MUMBAI: They've seen the city gain dizzying height from their windscreens, watched towers rise from their rearview mirrors and heard the din of honking cars grow around them. Mumbai's oldest driving licence holders, whose wallets have housed the yellowing paper for more than six decades, will be felicitated on January 16 as part of the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) and Mumbai Traffic Police's celebrations of 90 years of motoring.
Nitin Dossa, executive chairman of WIAA,
describes these senior licence holders as chroniclers of the changing face of the city. That's clear when J M Ashar, an 87-year-old Sion resident and retired insurance officer, fondly remembers sepia-toned days when he took his first ride in a two-door English make Hillman in 1951. "Roads were wide and there were few cars in those days. It was a joy," says Ashar, lamenting the state of traffic now.
Pravin Nanavati, an 83-year-old retired stock broker, too would rather drive down memory lane instead of the choked streets of Mumbai during peak hours. "I drive now in the mornings only when the traffic is slow," he says, remembering how he would drive his father's Morris and then his own Padmini every morning through C P Tank, Chowpatty and Elphinstone on his way to Dalal Street.
Nitin Dossa, executive chairman of WIAA,
describes these senior licence holders as chroniclers of the changing face of the city. That's clear when J M Ashar, an 87-year-old Sion resident and retired insurance officer, fondly remembers sepia-toned days when he took his first ride in a two-door English make Hillman in 1951. "Roads were wide and there were few cars in those days. It was a joy," says Ashar, lamenting the state of traffic now.
Pravin Nanavati, an 83-year-old retired stock broker, too would rather drive down memory lane instead of the choked streets of Mumbai during peak hours. "I drive now in the mornings only when the traffic is slow," he says, remembering how he would drive his father's Morris and then his own Padmini every morning through C P Tank, Chowpatty and Elphinstone on his way to Dalal Street.
J.J. HOSPITAL BOMBAY 1890'S
Sir (Rustomjee Cowasjee Cursetjee) Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 5th Bt; Sir Charles William Cayzer, 1st Bt; Miss Cayzer; Miss Jejeebhoy; Sir Jamsetjee Manockjee Cursetjee Jejeebhoy, 4th
1902 CAR IN BOMBAY:-[cars were originally called as 'horseless carriages']
BOMBAY FLORA FOUNTAIN (PHOTO BELOW)JUST BEFORE ARRIVAL OF CARS C:1890?SHOWING HORSE PULLED TRAMS AND CARRIAGES;AND WATER TANKERS ON BULLOCK CARTS TO SPRINKLE WATER ON DUSTY ROADS SEEN ON LEFT SIDE OF PICTURE -(NO TAR ROADS THEN)
BELOW PHOTO:-BOMBAY VICTORIA RAILWAY STATION(NOW C.S.T.STATION)BEFORE ARRIVAL OF CARS
According to the WIAA, the first car landed in India in 1898 (ONE OF FIRST CARS IN BOMBAY C:1900 IN FORT AREA;PHOTO BELOW )SEE THE REGISTRATION NUMBER PLATE:- JUST NO:36;MAY BE THE 36TH CAR IN BOMBAY ?INDIA?%2B(6).jpg)
BELOW:- A NEWS PAPER CUTTING ON EARLY CAR RACE! IN INDIA -1906
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| OLDS MOBILE CAR 1900 |
and was driven by a municipal engineer called B H Hewitt. "At the turn of the twentieth century, three Oldsmobiles 
Some other issues remain too, like the stereotype of the woman motorist. Indumati Merchant, one of the licence holders being felicitated, has been zipping up and down since 1949 before she was married. "I used
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| BABY FIAT 1940'S |
to drive a Baby Fiat
were imported for Jamsetji Tata, attorney Rustom Cama (the estranged husband of political revolutionary Madame Bikaji Cama) and Kavasji Wadia of Bombay Garage. "Within ten years of the first automobiles in Bombay, there were 1,025 cars zipping across the city," says Dossa and adds that the WIAA started as a social club for the elite. "But the concerns were the same then too. Much tarmac has been poured on the roads since, but issues like demand for better roads and affordable fuel remain."
and I was so short that people could not see me behind the wheel. They would think the car was moving by itself," she says with a smile.
IN SOUTH INDIA :- [1950'S]->THE CARS WERE MAINLY 1930 TO 1940 MODEL FORD; CHEVROLET;MORRIS;AUSTIN ETC
OLD DRIVING LICENSES :-
1898 DRIVING LICENCE FROM GERMANY[ issued in Linz on the 28th of June 1898, folded document in map 8.2x12,2cm, that time most car companies did not even exist, commercial car production was started 1899 an no car-licence was needed;MAINLY FOR BICYCLE]
1931 GERMAN DRIVING LICENCE
1928 DRIVING LICENCE FROM ITALY
1940 DRIVING LICENCE
1943 DRIVING LICENCE(BELOW)
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Oldest driver - world record set by Verna Truax
PARKERSBURG, Iowa, USA--Verna Truax, 105 years old, of Parkersburg, stistill hops into her maroon Pontiac Sunbird LE to go to the grocery store or the doctor's office to get her blood pressure checked and recently renewed her driver's license - setting the new world record for the Oldest driver.
Photo: Verna Truax, 105 years old, of Parkersburg, still drives her own car and recently renewed her driver's license - setting the world record for the
Oldest driver. Photo by: Rick Chase (enlarge photo)
Born in 1905, Truax began driving Model T's (when they were the dominant vehicle on the road) in the 1920s with no license at all - "We didn't have to have driver's licenses that long ago," she said - and in that entire time she says she's never been in an accident and never had a speeding ticket.
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