By Pradnesh Shankar Naik.

 

Chapter 1: Breaking into old memories.

 

Machine has been an integral part of Man's evolution from the primal state of to a being that is now known as Homo Sapiens. Earlier in life, it was a plane bow and arrow, but as we evolved these machines started taking various forms like a hardworking tractor or mind-numbingly fast supercomputers.

 

But while life progress on Top Gear, we tend to forget the single-most greatest invention….'The Humble Wheel'.

 

The wheel single-handedly pushed the boundaries of man from Hunting and Gathering to the modern trade we now take for granted. The wheel is such a unique machine that it can connect with every person on this planet, almost every being born in today's time has encountered a wheel at least once.

 

My exact memory with a wheel, rather 4 of them, was with a beautiful vehicle called Premier Padmini. Manufactured in India from 1964 to 2000 by Premier Automobiles Limited under the License of FIAT Spa, it was a carburetted 1,089-cc four-cylinder petrol engine, rather than the 1,221-cc engine fitted to the GranLuce in Italy. With a 10.8:1 compression ratio, it created 47 bhp at 4,800 rpm with a maximum torque of 71 Nm at 3,000 rpm. The original transmission was a four-speed manual gearbox (without synchronized first gear), which drove the rear wheels via a live rear axle. Its shifter was mounted on the left of the steering column. Weighing 895 kg, its top speed was 130 km/h.

 

The beauty that I remember was an artic white, decorated tastefully by chrome garnishing around her waistline. My uncle had bought the one with the bench, rather sofa seats of the era. She was never a screamer like many of the golden oldies of the era. But it had a very tasteful whine from its rather reliable and easy to live with engine. Its note was throaty and it pull was linear, was rather surefooted for the era and with its lightweight and sturdy chassis, it can still give a run for their money to some of our current day entry-level vehicles.

 

It was one of the things which gave me immense pleasure whenever I was around her. I believe that was the starting point of my obsession with cars. While I sat today, sipping my favourite coffee, enjoying the calm breeze, that moment passed through my mind……..maybe it was that beautiful lady, trying to convince me to pen down my thoughts, my moments, my experiences with the various beauties and beast I have been able to encounter in the short span of my time on this planet earth……as a journal that maybe I can pass onto my children or to like-minded enthusiasts like me. Someone who gets excited by anything and everything related to cars……….