Fiat 1100 Millecento: The Car That Defined Indian Motoring
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- The Fiat 1100 Millecento is one of the first cars responsible for getting a large part of the Indian population motoring. It arrived on Indian shores in 1955 and was integral to the Indian automotive landscape until the mid-Nineties. We take a drive with classic car enthusiast, Karl Bhote, who is keen on preserving India's automotive heritage, collecting as many Fiat 1100s and Hindustan Motors Ambassadors as possible. This particular 1955 Fiat Millecento is of great cultural significance because it was one of the country's earliest Fiats and belonged to Homai Vyarawalla, India's first female photojournalist. She was so closely associated with her car, that she even published her work under the name 'Dalda 13' in reference to the car's registration number - 'DLD 13'.
Report: Vaishali Dinakaran
Camera: Arjun Dhavale
Editing: Kirsten Jungclaus
00:00 The Arrival of the Fiat 1100 Millecento in India
01:00 Karl Bhote: Preserving India's Automotive Heritage
03:12 Homai Vyarawalla and Her Iconic Fiat Millecento
04:14 'Dalda 13': The Car and Identity of India's First Female Photojournalist
07:40 Unveiling the Cultural Significance of the 1955 Fiat Millecento
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What a heartwarming story. I’m glad to see a piece of Italian design being cherished on the other side of the world 👍
We’re glad you enjoyed watching this piece!
Salute to your passion, Mr. Karl Bhote! Brilliant piece of restoration!
Thanks. Subscribe our channel 😄
Such an excellent series by DW!! Wonderful journalism!
Thank you! We have new videos out every Saturday
Fiat built some very beautiful and unique cars bitd. The Millicento is so cute. Karl is so cool.❤
Indeed they did, and indeed they are.
Lovely car! Well maintained! Awesome work Karl!
Great . Enterprising , Emotional & Exceptional .Keep it up ,Karl .Proud of you .🌹
I remember these with the suicide doors, but that was another era. India always chose vehicles that were underpowered but economical. The old Hindustan Ambassador persevered on through many variants for some years. Fiat was never considered a reliable car, even in India. I owned a 1100 Riviera that was built in 1964. It was ok for short runs.
You’re right, that really was another era. The Indian car market always favoured “cheap and cheerful” machines, over anything else. Of course, things seem to have changed (to a certain extent) now.
What a great story and a magnificent car! Thank you so much. I’ve just become a subscriber and look forward to more of your charming videos.
Thank you so much for watching our channel, and for subscribing to it too! :-)
A superb story and lovely wee car. :-)
Thank you for watching! It you’d like more stories like this, maybe we could persuade you to click the wee subscribe button! 😁
There was also something called the Dukkar fiat if I remember in the early 70s and 80s .
Yes, there was. “Dukkar” was the term used to describe the Fiat 1100 Elegant, the model that came after the original Millecento. We’ve made another video on one such “Dukkar Fiat” that’s clicked over 9 lakh kilometres, and counting! You can watch it here: czcams.com/video/i0p548D1328/video.html
@@DWREV thank you sir . Watched it right away 😄
Hello Karl, I enjoyed watching the video and the narration. The car was reregistered in Gujarat and how did you register it back to the previous registration DLD 13. Congratulations for keeping it up.
beautifully maintained the georgeous car 👌
Beautiful car 😍
We agree!
Brilliant! 😊👍
Thank you for watching!
One of my favourite cars!💯
The Fiat Was Rebranded As Premier Padmini
My grand dad use to have this car same blue....I still remeber the number MMF 2560. If somebody finds it do contact me
👍❤🔥
Lovely 😊
Thank you! 😊
@@DWREV Next to the Iconic Ambassador Car from Hindustan motors, FYI even the German ambassador to India drives a red one as his official car. 😊
As a non-Indian, let me understand something: the Ambassadors were inspired in Fiats like this one shown in the video or they were concurrently sold during some time and after that, the Ambassadors lasted decades only with some changes and modernizations?
Ambassador was based on the British Morris Oxford and Fiat later on PAL in India. Yes they were sold concurrently and very two different cars in terms of driving dynamics.
@@haydendemenezes2460 thank you for your explanation. Every country has, in its automotive history, these examples of Vehicles that made a lot of success and were adapted from an overseas model. As a Brazilian, I can promptly recall the example of Chevrolet Opala, sold from 1968 to 1992, that was a (German) Opel Rekord (C) rebadged and with different head- and backlights, also with American and not European engines.
But unlike Ambassadors, Opala didn't motorize Brazil. VW Beetle (here called Fusca) did. And they were also sold for decades with slight modifications... imported (whole and CKD) from 1950 to 1959 and locally in two phases: 1959-1986 and 1993-1996.
My deep respect for India and its automotive history.
Freisia B is the presenter, right? I can recognize that soothing voice anywhere.
Thanks for watching! The presenter is, and the voice belongs to, our reporter Vaishali Dinakaran, nonetheless we shall accept your compliment. 😊
LA PRIMA AUTO DELLA MIA VITA AVEVO 2 ANNI 1953!
How lovely to hear this! What happened to that car?
200 Rs was 200 euros
No, Rs 200 in 1955, when adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of 200 Euros today.
How many more episodes will you talk about this car? Don't you have any better content.....
BTW: If there is a car that deserves the title " Car that moved India" it has to be the Ambassador.....
Hi, thanks for watching the video and for your feedback. This particular car - a 1955 Fiat Millecento - has only featured in one other video. We did feature another Fiat 1100 Elegant, with 900,000 km on its odo in another video. This particular car, though, is significant for an entirely different reason, as explained in the piece.
As for the car that deserves the title of “the car that moved India” - we’d argue that there are three. The Fiat 1100 (Premier Padmini), the HM Ambassador, and the Maruti 800 (SS 80). And we plan on doing a series on all of them.
We hope you’ll keep watching, and pushing us to do better! 😊
Premier Padmini
What is this car? I never saw these in India. This certainly did not move India.
It's the predecessor of the Padmini, it was very common in Maharashtra
Maybe cause you're not old enough. Ask your parents or for that matter your grandparents.
@@haydendemenezes2460quite evident from his picture
Oh my! You’ve made the entire team at DW REV feel very old indeed!