Cars with character

By Roopinder Singh

The French built a car with a front engine and front wheel drive; the Germans built one with a rear engine and a rear wheel drive; and the Americans, characteristically, built one with a front engine and a four wheel drive. And they all did well—they had all built vehicles that became classics.

Along with the latest cars exhibited at the recent auto show in Chandigarh, were some of these classics—as the auto-expert H. Kishie Singh puts it, cars with a lot of individual character and impeccable pedigree, be it British, American or German— each standing out even as they were all lined together. Also on display were motorcycles, including one dating as far back as 1917.

"There are a lot of car lovers in the city," says, Kishie Singh, who was responsible for having collected these machines. "The CII wanted to show contrast and I thought that this would be a great time to see the evolution and development of the automobile."

Though the city has many car lovers who own cars, there was only one vehicle that had been with the owner throughout. This is a 1934 Ford Sedan which Daljit Singh Chahal’s father bought for him. The young Chahal learnt to drive in this very car, he drove from Lahore in it across the "line of Partition" in 1947. He brought his wife home in this very car, and still putts around in it. Once you sit in the rear seat of this car, you can stretch out fully and be comfortable. The body does not have to be contorted to fit into the car; those days the paradigms were different—cars were built for people, you did not have to squeeze yourself into a car.

In the first half of the 20th century, car manufacturers went about ensuring a comfortable and smooth ride for their customers in various ways.

The French car company Citroen was a pioneer in Traction Avant (literally front drive); the front engine, front wheel drive design. It was a revolutionary step for its time and along with other features, Citroen Seven became a hot favourite in Europe. Baljit Singh Manco has one such car. He bought his 1938 Citroen in 1983. He restored it, though, as he says: "It still needs some work."

Of course there were many sceptics because the trend had already been set by front engine, rear wheel drive vehicles. This concept caught on so much that now, about 85 per cent of the cars manufactured world-wide today are of this configuration, says Kishie Singh

Baljit Singh’s other car has what was then the conventional configuration then. He owns a front engine, rear wheel drive 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster, a straight six cylinder engine car, popularly known as " the steel horse" which he bought in immaculate condition from an old British IPS officer who had garaged his car in India. "Till today, the engine has not been opened and not even a single nut, bolt has been added to the car. The upholstery, the roof, the running-boards, instruments, gadgets etc. are all original and functioning," he asserts. As someone pointed out tongue-in-cheek, the car also made a name for itself as a "Gangsters Car" in old Hollywood movies.

In direct contrast to the massive Fleetmaster is the diminutive 1951 Fiat. As Kishie Singh says, this car put Italy back on the road to recovery because it was slightly more expensive than a scooter but you could put your mother- in-law, your wife and children—seven people which is the ideal format for an Italian to go on holiday. It is only 500 cc.

"I bought it in 1970 for Rs 3,500, and after renovation it cost me Rs 6,500 says A. S. Sodhi, an agriculturist from Punjab who lives in Chandigarh. I kept it for four years and sold it. About four years ago, I bought it again for Rs 20,000 and now, after restoring it, it has now cost me Rs 65,000."

"I am attached to it because it is the first car I owned and since we were newly married, we travelled a lot in it. It still gives a mileage of 20 km per litre.

The British-made Austin cars were very popular in India too. There were two Austin Seven cars, a 1927 convertible that is the proud possession of Ravi Mann, and a 1934 Sedan that belongs to Raghav Khaitan. As Kishie Singh says: "Seven means 700 cc. It was the ideal sized engine capacity for the size of the car, basically a four-seater. A 700 cc would be sufficient even today; you need more for the accessories, the air-conditioning and all that.

Another British car that was a legend was the MG. At the show was a 1949 MG TC, a proud possession of Jaspal Anand. It is low slung, has exceptional road holding and very fast acceleration. "Every millionaire had one, as did every sports lover," says Sashi Garcha.

Tejinder Singh brought in his Willys Jeep in immaculate condition, with its side valve engines, which became famous for its tractability, which of course also depended on the distinctive non-directional tyres. These tyres had various advantages, not in the least being that by looking at the tyre treads, you could not make out which direction the vehicle had gone in.

Brig Jiti Phulka (retd) and his wife Sukhjiwan Phulka have a 1935 a Ford Tourer, a popular car of British origin manufactured as Y model. It was initially marketed in the UK at £100 apiece. It has a four-cylinder engine of eight-horse power. The couple got it two years ago.

"She wasn’t in a fully running condition at that time, she came back partially loaded and partially running and thereafter I have been at it and have got it to its present state where you can confidently take her out for a drive. I have been taking her to the golf course, and going for joyrides to the lake and so on. Yesterday, I had an interesting experience; I was talking to Mr Kim of Daewoo motors. He saw my exhibitor’s tag and inquired about my car. I told him that it would start before you could say the word Kim. He came over; I pressed the ignition and the engine fired magnificently. Izzat reh gai."

A car that drew many appreciative glances was the 1970 VW Beetle, lovingly maintained by Amarbir Singh. The endearing curves and its unique four cylinder, air-cooled, rear axle mounted engine made this car an enduring icon of German automobile industry. This Ferdinand Porsche-designed, Adolf Hitler-inspired Volkswagen (people’s car) became the best-selling car of all times.

Most of the motorcycles on display were from the stable of Kaka Singh, who has over a dozen such two wheelers. The ones he had on display included the 1917 motor cycle, which looks more like a motorised cycle. It had a carbide lamp, and six hand-operated gears, and front exhaust.

Then there is the 1949 S-8 Sunbeam, nicknamed the "Rolls Royce" of motorcycles. It is a shaft driven motorcycle with single overhead camshaft, twin cylinder in-line. Also on display were the 1952 BSA single cylinder, 350 cc, also a 1952 BSA Bantam 123.5 cc engine two stroke, single cylinder.

"When the whole world was producing 100 cc, 125 cc, 350 cc etc. the British produced a bike which was 123.5 cc. How on earth do you come up with such an absurd figure? You can only do that if you have been dealing with pounds, shillings and pence!" exclaims Kishie Singh

Alongside was a Triumph Speed Twin 500 cc belonging it D. S. Brar. It is a 1951 and from the late 40s to the late 60s the name Triumph was synonymous with British motorcycling excellence. Brar got it from the original owner, an octogenarian in Pune, after much persistence! These motorcycles won almost every Tourist Trophy race in Europe and were the chosen motorcycles for the police forces around the world.

The 1961 R-60 BMW is a shaft dive, with horizontally opposed twin engines. As Shashi Garcha was extolling the virtues of the bikes, someone asked him: "Don’t you also have a BMW?"

"Yes, but it is a 1998," replied Sashi. It must have been the ambience of the place, but there was an apologetic note in his voice.