EJJI'S CARS

EJJI - OUTLIER, ICONOCLAST, CONGENITAL SYBARITE, CODDIWOMPLER, RECONDITIONED TEENAGER EJJI'S THEME OF LIFE EJJI'S CLIPPINGS & CUTTINGS EJJI'S CERTIFICATES OF ACHIEVEMENTS ASEAN INDIA CAR RALLY 2012 INDO MYANMAR FRIENDSHIP CAR RALLY 2012 FORMULA ONE INDIAN GRAND PRIX EJJI'S FAMILY - PAGE 1 EJJI'S FAMILY - PAGE 2 EJJI'S FAMILY - PAGE 3 EJJI IN THEATER EJJI IN MOVIES EJJI THE FREEMASON EJJI'S ARTICLES 1 EJJI'S ARTCLES 2 EJJI'S ARTICLES 3 EJJI THE OMNIVORE EJJI'S TRAVELS EJJI'S CLUBS EJJI IN ROUND TABLE EJJI'S CARS EJJI'S VIDEOS ON THE NET INDIA-ASEAN CAR RALLY 2004 BUDAPEST BAMAKO CAR RALLY & TIMBUKTU INDIAN AUTORICKSHAW CHALLENGE BHAMINI'S PAGE EJJI DOMESTIC SERVICES TRIBUTES TO EJJI EJJI'S OBITUARY ANNOUNCEMENT CONTACT EJJI

Cars and Ejji

I always was and still am fascinated by cars. I learnt driving from my father PK in a Hindustan Landmaster. I used to drive the car when I had to be dropped by my father in high school. I was 14 years old. I got my driving license soon. The list of cars and pictures here is not complete. I have owned many other cars. I have just put up pictures of cars I owned that I could find in my photo collection.

STANDARD HERALD MARK II- my first car. (Person in picture is my friend Lakshman, a car lover too.)

I bought my first car in 1970. This car was completely dismantled by me at a workshop in Coimbatore and re-modeled. The dashboard was a cluster of dials, like an aircraft cockpit. The steering was a racing steering. The gearshift was a chromium "T" shift with teak wood inlay. Foam cushioned and contoured bucket seats in black. A monogram "E" on the front radiator grille made of solid brass and gold plated! And, here's the best! The body color was aluminum metallic paint mixed with a dash of violet that was virtually unknown those days. The body color was an absolute hit. And the top was black, matt finished wrinkle paint! Again, something no one had tried earlier. The exhaust pipe and silencer were modified to give a howl and a boom with perfect beats when accelerating or decelerating. The sound of the car when it came down a hill road was an eye stopper, or shall I say "ear stopper"! The car was recognized wherever it went. When parked in a public place, you had a crowd of admirers around it. A great boost for my ego, of course. And all this at a time when cars were a novelty. And this “novel car” was a rarity! The person in the picture is my friend Lakshman, another car lover.

VOLVO 164 E- A blood red car, but I do not have a picture in color! The car was a top selling model around the world for many years and is now a collector's item. It is one of the sturdiest cars ever built. And Volvo cars had features that were far ahead of their times. For example, it had individual air conditioning ducts for each passenger. And the ducts were at various levels in the car, so that any single person could adjust the airflow to their requirement. It had a system by which an indicator would tell you that one of the many bulbs in the car's electrical circuit was defective. It came with an electronic fuel injector, which today is a standard in most cars.

HM CONTESSA : According to me the safest car for highways. A very long nose keeps you safe in case of an impact. But lacks ground clearance, side impact bars and other safety features that were yet to come.

WILLYS CJ 3A- Remodelled by me!

This WILLYS CJ 3 Jeep 4 x 4 was found as a junk under a haystack when I was visiting Coorg. I bought it and got it by a lorry as a heap of junk to Madras. I got the patterns of Jeep Wrangler 2000 from the Internet. I replaced the steering wheel with a sleek sports steering, altered the dash board with an array of panel meters, made and fixed special roll bars, made it a two-seater with totally adjustable bucket seats in black with head rests, painted the body with Du Pont Landover yellow baked paint (the paint used for Wranglers), retained the original side valve petrol engine after over hauling it, fitted special broad chrome wheels with Bridgestone broad tires, and altered the silencers to give a big boom with perfect beats when the engine runs, fitted two wing mirrors, and everything else to make it look different and attractive. The 4 x 4 gear system was kept intact. The dynamo was replaced with an alternator.

It took a long time to do all this, but it was a marvelous vehicle. It is now with Sarika and her husband Rishi in Bangalore, and still makes waves on the roads when they use it over weekends.

Toyota Corolla H1 1.8J

FORD MUSTANG- my most favorite car

This car was not just an eye stopper. It was a traffic stopper. People have stopped me on the road just to see the car properly. And some of them became good friends. Like GV. He stopped me on the road to have a look at this car, and subsequently became a good friend. When I owned this car there were just 4 Ford Mustangs in India, and the 4 owners knew each other!

CAR IN WHICH I LEARNT DRIVING FROM PK- MSY 3151

Maruti Omni- Rasika & Sarika's first car

My daughters Rasika and Sarika got their first car on their 14th birthday along with a fraudulent "Learner's Driving License", though they were under aged. A professional driving instructor taught them driving. I polished their skills. I got them a fraudulent "valid driving license" soon, though they were still under aged. They used to drive their own car to school, much to the concern of the school management. On their 18th birthday, I got them a perfectly legal driving license. How I managed the license work, you could ask me in person! After all, "everything in this world has a price!"

STANDARD HERALD 1964 model

This STANDARD HERALD is the first of the cars made by the company in its plant at Vandalur near Tambaram, Madras. A friend Mr. Narayanswamy, one of the oldest car collectors I have known, owned it. The sports red body is complimented by a black matt finish top. The car is in perfect condition and has the following additional features: Pioneer stereo tape player and radio, motorized radio antenna (rear fixed), motorized windscreen washer, master power cut off switch, alternator, electronic tachometer, original speedometer with odometer, 6 extra gauges on customized dashboard, sports steering.

AUSTIN 1931

The oldest car that I have owned. Nothing is altered in this car. Just as it was made. And I am the third owner! It was owned by the first buyer in England, who brought it with him to India in 1931. It was his son who was the second owner, and I am the third. This car has mehanical brakes, and all the gauges still work, It has a crank start and also one of the first starter motors for that age.

THE DASH BOARD OF THE AUSTIN