[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by TractionAvant

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

Originally Posted by TractionAvant

Is this MRW 3228?

Nope, but a similar car.

Originally Posted by TractionAvant

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.

[TractionAvant]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

I think they were American bikes

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

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

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.

[Stanher]

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.



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?



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

[Collector]

Originally Posted by TractionAvant

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!

Attachment 1235727

Attachment 1235728

Attachment 1235729

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

Attachment 1235730

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

Attachment 1235731

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

Attachment 1235732

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

Attachment 1235733

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

Attachment 1235734

Attachment 1235735

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

[TractionAvant]

Originally Posted by Collector

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

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

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

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Stanher

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

Attachment 1239079
/[/url]

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

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Stanher

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.

Originally Posted by Anupam

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

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?
But people with older memories could perhaps throw some light on this.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by TractionAvant

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.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Anupam

there were no ac in those days,

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



Best Regards & Thanks

Ram

[TractionAvant]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

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.

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

Aditya

[ariesonu]

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.


What is that TAXI-BUS?


Is that a Matador in the background?


Raab rakha.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by ariesonu

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.
Attachment 1244164

What is that TAXI-BUS?
Attachment 1244165

Is that a Matador in the background?
Attachment 1244166

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)

[schakravarthy]

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

[agspins]

Originally Posted by schakravarthy

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

Attachment 1244767

I think that is pic from Kolkata, not Mysore.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by agspins

I think that is pic from Kolkata, not Mysore.

Originally Posted by schakravarthy

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

Attachment 1244767

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