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Marine Drive & the automobile, 1953.Archival pic from “Our Bombay,” a Dec. 1953 publication by Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) in which Prime Minister Nehru wrote: ‘A city, like a house, is not a mere collection of steel and brick, cement and mortar. It is the outward
expression of the life of a community’. Marine Drive with 35 consecutive Art Deco sea facing buildings was the road to be on. The automobile brought speed, power, streamlined design, mobility and symbolised both success and affluence in a modern aspirational city. In these pics – bei Marine Drive
Karl Bhote tells us we see a mix of primarily English and American cars. Convertibles were already falling out of favour, confirmed by only one seen at the bottom right, likely a Sunbeam Talbot drophead coupe. Since this is the pre 'Fiat Ambassador' days, we see mostly foreign – bei Marine Drive
cars - majority of which were assembled in India. Ford had large scale assembly operations in Bombay. General Motors had similar operations in Sewri where Buick (retailed by Metro Motors), and Chevrolet cars (retailed by The Bombay Garage), rolled out. Dodge and Plymouth cars – bei Marine Drive
were assembled at Premier Automobiles Kurla facility, and retailed by The Bombay Cycle and Motor Agency which still stands at Sandhurst bridge. Across the road were the stunning modern Deco showrooms of Dadajee Dhackjee & Co, agents for Packard and Mercedes-Benz cars, at Shree – bei Marine Drive
Pant Bhuvan. The English were represented by Morris cars, sold by the French Motor Car Co. at New Queen's Road and Hillman Minx cars were assembled by Automobile Products of India (API) at their Bhandup facility. Austin cars were sold by The Automobile Co. Ltd, also at New – bei Marine Drive
Queen's Road.
Cars seen in the picture
1.Sunbeam Talbot Drophead Coupe - around 1947/48
2.Hillman Minx (2 cars seen) - around 1948-52
3.Hindustan 14 - around 1949-54
http://4.Dodge Custom - 1947/48
5.Vauxhall Velox or Wyvern - around 1952/55 – bei Marine Drive
Cars seen in the picture
1.Sunbeam Talbot Drophead Coupe - around 1947/48
2.Hillman Minx (2 cars seen) - around 1948-52
3.Hindustan 14 - around 1949-54
http://4.Dodge Custom - 1947/48
5.Vauxhall Velox or Wyvern - around 1952/55 – bei Marine Drive
