As a serious car enthusiast, I rate 5 stars for the Premier Padmini. I’m Jonathan Carun from the Nilgiris, South India, currently in Hamilton, New Zealand. The car performs well in its category and I should say certainly surpasses the newer-generation cars in visibility, comfort and of course Freshness and Style !My family’s first car was a 1972 dark green (it is now turquoise-blue/green) Premier Padmini purchased in 1997 from a retired doctor. This car has without fail, delivered performance and has been extremely reliable in all weather conditions in the Nilgiris.
The first time the car rolled up our driveway we were as proud as anyone would be with a Mercedes or a BMW. Our Padmini has been with us through times both easy and tough. With inexpensive maintainance, we had many an enjoyable day with our car, (picnics, trips to Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary etc.)As one of the safest and most solid cars in India today, the Padmini has protected my family from injury, in at least two major accidents. One of which was in Wellington,
The Nilgiris, involving a frontal impact with a Maruti 800 where the other car was almost a write-off, with the bill amounting to around Rs.15, 000/- (the workshop prepared a receipt for the Maruti’s insurance for the owner), while we had a broken headlight on the left and a dent around the surrounding area amounting to exactly Rs.1450/-I wish to share this with you as one of my school friends and his family were involved in an accident on the highway from Trichy to Coimbatore in a small new-generation car which I do not wish to name and he and his mother were killed on the spot. (it was on the eve of the New Year - sadly neither of them lived to see the dawn of 2006).
The safety aspects of "new-gen mileage givers" are certainly in question.Since then (1997), we have two Contessas in India, one purchased in 2006 and the other in 2007. My wife Jemima and I, in New Zealand, have acquired a 1989 BMW 735 iL (six cylinder) 3, 500 cc engine, the " I " denotes fuel injection and the " L " the long-wheelbase version, with top specifications compared with the best luxury cars in India today.
We plan to bring the 7-Series BMW to India on return.Nevertheless we have in our hearts a special place for our Padmini. It was our first car, always special. When I return to India I wish to go in for a Standard 2000 and modernize the Padmini with power - steering, windows, A.C/heater, heated/air-cooled seats, cool music system, metallic paint and converting the car into a convertible (soft-top) + a whole lot more ideas.Mercedes, Jaguars, Audis, Cadillacs and other top of the line cars are quite common in New Zealand and driving my BMW 7-Series is fantastic or very boring whichever way one looks at. With automatic transmission and automatic everything else, the Feel of a Fiat is missing. I am waiting for the day to lay my hands on the P.A.L steering wheel once again !I see little reason why a lot of people in India see the Fiat or the Herald as ’’old-fashioned’’.When the cars are fresh-looking 40 years on and totally distinctive even compared with Mercs, Beemers or Audis, I would most certainly go in for a Padmini or a Herald Today ! ( I’m not an Ambassador fan - my sincere apologies) !
After driving our BMW with 211 bhp, 8 - speaker sound-system, ABS, cruise-control, electric sunroof, on-board (car) computer to check on all automatic functions, automatic rear-view mirror adjustment when reverse position is selected etc., (the list alone will take up all available space in this review ; could post it later if needed) my wife and I have a lot more admiration for our Padmini with 40 bhp which does not have (m)any of the above functions but delivers the basics faithfully.I wish All P.A.L and Standard enthusiasts All the Very Best in keeping the Flag flying High ! VIVA (Long Live) PAL