex- defence forces Tata crane and the Nissan 1.5 tonner were clicked at Kolhapur, at the motor vehicle scrapyard.

[fx45]

Nice pictures. What kind of vehicles are being scrapped here at this yard? Are these from ex-ST buses or what?

[travancore]

T-M-B trucks going "phoren".
courtesy rediff.com

[Shreeram]

here is one i had spotted long time back in Mumbai Jogeshwari, was for sale that time, wonder if its still there.

[harit]

Originally Posted by travancore

T-M-B trucks going "phoren". courtesy rediff.com

The "phoren" could have been Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.

Cheers harit

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by travancore

T-M-B trucks going "phoren".
courtesy rediff.com

Attachment 1114213

This picture is quite well-known. It shows the first consignment of trucks to be exported by Tata Motors. It occurred in 1961. Export of TMB trucks was permitted by Daimler Benz but only to a limited extent. Exports jumped after the collaboration with Benz expired in 1969.

Originally Posted by harit

The "phoren" could have been Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. Cheers harit

Yes, the country to which it was exported was Sri Lanka, then known as Cylone.