[travancore]

courtesy: indian-influences.blogspot



Presume it is a Rover P2.

Taken during the construction of the Hooghly Ink Factory, Madras ca 1947-1952.

That registration looks oddly familiar! I think I had posted a front view of the same car eons ago. Now need to find it!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by travancore

courtesy: indian-influences.blogspot

Attachment 1442521

Presume it is a Rover P2.

Taken during the construction of the Hooghly Ink Factory, Madras ca 1947-1952.

That registration looks oddly familiar! I think I had posted a front view of the same car eons ago. Now need to find it!

Here you go



https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vinta...ml#post3222609 (Vintage and Classic Rovers)

[KartikeyaL]

Here is picture of a Buick outside Faletti's Hotel ( Now The Cecil )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cecil

[travancore]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

Here is picture of a Buick outside Faletti's Hotel ( Now The Cecil )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cecil

Attachment 1443982

The car seems to have a "STATE" registration, though obviously I cannot see it too clearly!

[noonrock]

Anwesh, I thank you for your most lucid explanation. Again, and as always, the precise scrutiny of the Indian "car nut" presents an array of minute details. My compliments, I remain an American admirer.

[harit]

Some family photographs.

These came from south India, In India the Pontiac. Nice car.
The same lady is standing with that Vauxhall "SB" registered. Is that Singapore? Someone recognizes anyone here? Family appears to have been affluent. If the lady was 20 years old in 1950, she would now be 85 years old. That the clue along with the cars pics.
And is "SB" a registration series of Singapore?

Cheers harit

[sabinesnubbing]

Originally Posted by harit

Some family photographs.

These came from south India, In India the Pontiac. Nice car.
The same lady is standing with that Vauxhall "SB" registered. Is that Singapore? Someone recognizes anyone here? Family appears to have been affluent. If the lady was 20 years old in 1950, she would now be 85 years old. That the clue along with the cars pics.
And is "SB" a registration series of Singapore?

Cheers harit

Harit,
SB is indeed a Singapore series from the 50s. Can't be sure of the exact date without asking plate friends.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Cedric

[FINTAIL]

For a change, here's colour footage of Poona; Aden- and Marseilles from the mid 'Thirties.

Poona in the 'Forties would have been a wayyy different place. Sigh, we've lost the link nowadays.

The blue car definitely seems British and has (what vaguely looks like) a Bombay registration from the mid-Thirties. The Rolls Royce Ghost has an umm....unidentifiable registration. At least, I cannot identify it.

The RR has an umm....strange coachwork, one can say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11jpfprhs00

P.S; I half expected to see BMW and BYF registered cars in this video.

And yeah, can anyone verify whether the Rolls Royce in question has survived or not?

[travancore]

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

For a change, here's colour footage of Poona; Aden- and Marseilles from the mid 'Thirties.

Poona in the 'Forties would have been a wayyy different place. Sigh, we've lost the link nowadays.

The blue car definitely seems British and has (what vaguely looks like) a Bombay registration from the mid-Thirties. The Rolls Royce Ghost has an umm....unidentifiable registration. At least, I cannot identify it.

The RR has an umm....strange coachwork, one can say.

And yeah, can anyone verify whether the Rolls Royce in question has survived or not?

The "British" car is a Vauxhall 30-98.

The Silver Ghost (Chassis 60970) is a very early Ghost, 1908 to be precise. It seems to have spent 1916-1945 in India when it was rebodied from its original Barker tourer body.

It still exists with a recreated Roi-de-Belges body.

Excerpts from the web below:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/c...00&idNumID=107


"This car, chassis number 60970, was originally sold to John Henry Thomas, a London photographer. It was the first example to carry Roi des Belges bodywork, a body style originally designed for the King of Belgium. In 1919, the car's second body, a Torpedo by Barkers, was exchanged for a Safari body used for the car's adventures in India where it remained until 1946. It was then shipped to England and arrived stateside by noted collector Joe Loeey in 1959, where it was paired with a new Roi des Belges body, in 1961. This is the only surviving short wheelbase sports chassis Silver Ghost in existence".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.vintagemotorcarsusa.com/v..._new.php?id=42

"London photographer John Henry Thomas originally owned chassis 60970, and used it extensively in his travels. Several years later, the original Roi des Belges body was removed and replaced with a torpedo body, also by Barker. In 1919, M.P.R. Sloot purchased it and took it to India, where a more appropriate safari-type body was fitted for its adventures there. In 1935, it changed hands again, landing in the care of Captain H. Cavendish. Cavendish held on to 60970 for only a year, passing it to a friend, Major C.G. Cardew in Bangalore in 1936. Cardew enjoyed the car for nearly a decade, but decided to ship it back to England during the hand-over of India in 1945. Allied Motors, the local Rolls-Royce agents in New Delhi, crated the car, but due to civil upheavals, it remained stranded at the New Delhi station for more than a year, secure in its crate. Finally, in 1947, it arrived safely at Eastleigh goods station In England. In 1959, it was discovered as a tractor on a pig farm and rescued by noted American collector Joe Loecy, who brought it to the US. In 1961, Loecy restored the car, fitting it with an exact duplicate of its original Roi des Belges coachwork, which it retains today."

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by travancore

--------------------------------------------------------------

"London photographer John Henry Thomas originally owned chassis 60970, and used it extensively in his travels. Several years later, the original Roi des Belges body was removed and replaced with a torpedo body, also by Barker. In 1919, M.P.R. Sloot purchased it and took it to India, where a more appropriate safari-type body was fitted for its adventures there. In 1935, it changed hands again, landing in the care of Captain H. Cavendish. Cavendish held on to 60970 for only a year, passing it to a friend, Major C.G. Cardew in Bangalore in 1936. Cardew enjoyed the car for nearly a decade, but decided to ship it back to England during the hand-over of India in 1945. Allied Motors, the local Rolls-Royce agents in New Delhi, crated the car, but due to civil upheavals, it remained stranded at the New Delhi station for more than a year, secure in its crate. Finally, in 1947, it arrived safely at Eastleigh goods station In England. In 1959, it was discovered as a tractor on a pig farm and rescued by noted American collector Joe Loecy, who brought it to the US. In 1961, Loecy restored the car, fitting it with an exact duplicate of its original Roi des Belges coachwork, which it retains today."

Travancore, that's terrific!

[travancore]

A Bombay registered FIAT in Lahore

[noonrock]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Here you go

Attachment 1442558

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vinta...ml#post3222609 (Vintage and Classic Rovers)

The Rover is a worthy standard of British automobiles. What a handsome auto it is. I thank you for offering it for the viewers to enjoy.

[FINTAIL]

Jawaharlal Nehru at Palayam- Trivandrum stadium sometime in the first half of the 'Sixties. Onboard a Willys CJ.

Just LOOK at the crowd!



Upon further digging; here's what I found- The Jeep in question was first registered in 1956 ; was a 1955 model year; and was owned by the Inspector General of the Kerala Police.

[FINTAIL]

Here's a different take on Bombay- From the first half of the 'Sixties-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agK6mKy1mLc

Bombay was such a lovely city then. 'Wonder where we lost the plot in between.

Sigh.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

Jawaharlal Nehru at Palayam- Trivandrum stadium sometime in the first half of the 'Sixties. Onboard a Willys CJ.

Just LOOK at the crowd!

Upon further digging; here's what I found- The Jeep in question was first registered in 1956 ; was a 1955 model year; and was owned by the Inspector General of the Kerala Police.

Lovely find Fintail.

Its the stadium now known as the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium. Its the Kerala Police Stadium named after the 1st IG of Police of the Kerala State. The State formation was on 1st Nov 1956. So the 1956 registration is bang on.

I think it was Mr. Nehru's 1st visit to the newly formed "Kerala"

The Jeep survived as the Ceremonial vehicle of the state well in to mid 1970s. Then was scrapped along with a ton of petrol jeeps that were scrapped from the state in the late 1970s.

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram