Motor Cars In British India Era, Old PC 1949
Old 1949 PC or postcard of motor cars in the British India era. Two cars are shown standing in front of the Town Hall in Bombay, now Mumbai. What looks like a Buick and a Hindustan Ten (in the shade). The first car arrived seemingly in 1897 and is believed to be in Calcutta, now Kolkata. Since then motor vehicles were here to stay.
Wealthy Parsi businessmen and Maharajas were the main buyers. It was no wonder that by the 1920s to 1940s India had one of the highest numbers of Rolls-Royces in the world. The Hindustan Ten was the first car brought out by Hindustan Motors in 1949 in collaboration with Morris Motors, UK. The Hindustan Ten was a ditto copy of the Morris Ten.
It then progressed to the ‘Baby’ Hindustan (Morris Minor), then to a bigger Hindustan ‘Fourteen’. The ‘Fourteen’ gave way to the ‘Landmaster’, finally replaced by the ‘Ambassador’ in 1957. The ‘Ambassador car was in production till 2014, it remained solid for 57 years in the Indian market. Built by the British in 1833 and designed by Colonel Thomas Cowper of the Bombay Engineers. The Bombay Town Hall is of neoclassical architectural design. Click on the photo for better view.
See also Buick Cars In Madras – Old Photo 1929.
Did you know- the first in India car was possibly a French model, DeDion, that left residents terrified as per newspaper reports
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma Commemorative Stamp Folder., 1974 News Photo Cochin Fishing Nets., Vasco Da Gama Before The Zamorin Calicut – Old Postcard., Construction Of The Mullaperiyar Dam Kerala, 1892 Print
