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When the first wheels rolled into India

December 23, 2008

Before long, several Madras firms became agents for British, Continental and American motor car manufacturers.

The pioneer was Addison & Co. Addison's, who had pioneered the cycle industry in Madras, is variously mentioned as having imported petrol driven cars from 1901 or 1904, but a date closer to the former is likely. It also pioneered the import of motor cycles.

In 1903, Samuel John Green of Simpson & Co, Madras, built India's first steam car and caused a sensation on the roads of the city. The Madras Mail hailed its appearance as the beginning of "a new industry for Madras."

Two years later, Simpson's built the first steam bus. It ran between Bezwada (Vijayawada) and Masulipatam (Machilipatnam) in what was possibly the first motor bus service in the country.

A future in building steam-powered vehicles was, however, not envisaged by Simpson's who felt that its core business, carriage building, and, ergo, body-building should be exploited.

In 1904, when it was experimenting with steam cars, it built a body on a Turner-Miesse chassis and supplied it to Gwalior, where it became the first motorised vehicle used in India for postal and passenger service.

In 1907, it built the first Public Service Vehicle for a customer from Salem District, a 16-passenger body fitted to a long wheelbased 20/32 hp Darracq chassis.

Image: Colombians ride a vintage train during 'No car day' in Bogota. | Photograph: REUTERS/Eliana Aponte