What a wonderful experience it was to visit a car
museum where an impressive array of vintage cars are exhibited under one roof!
Yes, in the Sharjah Classic Car Museum one can see a huge collection of
cars from the early years of the 20th
century;from the early Ford T Model
cars to a variety of other Ford cars, Chevrolets,Bentleys, Pontiacs, Cadillacs,
Fiats, Benzes and so on.What is striking
is the fact that the cars are kept in excellent running condition, immaculately
painted with the metal parts shining. A Rolls-Royce Ecstasy is a great
attraction. Then there is a Limousine type Benz 6oo Pullman and a French Citroen
with a special hydraulic system and push button brakes! The names and models
like Ford Mustang, Ben
 |
Benz
Pullman |
tly, MG, Phantom, Pontiac, Land Rover and so on brought
back memories of reading these names in the books of Earl Stanley Gardner and
James Hadley Chase and other English detective novels in our younger years. An
old red ‘Fire Engine’ is the cynosure of all eyes.To see all the
models of the period was a unique experience as even variations of some of
these cars were unavailable in our country then.
 |
| Fiat |
 |
| Studebaker Champion |
Still, there were a few of these brands in the 40s and 50s even in our small towns as a bye product of
our earlier colonial status. The richer among the rich could acquire these models as well
as desi versions of the Morris Oxford (Hindustan) and Standard
cars(Vanguard)and the Bug Fiats and the like. There were a large number of rich
planters and estate owners, timber lords, contractors, wholesale rice
merchants, jewellers and bus owners and so on who used to drive through our narrow
streets in their Plymouths, Cadillacs, Impalas, Pontiacs and Chevrolets, Studebaker Packards
while people looked at them through wonder struck eyes.There was a rich planter
near my home who used to travel sitting pompously in the backseat of his
chauffeur driven white Studebaker Champion, with a pipe in his mouth, which is an enduring image in the mind even
now. The son of a rich planter cum bus owner had an enormous Chevrolet Impala
Convertible which used to sail through
the beach road with the hood down.There was a businessman sporting his
immaculately painted and polished huge black Rolls Royce. A prominent jeweller used to drive a sprawling long white
Buick Sedan and drop his son at our
school. My mind raced back to these images when I saw a similar white
Studebaker Champion and other cars in
the museum. The variants of the big Ford, Plymouth and Chevrolet Sedans were mostly
run as Taxis thanks to their huge cabin
space . A large number of the U.K. made Morris Minors and Austins , especially
A-40s, were also on the roads then. There is a beautiful orange red and black Fiat 509 in the museum a variant of which was commonly
seen in the 50s in our town.By the late
50s and early 60s these grand foreign models started disappearing from Indian
roads as a result of Government’s import policies. The Hindustans, Landmasters,
Ambassadors, Fiats and Standard Vanguards,10s and Heralds, all manufactured in
India,took over the Indian roads. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
A few other lingering memories of images and
experiences came flashing through the mind. The main pastime of students and
youngsters of those days in our town was to go to the long beautiful beach in the evenings and spend time playing in the
sea and watching the lighthouse coming
to life and flash its light. We also made it a point to wait for the flashes from another light house
about twenty five kms. away. In between
we used to watch the luxurious cars parading to and fro on the long beach road.
The sons of some of the rich car owners, some of them our school/college
mates, made it a point to display their fortunate
possessions by driving the cars as fast
as they could making as much noise as possible in an effort to impress. To our
great pleasure some of them waved their
hands at us making us feel very important! Several Royal Enfield Bullet
motorbikes with their trade mark beats were also on show. Inwardly we longed
that one day we will also be speeding through the beach road in our own cars
and bikes!
As far as our own mode of
transport was concerned, the fortunate among us owned bi-cycles, a few got them on hire. The rest made it by
foot! Several cycle hiring shops were there which hired them at 12 paise(2
Annas)per hour for old ones and 18 paise to 25 paise per hour for newer ones.I
belonged to the 2nd and 3rd category but I had the
luxury of using my father’s Phillips bicycle
on his off days. Among bicycles the coveted brands were the Raleigh and BSA
even though the Humber and the Rudge were equally in demand. While these brands were costlier the most
popular brand was the Phillips, known for its toughness and reasonable price.
Another popular brand was ‘Hercules’ followed by ‘Atlas’.
A very interesting add-on
to the bicycle was the light.The luxury light was the Miller dynamo and head
light as it is not easily affordable. It is maintenance free, can be easily
operated and threw enough light on the road at night.The most popular and cheap
alternative was the cute SARDAR brand paraffin lamps. It used to have two small
windows, red on one side and green on the other. As paraffin was not easily
available a mixture of kerosene and coconut oil wasused as fuel. Riding a bicycle without light
at night was as serious a traffic offence as riding double or riding on the
right hand side of the road. Of course, the rules were strictly enforced
too! Bicycles without chain covers, with half chain
covers and with full chain covers called gearbox were also there.Those who
could afford changed the ordinary factory fitted saddle for
a comfortable BROOKS saddle! Hand pumps for filling air in the tubes inside the
tyres were also there. Riding a bicycle in the rain with one hand and holding
an open umbrella on the other was great fun!
I could, in course of time,
own a bicycle, scooter and could ride the Royal Enfield Bullet on the M.G. Road of Bangalore. Years later
while driving my car on the old beach road I remembered that it was once my dream to drive a car on the same road . But alas! I felt no joy , no thrill! Those old carefree days cannot be regained. I wondered where the old friends would be that moment.
Still, there were a few of these brands in the 40s and 50s even in our small towns as a bye product of
our earlier colonial status. The richer among the rich could acquire these models as well
as desi versions of the Morris Oxford (Hindustan) and Standard
cars(Vanguard)and the Bug Fiats and the like. There were a large number of rich
planters and estate owners, timber lords, contractors, wholesale rice
merchants, jewellers and bus owners and so on who used to drive through our narrow
streets in their Plymouths, Cadillacs, Impalas, Pontiacs and Chevrolets, Studebaker Packards
while people looked at them through wonder struck eyes.There was a rich planter
near my home who used to travel sitting pompously in the backseat of his
chauffeur driven white Studebaker Champion, with a pipe in his mouth, which is an enduring image in the mind even
now. The son of a rich planter cum bus owner had an enormous Chevrolet Impala
Convertible which used to sail through
the beach road with the hood down.There was a businessman sporting his
immaculately painted and polished huge black Rolls Royce. A prominent jeweller used to drive a sprawling long white
Buick Sedan and drop his son at our
school. My mind raced back to these images when I saw a similar white
Studebaker Champion and other cars in
the museum. The variants of the big Ford, Plymouth and Chevrolet Sedans were mostly
run as Taxis thanks to their huge cabin
space . A large number of the U.K. made Morris Minors and Austins , especially
A-40s, were also on the roads then. There is a beautiful orange red and black Fiat 509 in the museum a variant of which was commonly
seen in the 50s in our town.By the late
50s and early 60s these grand foreign models started disappearing from Indian
roads as a result of Government’s import policies. The Hindustans, Landmasters,
Ambassadors, Fiats and Standard Vanguards,10s and Heralds, all manufactured in
India,took over the Indian roads. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
A few other lingering memories of images and
experiences came flashing through the mind. The main pastime of students and
youngsters of those days in our town was to go to the long beautiful beach in the evenings and spend time playing in the
sea and watching the lighthouse coming
to life and flash its light. We also made it a point to wait for the flashes from another light house
about twenty five kms. away. In between
we used to watch the luxurious cars parading to and fro on the long beach road.
The sons of some of the rich car owners, some of them our school/college
mates, made it a point to display their fortunate
possessions by driving the cars as fast
as they could making as much noise as possible in an effort to impress. To our
great pleasure some of them waved their
hands at us making us feel very important! Several Royal Enfield Bullet
motorbikes with their trade mark beats were also on show. Inwardly we longed
that one day we will also be speeding through the beach road in our own cars
and bikes!
A very interesting add-on
to the bicycle was the light.The luxury light was the Miller dynamo and head
light as it is not easily affordable. It is maintenance free, can be easily
operated and threw enough light on the road at night.The most popular and cheap
alternative was the cute SARDAR brand paraffin lamps. It used to have two small
windows, red on one side and green on the other. As paraffin was not easily
available a mixture of kerosene and coconut oil wasused as fuel. Riding a bicycle without light
at night was as serious a traffic offence as riding double or riding on the
right hand side of the road. Of course, the rules were strictly enforced
too! Bicycles without chain covers, with half chain
covers and with full chain covers called gearbox were also there.Those who
could afford changed the ordinary factory fitted saddle for
a comfortable BROOKS saddle! Hand pumps for filling air in the tubes inside the
tyres were also there. Riding a bicycle in the rain with one hand and holding
an open umbrella on the other was great fun!
