Team-BHP - Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars

Quote:

Originally Posted by TractionAvant (Post 3425404)

These are the only pictures I have found and, believe me, they are tiny! It could well have been an Excelsior. My knowledge of bikes is limited. My father says it was a Harley but he could be mistaken. He does remember that the gear lever was by the tank. Now that I think about it, a senior Indian officer in the Raj police with a non-british bike would have raised a few eyebrows :)

I think they were American bikes :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by TractionAvant (Post 3425404)

Is this MRW 3228?

Nope, but a similar car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TractionAvant (Post 3425404)

A question, would you know if Hindustan ever offered this sort of two tone paintwork as standard?

I guess you could order this as a dealer extra - the trim was definitely English stuff, fantastic white metal. Adds a lot of character to an otherwise drab side profile of the Amby. My car was originally 'Smoke grey with oxford blue sash' according to the previous owner. Whenever I do restore, I will revert to that scheme.

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlosdeville (Post 3425975)

I think they were American bikes :D

I thought Excelsior was a British make. As I mentioned before, my knowledge of bikes is poor :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlosdeville (Post 3425975)

My car was originally 'Smoke grey with oxford blue sash' according to the previous owner. Whenever I do restore, I will revert to that scheme.

I think that is a great idea. As you say, two tone paintwork does adds some much needed dash to the mkI!

Here is another picture from my albums. No idea who the child is and where the picture was taken but the car looks interesting.

A couple of old Madras pics. I found online- one is taken in the parking lot of a Devi theatre at Mount Road, Madras. Seems to be circa 1969-70 (going by the movie name Mackenna's Gold on the display board)
The Herald in the foreground in a late 60s Standard Herald mk2, must've been brand new then. The one behind is an older mk1.

A Standard Vanguard estate can also be seen on the left, plus a couple of older British cars- Morris 8 and a Ford Prefect? One on the right too.

The Fiat's of course a 1100D.

Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars-devi.jpg

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repos...8yMCNBcjA1ODAw

The 2nd one's from a different site, said to be taken at Mylaore, Madras. The Bike seems to be a BSA?

Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars-nmadast70s.jpg

Source: http://www.mylaporetimes.com/2013/01...-mada-veedhis/

Quote:

Originally Posted by TractionAvant (Post 3423995)

As promised, here are some more pictures-

1,2&3) This is a Harley Davidson. It belonged to My paternal grandmother's brother, who was a big-shot in the Raj Police. I am told 'Penny' enjoyed an occasional ride in the sidecar!

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4) That's him again, showing off! My grandmother never tired of telling us how strong her brother was. Is the car a T?

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5) B?MS? 6627-This is a Taxi. Location is somewhere between Kolhapur and Panhala. Date is mid 1950's. Chevrolet?

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6) A Hindusthan-14 that belongs to a relative. Picture taken in Kolhapur. I believe they still own the car.

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7) MHP 909- My father's first car.

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8&9) MRW 4945 & MRA 6298- These belonged to my paternal grandfather's brother. Thats a lot of people in MRW 4945!

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The Bike in the first 3 pics is an EXCELSIOR twin and not a Harley.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collector (Post 3431341)

The Bike in the first 3 pics is an EXCELSIOR twin and not a Harley.

Thank you for the information! It has already been pointed out though (see post quoted below).

Aditya

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Originally Posted by karlosdeville (Post 3425227)

Superb - thanks for sharing.

The bike seems to have an Excelsior logo - they made V twins too, right? Can you read the registration? Maybe BOM Z 1578

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 3431214)

A couple of old Madras pics. I found online- one is taken in the parking lot of a Devi theatre at Mount Road, Madras. Seems to be circa 1969-70

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Sorry for going OT but could not resist to make this 2 observation

Why was white shirt so popular, majority seems to be wearing white shirts, and there were no ac in those days, it is scary to even imagine the situation inside the theatre in the high of Madras heat of the Summers, wonder how things were managed

Sent from my iPad using Team-BHP

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 3431214)

The 2nd one's from a different site, said to be taken at Mylaore, Madras.

Sorry about quoting my own post but wished to make a correction for a typo here and too late to edit the above post- the name's actually MYLAPORE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anupam (Post 3431514)

Yes even I have noticed that white shirts were quite popular then- but not sure exactly why. Heat may have been one reason. And maybe the cloth cost cheaper too, compared to colours? :D
But people with older memories could perhaps throw some light on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TractionAvant (Post 3426107)

I thought Excelsior was a British make. As I mentioned before, my knowledge of bikes is poor :).

Nice bike and nice pics.
Three separate companies in three different countries, UK, US and Germany made Excelsior motorcycles. The British bike company had Excelsior written on the tank. The American Excelsior had 'X' on the tank and made the 45 deg V twins before Harley and Indian did I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anupam (Post 3431514)

there were no ac in those days,

:OT
Anupam, why do you presume there were NO AC in those days ?

Stanher has said correctly that it is from 1969-70. By them Madras had at least 10 Air Conditioned (some were Chilled Water/Air Cooled). In fact Devi Theatre was one of the first A/C Theatre, in which I sat in mid 1960s.

Even Cochin and Trivandrum had A/C Theatres by mid 1960s. In fact MG was the inagural picture in a A/C Theatre in Trivandrum.

You see we were techonologically that far behind even then clap:

Best Regards & Thanks

Ram

Quote:

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar (Post 3433112)

Thanks for that deutscheafrikar! The one in my picture clearly has an X on the tank.

Aditya

These photos belong to a very dear friend of mine who was kind enough to let me post them (with due editing). These are of around 1990.

The MERC was in my friend's wife's family but she cannot reacll where it is now. The Amby (I wrote dukkar but Karl corrected me) in background is again an eyecatcher.

Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars-dsc_0015.jpg

What is that TAXI-BUS?

Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars-dsc_0019.jpg

Is that a Matador in the background?

Nostalgic automotive pictures including our family's cars-dsc_0018.jpg

Raab rakha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariesonu (Post 3441592)

These photos belong to a very dear friend of mine who was kind enough to let me post them (with due editing). These are of around 1990.

The MERC was in my friend's wife's family but she cannot reacll where it is now. The dukkar in background is again an eyecatcher.
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What is that TAXI-BUS?
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Is that a Matador in the background?
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Raab rakha.

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

Thats an Amby in the back, not a dukkar. The taxi is a Dodge, probably shot in Panchgani/Mahabaleshwar. Very nice! The van is the first model of Matador, also called the Viking (with two stroke petrol engine I think, not sure)

Quote:

Originally Posted by schakravarthy (Post 3443207)

A picture of old Mysore shared by my friend on his FB page. Whither went those cars? :(

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I think that is pic from Kolkata, not Mysore.

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Originally Posted by agspins (Post 3443362)

I think that is pic from Kolkata, not Mysore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by schakravarthy (Post 3443207)

A picture of old Mysore shared by my friend on his FB page. Whither went those cars? :(

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True indeed, its the Chowringhee Road, Kolkata, showing The Grand Hotel.:)