Premier Padmini – The Famous Fiat Dukkar
Indian automobile industry has witnessed some of the greatest machines in all these years, some have been successful and some are lost in time, but there are very few which goes on to be a symbol of history. Diving deep into the history of Indian automobile in search of these iconic cars, we find names linked to the decade they served in but chapter 1 of history books start with Hindustan Motor’s Ambassador and Premier’s Padmini. Today we are going to talk about one of these icons and hit that nostalgic feeling.
Going back to the good old days, even before when Maruti and TATA Motors never existed, the roads were dominated by PAL. The PAL, short for Premiere Automobile Limited was founded in 1944 as a part of the Walchand Group, in the early days they made products for the Indian Defense and later got license from Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) to manufacture Plymouth and Dodge in India. In those days, Hindustan Motors had introduced the Ambassador, which was a puffy sedan based on Morris Oxford 3, to fight against it FIAT brought the locally assembled Millecento, later the upgraded version 1100 Elegant started rolling the streets, then in 1964 came the 1100D or also called the “FIAT Dukkar” a fuel efficient and easy to drive response to the Ambassador. The Dukkar was completely manufactured in India by Premier as the company attained permissions from FIAT. In 1973 the name was changed to Premier President and in 1974 the name was changed again to Premier Padmini as a reference to Goddess Lakshmi. The Premier Padmini ruled Indian roads for 4 decades, and was a big hit among youngsters and celebrities. Even the taxis in Mumbai till recent years were the Premier Padmini, this is the proof of love that people still have for the iconic car.
Heart of the Vehicle
The Premier Padmini had a FIAT sourced 1.1L 4-cylinder petrol engine which produced 47hp and 71nm of torque, it had a 4-speed manual column mounted shifter which is long discontinued but it was a common sight in cars of that era. The rear wheel drive car had a top speed of 130km/h and a fuel tank of 38L. Cars in those days were not good when it came to ride quality but surprisingly enough the Padmini offered great handling and comfort. To increase the fuel efficiency, Premier added a modified carburetor and reduced the power to 42hp in the year 1980.
Let's talk about looks
The sedan carried a 3 box design language which was loosely based on FIAT 1200 GranLuce Berlina. 3930mm long, 1460mm wide, 1468mm high and a wheelbase of 2340mm resulted in a compact car yet able to fit in a load of passengers. Lot of chrome was also used to highlight the exterior elements which included chrome door handles, headlight borders, front grill, hub cap wheels and strip over the sides, the curved front and rear bumpers were covered in chrome as well. Other exterior elements included 14-inch steel wheels, oval shaped tail lights which included the turn indicators and a PAL logo on the front grill.
The interior of the car was minimalistic, but then again in those years, cars were not loaded with features and gadgets like today. A plain and simple interior with 2 separate front row seats which later were changed to a flat bench seat. The later versions of the Padmini was upgraded with luxurious features like an air conditioner, leather upholstery and tinted glass.
Legacy
Like every great thing that comes to an end, the Premier Padmini saw the downfall too. The main reason for this downfall was the entry of Maruti in 1980 and then many international brands entered the market in 1991 increasing the competition for the boxy sedan. TATA Motors was already present but it entered the passenger vehicle segment in 1991 with the famous Sierra. To fight the competition, Premier introduced the Padmini S1 which had a floor-shift synchronized gearbox borrowed from Nissan, the S1 also had a diesel 1.4L engine that produced 45hp. Premier launched the successor for the Padmini called the Padmini 118NE with very high hopes, it was made available in Spain, Turkey and Russia as well but it still could not compete with the competition and eventually had to be discontinued in the year 2000. Even after getting discontinued, car lovers still keep a modified version of the Padmini. It was a true remark of comfort, luxury and precision driving. As history is concerned, it surely has made its name written down in bold letters