Recently some of our
neighborhood kids and I were competing to identify brands of cars passing
outside our complex. I felt it was a rather easy exercise as there are just
around a dozen brands today in India. In the early ‘50s there were a plethora
of international makes of cars on Indian roads. You had the MG, Studebaker,
Humber, Morris, Austin, Vauxhall, Desoto, Plymouth, Dodge, Skoda (yes, the same
brand that is ubiquitous on our roads now), Citroen, and so on. Sadly, several
of those brands have bit the dust since then.
When I was a kid,
every Sunday my father would open the bonnet of his Hindustan 14 (the Indian
version of the Morris Oxford) and check the levels of distilled water in the battery;
the oil dipstick and radiator water. For any long distance drives, he would
carry a spare fan belt and radiator hosepipe in the boot for emergencies.
Invariably on hill roads the fuel pump would get heated and he would wrap a
damp cloth round it to cool it down. Today with our advanced technology cars I
am not sure how many of us even know where the bonnet lever is.
By the time I reached
college we were stuck with the Padminis and Ambassadors. However, thanks to our
Bollywood films there was always a longing to own a post office red Chevrolet
Impala convertible. This craze lasted till the time I went to work in Hyderabad
and saw a whole fleet of them in the main market being rented out for the baraat
at weddings.
My first car was a
two-door Standard Herald, because that was the only one available within my
affordability index. People who are familiar with the Herald would remember
that this car had a peculiar technical issue. The rear axle nut would loosen
every now and then and fall off. Once while my wife and young son were driving
up the Safdarjang flyover in Delhi, the inevitable happened. It was a bit of a
harrowing experience sliding backwards down the slope without control.
Further, the left door
handle wouldn’t work from inside so I would need to get out from my driver side
and open the passenger door from the outside and release my wife. For several
months my neighbors thought I was a very chivalrous guy till they learnt about
the real reason. I managed to sell the car to my neighbor who worked in a
Public Sector undertaking. Apparently as per government rules an employee would
be entitled to a tax-free conveyance allowance whether the car was operating
or not.
Recently I sold one of
my cars through a popular online site. Most of the pre-owned cars advertised
used uninteresting and matter-of-fact language.Gone are the days when
classified ads for cars carried such terms as “single-owner-driven by doctor”
or “army officer owned”, thereby proclaiming that cars were well maintained.
The present day cars
are trouble free (in spite of all the global recalls) so there is nothing
adventurous to write about. But then again, when you drive a Lamborghini…
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