by Kooverji Gamadia – – – If the India of the Raj was identified with the Maharajas and their Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Daimlers, then independent India was identified with the Hindustan Ambassador, fondly known to two generations of Indians as “The Queen of Indian Roads”. There was no whiff of royalty about her, quite the […]
International Correspondents
The Case Book of 23s
By Eli Solomon Eli goes down a slippery slope with this article that attempts to trace all the Lotus 23s that raced in South East Asia. These cars were extremely successful in both club and Grand Prix racing, winning the Grand Prix in Johore and Singapore, and fanning the flames of interest in the sport […]
Super Friendly, Super Frail
By Eli Solomon Eli takes a look at most of the Lotus cars that raced in South East Asia (and Macau) from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. These range from the ubiquitous Seven, through to the 69 open-wheeler. The circuit races in Johore, Penang, Selangor and Singapore, and many of the club events […]
Clubbing in South East Asia
A brief history of the sporting pursuits of the motoring clubs of Malaysia and Singapore By Eli Solomon Malaysia and Singapore have a rich motoring and an equally rich motor sports history. This article looks at the diversity of clubs that existed from the early days of the motorcar up to the 1980s, and the […]
Museums of India
THE MOTOR COLLECTIONS AND MUSEUMS OF INDIA [Firstly, a note from our Chairman about this special contribution: I met Kooverji and some members of the Classic Drivers Group in Mumbai, in March 2018 and we have been corresponding and Zooming since that fortunate morning. He was our first ‘Global Correspondent’ and his first letter on […]
The Making of the De Tomaso Pantera – by Gautam Sen
By the end of the 1960s, after a decade of designing cars for Ghia, Pininfarina, and then Ghia once again, the American architect-turned-car-designer Tom Tjaarda had finally developed a style and form structure which was distinctively his own. Cars like the Serenissima GT, the De Tomaso, Mustela, and the Lancia Fulvia HF Competizione and Marica […]
ON THE STROKE OF TWO
The Art of Winning a Grand Prix After ceaseless campaigning by members of the Singapore Motor Club (SMC), His Highness, the Tunku Mahkota of Johore stepped forward to give the green light for what was to become the Johore Coronation Grand Prix of 1960 following a secession of street circuit racing in the […]
Through Their Eyes – Thirteen Years Of Exciting Racing Around The Upper Thomson Road Circuit
“It was lovely and fast-flowing, a wonderful and challenging circuit, and so gratifying when you manage to put it all together. You never ever thought, ‘‘Ooo’, what if I go down there?’” Australian Vern Schuppan, the last winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, unfazed by all the hype about the treacherous monsoon drains, bus stops […]
THE 1947 BUICK ROADMASTER IN INDIA
During British rule, which ended in 1947, and into the 1950s, British and American vehicles dominated Indian roads. Every conceivable marque from Rolls-Royce and Cadillac to Austin and Plymouth could be espied. Continental cars, fewer in numbers compared to their British and American counterparts, were mostly represented by the prestigious marques including Hispano-Suiza, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, […]
