View of Vintage Car of 1911 British India, Old Print
A page from The Illustrated London News of 1911 shows a vintage car (in today’s time) in British India. The car in the picture is the all British make Wolseley. Once the most prolifically used car across colonial India, it had a charm of its own. More of an upper-middle-class vehicle than a luxury car. The Wolseley started commercial production in 1901.
And became one of the largest selling motor cars in Britain. Over expansion and an excessively wide range of models in fact put them in financial hardship. By 1927 it was sold to Morris Motors Limited. It became a favorite with British Indians until the early 1950s whence the import of all foreign cars stopped. A “make it in India” policy of that time.
Since more importance was given to producing indigenously. In the picture, the Wolseley tourer is shown in comparison to a bullock cart. With the caption “Vehicular Progression Ancient And Modern.” The scene is from somewhere possibly in Northern India. Today the Wolseley is a vintage collector’s dream car. On the adjacent sides are two interesting pictures of early airplanes of 1911. It is to be remembered that the first successful airplane flight was in 1903. That was only 11 years back from the date of this newspaper- 1911. See also pictures of advertisements on the back of this newspaper. Click on the photo for better view.
Read more Nehru & the Story of Indian Automobiles. See my post Standard “S” Vintage Car In Madras – Old Print 1914.
Did you know- the India made Standard Herald once used to be the sports car that youngsters gushed over it in the 1970s-80s.
From the collection- c1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal On Paper Two Women (#4)., Entrance To Nizam’s Hyderabad, Old Photo 1880., 1894 Kottayam Travancore Postcard Experimental P.O. Cancellation., Street Scene In Bombay – Old Print 1873
