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Pictures Legend:The top two pictures are the latest ones- note the new white wall tyres fitted as in the original ones in the 1950's. The third picture is from last year when the car was getting repaired by me. my daughter is seated there. The third picture is of the car's dash and interiors also a new picture)
(This article with photographs has appeared in the summer 2007 issue of Quality First, published from Oxford , UK, by the Morris Cowley, Oxford and Issis Owner's Club of which yours truly is a member)
My Lady In Black
It had never occurred to me that BYJ 276 will be mine. The Landmaster has been a one-owner car since December 23rd 1955, till 2003. The late Mr Balamukund Kamathikar, its first owner, who passed away at the age of 82 years on July 19,2007, was the grandson of Rai Bahadur D. Laxminarayan. His wife Mrs D. Bahnabai,had been driven in this car till 1984, the year she breathed her last. The late D. Laxminarayan was a
philanthropist, who in 1935, had donated about Rs 35 lakhs, a princely sum in cash those days and tens of acres of land in Nagpur city for the Nagpur University. In fact, Drs Homi Babha, Raja Ramanna both Chairmen, Atomic Energy Commission, Govt of India and Bal Gandharva, the classical singer , have all been driven in this car. When important cases used to come up, Shri D. N. Sheorey alias Dadasaheb, the then Advocate General of CP and Berar State, liked to be driven to the court in this car, as it proved lucky for him. The day this car was sold, in 2003, Mr Balamukund was so sad that he skipped his meals! He was the
one who kept the car spick and span, all the 48 years!
As the car was not in regular use for the last few years, it took me some months to make it road-worthy. Mr Mahesh Misal has also struggled to get the car back in top shape. To my very pleasant surprise, Mr Chandrakant Birla, Chairman, Hindustan Motors, India responded personally to my request with a very cordial reply. He was happy that I could buy a Landmaster in mint condition and sent me a 350 page, Xeroxed workshop manual of the car, free of cost. The car's British name was Morris Oxford Series II and is more than 90 % British. Messrs Hindustan Motors, Calcutta, India, manufactured 11600 Landmasters during April 1954 to March 1957. These were available in grey, green, beige,peacock blue and black colours. Only a hundred odd of them may still be roadworthy. Most of the post-war British cars of the 1950’s are an embodiment of the marvels of design, engineering, and technology. The British car
industry was at its zenith then. In fact, the world’s top-rated
manufacturers were located in the U.K. until the early 1970’s. The
solid- build quality of these cars is sorely missed these days in the
Japanese and Korean imports that have flooded the Indian market.
My tryst with this car has created quite a few anecdotes, but I 'll
like to share a few.
An old friend appeared one day and upon seeing the
car said," this car is like the ones shown in old black and white
Bollywood movies, where villians kill someone and put the corpse in the cavernous luggage boot, to carry it for dumping. This twist begins the film plot.” Once in 2003, while ferrying my daughter Onjula, to her school in Sadar, Nagpur, the car stalled at a traffic signal and became a barrier for the traffic to move on, at the turn of green. My instant worry was - 15 minutes for the school bell to ding-dong. I sighted another father ferrying his son wearing the school uniform, to the same school and waved at his car requesting him for a lift. He immediately agreed and it shows that the Orange City of Nagpur still has many good Samaritans. A police constable on duty at the West High Court Road
helped me push the Landmaster to the roadside - another Good Samaritan. I wish I could photograph him doing such a splendid job in uniform! A lot of petrol had purged on the road- maybe all of five litres. The fault was traced to the cylindrical, carburettor float, which is of brass. The float had sunk within the float chamber of the SU (Skinners Union) carburettor, instead of floating. The float had a leaking joint that made it fill up with petrol.
The Hitavada( a vernacular newspaper from Nagpur) - ICJC (Indian Jaycees Junior Chamber) Vintage and Classic Car Rally of 2004 and 2007 were a pleasure to take part in. I had pasted a copy of Mr C. K. Birla's letter on the windshield, which attracted many viewers. While on the move, many enthusiastic onlookers waved and cheered us. During the nearly 45 kms run the solidly built car, drove like a fortress on wheels and never faltered even once. Its hats off to Babubhai and Noorabhai, the two garage owners and doyens,
who have repaired such cars since decades. For my Mrs and daughter, it was a very memorable drive.In the 2007 Rally, we won the Best Maintained Classic Car (runner up ) award among the nearly 50 cars that had participated. I know, this is a piece of history. The “Lady in Black,” with its gleaming paint and original British chrome-work, refuses to succumb to the vagaries of weather, even after 53 years! Its mechanism is simple to
work upon for a D I Y enthusiast like me. Be it either body shell or
the mechanicals like the engine and transmission or the
electricals-these are quite user-friendly and always thrilling to
handle and repair. While doing the repair jobs I often get pleasantly surprised to see “Made in England” tags on many components that are serving tirelessly since 53 years! Touchwood! Even Sir William Morris founder of Morris Motors, U.K. had called the Oxford a simple, reliable, and well-engineered machine. It
was Britain’s best-selling car for many years.
My Landmaster instantly acknowledges and responds to any repair and/or maintenance job performed upon it. The response is felt through the steering and gas pedal, that show a marked improvement in the performance sweepstakes after almost every such job. The newer cars are not so instantly responsive sometimes, even if one or more spares are
replaced. “Replacement of parts” is a somewhat alien phrase for my “Lady in Black.” Most of its components are repairable, which is a boon as spares are not so easy to come by. I have now started building up a spares stockpile for my Landmaster. The parking and taillight covers need the most frequent replacements. So also the wiper blades, distributor rotor, and fan belt are subject to wear and tear. I have stockpiled these along with some other mechanicals and electricals. The car weighs 1120Kg and is fitted with the 1489cc, side valve B M C (British Motor Corporation) engine. The contemporary Morris Oxford Series II in the U.K., then used to be fitted with the 1489cc, Over Head Valve, B M C engines. The side valve engine was carried over from the Hindustan 14 (Morris Oxford Series I) to the Landmaster by Messrs Hindustan Motors . The same engine was fitted to older Ambassadors (Morris Oxford Series III) during 1958-59.
In 1960, the proven 1489 cc O H V, B M C engine made its debut in India and continued its innings till 1992, when it was replaced by the 4 cyl,OHC,1817cc/ 75bhp/ 135Nm Isuzu engine to power the Ambassador. The Ambassador was and still rules the roost as a VIP car in India. It is a potent symbol of power and despite the Indian car market being flooded with a galaxy of cars right from the Maruti Suzuki Alto to the Rolls Royce Phantom, most VIP’s prefer the ubiquitous Ambassador with a beacon. Prime Ministers in India until only a few years ago used the Ambassador. The terror-threats since the mid 1980’s made many VIP’s beef-up their security by ordering armour- plated Ambassadors. Thus, the first of the VIP fleet cars were fitted with the Isuzu engines in
the mid-1980’s, as the 1489 cc engine was underpowered and less torquey to power the heavier armour plated,body shell. With the introduction of peppier cars in competition, this engine became the heart of all Ambassadors since 1992. The Ambassador has turned 50 in India in 2008!
I am a member of the famed Morris Cowley, Oxford and
Issis Owner's Club of Oxford, UK and the upcoming and vibrant Hertiage
Vehicle Owner's Club of Thane(HVOCT).
I can recollect that sometime in 1999, some trans-continental rallyists participating in a vintage car rally had touched Mumbai. They were commemorating 100 years of the automobile and one rallyist driving a 1912, Rolls Royce, Silver Ghost quipped, " Most of us know our cars like the back of our hands, in fact better than our wives. The cars have been with us, longer. The cars' eccentricities can be tackled with greater ease, whereas our wives eccentricities, sometimes attack our nerves !These cars thus have much simpler mechanisms as compared to our
better halves."
So who says 'Yours Truly' cannot have two wives? The real one and the other my "The Lady in Black"!
Last edited by anjan on 15th December 2008, 10:06 pm; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : To watermark the pics.)
