Rare & Soon To Be Extinct Vehicles


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deville_56

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Lets discuss, less rare, too common in recent past, not far from becoming extinct without attaining classic image vehicles.
 

350Z

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Good topic. Hindustan Ambassador, Maruti 800 and Maruti Omni are the names that immediately strike me. Do share your list as well.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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deville_56

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Hindustan Cosmo. An updated wider version of the horrible RTV aka Road Trusted Vehicle made in collaboration with OKA, an Australian AWD vehicle maker. Original RTV looked horrible and there was a truck version also. I think this was discontinued later 2000s.

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Thread Starter #5

deville_56

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Matador Van

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During KG times, there were only Matadors, Standard and Mahindra vans, just the time of launch of 407 and bigger ones were Swaraj Mazdas, DCM Toyotas and Mitsubishis. Most schools had a Matador then, before Mahindra getting upper hand. Also most ambulances then were Matadors. There were 2 models F305 and F307 (different engines), available in many wheelbases in van and truck versions. All were front wheel drives and often axles/drive shafts failed when taking hard corners, of course overloaded. These were basically Hanomag F20 or Mercedes/Daimler L206/L307. Matador engines were the favorite among Amby owners for swap.

Matador later replaced RWD version just before its demise, designated R307 and RA307, which could not compete with Tata 407 and failed miserably in market. There is one food truck nearby that's R307.

Last time I saw a line up of Matador was in 2006 in Bangalore at Rajaji Nagar. A whole lorry stand full of F307s.
 
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Matador Van

View attachment 254251

During KG times, there were only Matadors, Standard and Mahindra vans, just the time of launch of 407 and bigger ones were Swaraj Mazdas, DCM Toyotas and Mitsubishis. Most schools had a Matador then, before Mahindra getting upper hand. Also most ambulances then were Matadors. There were 2 models F305 and F307 (different engines), available in many wheelbases in van and truck versions. All were front wheel drives and often axles/drive shafts failed when taking hard corners, of course overloaded. These were basically Hanomag F20 or Mercedes/Daimler L206/L307. Matador engines were the favorite among Amby owners for swap.

Matador later replaced RWD version just before its demise, designated R307 and RA307, which could not compete with Tata 407 and failed miserably in market. There is one food truck nearby that's R307.
s.
when i was school kid 90s matadors were used to ferry kids to school to and fro by pvt operators. the service also was called as matador / divekar ,(name of person maybe)
 
Thread Starter #7

deville_56

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Mahindra MaxiCab.

That's the name all we knew till we grew up. It was Mahindra FJ460/FJ470 (Previously Jeep FC160/170). It came in pickup and van versions, including ambulance, delivery van, etc. There was also a cab/cowl variant initially. And the sexy part being a 4x4 version available from factory.

First version was original Jeep version itself during Mahindra's Jeep collaboration period. It had wraparound curved windshield and a Hurricane petrol engine. My first school van was indeed this one. A beautiful white one with aluminium side window frames. It wasn't that reliable and broke down quite often, most of the time water gushing out of radiator. They replaced it with an even unreliable Standard 10 first gen and then a second gen and finally settled with a Mahindra diesel FJ.

Flat windscreen replaced the curved ones when laminated glass was made mandatory and may be flat one was cheaper.

Mahindra later introduced two diesel engines, the Peugeot XDP 4.90 and the Perkins P4/Simpsons S4, which is still popular with private school trip operators and illegal parallel van service people due to cheap maintenance and reliability.

Low roof version. They initially came with wraparound front glass, but flat screened was popular.

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Delivery van version. The original aluminium-framed side glass. The police van and ambulances were common in Bollywood movies.

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The 4x4 version. They were the lifeline of Dhanuskodi (Rameshwaram). It was a rollercoaster trip in it to lands end. Sadly now road is made to land's end and these have gone extinct. Still a handful are available on request, if you really wanna go wild. They had manually lockable wheel hubs. There were some pickups also, which weren't even in scene during the recent trip.

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High-roof version. They instantly killed the low-roof version. The low-roof variant was instantly wiped out of scene with the high-roof introduction, with most of them being converted to the latter. It was pain to stand up in low-roof once we were grown up, especially near the rear wheel arch.

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Interesting part, a couple drove it overland from Trivandrum to Holland. Their full story >> Bring Us Home

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and a mighty pickup used for off road safari.

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PC: KKP Tours and Travels
 
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Wow. loved it. It brought my distant memories, When I travelled to lands end in one of these maxi cabs. Thanks for jogging my memories. I feel like buying one of those maxicabs, liked the color of cab that Holland couple owned.
 
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I would focus on vehicles that are bound to be classic soon

1) Standard 2000 - One of the luxury marquees during early 80's. I used to drool over them whenever I saw one.
2) Tempo 3 wheeler - One odd looking vehicle which could conquer 3 dirt roads overloaded with upto 20 passengers
3) Hindustan Trekker - MUV by Hindustan Motors with underpinning from ubiquitous Ambassador
4) Enfield Fury - It was a German bike (Zundap) that was launched in early 80's. I believe first bike to have front disc brakes. Was hoot to ride.
5) Bajaj Enduro - Bajaj's tried a dirt bike with KB 100 engine and frame. Was an exciting bike when launched.
6) Hindustan Contessa - I always loved the car for what it was. very less original samples available most have been modified by cheap mechanics.
7) Original Fialt 110 (Dhukkar face) The round face Fiat 1100 with front doors hinged on B piller.

Cheers !!

Sam
 

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deville_56

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I would focus on vehicles that are bound to be classic soon

2) Tempo 3 wheeler - One odd looking vehicle which could conquer 3 dirt roads overloaded with upto 20 passengers

Cheers !!

Sam
Tempo Hanseat. Already extinct in southern part of India. It got German connections, actually made by Tempo-Werke (Original dad of our Matador). It was in production till 2000 in India. Unique feature was even being a three wheeler, it was front wheel drive with engine mounted over the steering column and driven by chain. First it was powered by 2-stroke petrol engine and later by Lombardini diesel engine that produced less than 10 bhp and always ran overloaded.
 

bhvm

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These Buses/ Vans are friggin Awesome!
They'll make the perfect Overlanding companion. Esp the ones with 4x4 option would be a traveller's dream. (Pun intended)

Unfortunately Indians always get the short end of stick, with no 4x4 buses available today.
 
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deville_56

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Mahindra Armada

The forefather of Bolero. First "SUV" manufactured by Mahindra. Armada was the evolution of a 3 door station wagon called MM775 (evolved to Commander and later Marshal). There was also a factory sold, locally built shoddy long-wheelbase wagon version of MM540 before MM775 and Armada's arrival. It was powered by a 2.1 litre Peugeot XDP engine from MM540 and had a proper dashboard and air conditioning. Came in 4x4 version as well.

Armada had a different fibreglass front fascia with rectangle headlights with the vertical slats still visible through the cladding. Indicators were mounted on another fibreglass cladding, which is missing in both examples below, indeed it was missing in almost all Armada's I came across.

It came with fat radials unlike the skinny nylon tyres seen on other Mahindras, I think in 15 inch. They had a beautiful looking hub cap, which was in the wishlist of every 90s kids who wanted to modify an Ambassador.

Armada was upgraded to Armada Grand later with an even beautiful front fascia with round lights. My ex-neighbour got one and still maintained in pristine condition, didn't get a chance to click yet. It had an upgraded 2.5 litre Peugeot engine and more creature comforts like power steering, power windows, central locking and more comfortable suspension. And the best part, a Borg-Warner electronically switchable 4WD.


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A beautiful example from one of the TAI member. The Beast Unleashed - Mahindra Armada

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