Preamble:
In
Part-I of the above topic, we talked about the 'foreign/latest technology'
and 'new generation' cars – at the same time we kept wondering whether
they are more ‘reliable’ than the ones we had earlier –
especially from post WW-II till the mid ‘80s – when the Maruti-800
totally revolutionised the Indian Motoring scene.
In Part-II, as promised, I take you back from the present – which
atleast makes me wonder whether this old was really gold – compared
to the present!
Our first family Car was an Austin-8, a ‘CBU’ import from
Birmingham, England. Believe it or not, I still dream about it - as I
was only 7yrs old then. It came ‘on road’ in Jan 1948 at a
price of Rs. 6.5k - when one British Pound was probably < Rs: 10/-
! My Dad's ‘take home’ then was probably less than Rs:500/-pm
and Petrol cost Rs. 0.50P/lr!!
However, post WW-II, Petrol was ‘rationed’ against ‘Coupons’.
My Dad was entitled to only 25 lrs a month, which was its Tank capacity
too, issued by the then PDS Dept. He was, incidentally, its Chief, of
the erstwhile Holkar State.
It had a 4-cyl-side valve 800cc (?) engine. No Power or Torque figs were
specified – perhaps considered ‘Adequate’ like a Rolls
Royce (till recently). It had no water pump (never over heated even in
45*C+ ambient), no oil filter, 6v electricals, non-pressurised cooling
system, mech/bicycle like brakes which never synchronised well on all
wheels after some time but also never failed.
Recommended cruising speed was 30 mph and it usually returned 30 ‘mpg’
in town. The OE engine lasted only 30,000 miles and was re-bored twice
till we parted with it in 1965, probably with close to 100, 000 miles
on the clock. The Odo stopped working anyway after the first few years
(brass gears). On a good day n favourable wind/road conditions, one could
push it to 50mph - with the pedal fully floored!
It had genuine leather all around and adjustable ‘Bucket Seats’
up front, cream coloured ‘English Flannel' roof lining, with a manual/sliding
Sun Roof to boot - which always leaked in tropical rains (drain passages
getting choked with dirt). You could also yank out its top-hinged windscreen
by about 45* - by a chrome plated cranking lever on the dashboard. Besides
the Speedo/Odo, it also had a ‘Three in 0ne’ Ammeter/OPG/FG.
There was an Amby like Turn Indicator System on the Steering too but ‘Semaphore’
type and ‘solenoid’ operated - which stopped working pretty
soon, but none bothered as hand signalling was preferred those days.
It also had an interesting rear window/antiglare ‘system’,
by way of a mechanically draw-up curtain made out of 'matching' Fabric,
on a ‘sprung’ roller under the rear window, pulled by a ‘string’,
activated by flicking a chrome plated lever 180* from lock to lock, located
around top of the B pillar.
Content
generated by S. K. Gupta. - 11/’02. |
