Rolls Royce History

  One day during his visit to London, Nawab of Bahawalpur was walking in casual dress at Bond Street. He saw a Rolls Royce showroom and
 went inside to inquire about the Price and Features etc of their cars.

Considering him a just another Poor Indian citizen, showroom salesmen insulted him and almost showed him the way out of the showroom. After this insult, Nawab of Bahawalpur came back to his Hotel room and asked his servants to call the showroom that Nawab of Bahawalpur city is interested in purchasing their few Cars.

After few hours King reached the Rolls Royce showroom again but with his full astonishing royal manner and in his royal costume. Until he reached the showroom there was already red carpet on the floor and all the salesmen were bent with respect. The King purchased all the six cars that they had at showroom at that time and paid full amount with delivery costs.

After reaching Pakistan, Nawab of Bahawalpur ordered municipal department to use all those six Rolls Royce cars for cleaning and transporting city’s waste. World’s number one Rolls Royce cars were being used for transportation of City’s waste, the news spread all over the world rapidly and the reputation of Rolls Royce Company was in drains.

Whenever someone used to boast in Europe or America that he owned a Rolls Royce, people used to laugh saying, “which one? The same that is used in Pakistan for carrying the waste of the City?”

Due to such reputation damages, sales of Rolls Royce dropped rapidly and revenue of company owners started falling down. Then they sent a Telegram to the Nawab of Bahawalpur for apologies and requested to stop transportation of waste in Rolls Royce cars. Not only this but they also offered Six new cars to Nawab of Bahawalpur free of cost.

When Nawab of Bahawalpur observed that Rolls Royce has learnt a lesson and they are sorry for their mistakes, He stopped using those cars for carrying wastes.
After some years Nawab of Bahawalpur Gifted the one of new Rolls Royce to King Saud's visit to Pakistan. That was first ever Rolls Royce in Saudi Arabia. One of new car was Gifted to to Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan.

Car Culture of Islamabad: An Overview of Cars in Islamabad

Islamabad is known to be the most exclusive city in Pakistan. It is because of the fact that Islamabad is home to the VVIPs of the country which include highly ranked government and defense personnel. Moreover, the overall living standard in Islamabad is very high and the people living there, own very distinctive vehicles.

As I have spent a lot of my childhood in Islamabad, what I’ve noted in that city is the fact that people living there are quite and dull (no offence). Despite the fact that the high-end German saloons are quite common in Islamabad, people who own them don’t tend to have much fun with them. They just drive around them, do their daily chores and go back home. Contrarily, you see young boys in other parts of the country, driving around and showing off their expensive machines.

The cars in Islamabad are generally expensive, high-end saloons followed by a good majority of SUVs. It’s partly because the majority of international embassies are in Islamabad and the cars belong to the officers in them and partly the cars belong to wealthy residents of Islamabad who buy Mercedes Benz E250 for their wives so that they can go see their parents. Not much of an abnormality for them, but for the people living outside Islamabad.

Coming to the other category of cars in Islamabad, we have a wide variety of sports cars and tuners as well. Peshawar being a nearby city, the young petrolheads of Islamabad can easily grab performance upgrades and stuff for their rides and fulfill their adrenaline requirements.

Overall, it can be said that the cars in Islamabad are more inclined towards the ‘luxury’ section because of the higher standard of living of the residents and a whole lot of ‘foreign affairs’ in that city.

Photo credits: ISB Undergroung (FB) and RWP Underground (FB) and Roh-Mak Photography  (fb)

Land Cruiser Prado Is A Better Investment Than Bahria Town

The Pakistani auto industry is majorly driven by the factor of resale. While the rest of the world treats its cars like an expense, the people of our dear homeland treat their cars like an investment. From a Suzuki Mehran to a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, every car appreciates in value with each passing year, and that is why many people in Pakistan like to invest in cars instead of the greener pasture of Bahria Town.

Speaking of investment, the latest model ofToyota Land Cruiser Prado is considered very hot these as a short term investment, and rightly so. Let me tell you why.

First, the vehicle is a Toyota. Toyota is the number one automaker in terms of sales globally and in Pakistan, people regard the automaker very dearly. Toyota in Pakistan is considered a citadel of automotive thirst. People tend to get emotional over the name of Toyota and many of my colleagues at PakWheels have even gotten life threats over criticizing the automaker. So you can very well imagine how dearly the people of our motherland 

Secondly, the Prado looks absolutely stunning and it stands out from its league of the vehicles it is compared with, such as the Mitsubishi Pajero or the Nissan Pathfinder. Although it is designed as a mid-size SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle), the Prado looks nothing short of a full-size SUV with defining curves which makes the Prado look elegant and robust at the same time. In my opinion, the fascia is more like of an alien warship which wants to destroy everything in its path. The aura of this vehicle conveys its authority on the road. The Prado is powered by a 4.0 liter V6 engine which makes 271 hp and 381 Nm of torque which make the vehicle reach a speed of 100 km/h from zero in 9 seconds and can take it up to the speeds of 200 km/h. There’s also a 2.7 liter straight-four engine which makes 161 hp and 246 Nm of torque, does a 0-100 km/h in 13 seconds and can reach speeds up to 170 km/h.

A decent (4.5+ grade low-mileage) Prado can be purchased at an average price of Rs. 13 million for the 4.0 liter variant and 9 million for the 2.7 liter variant. Despite the price tag, the vehicle is quite popular amongst the people who have a budget of that sort for a vehicle because of the exorbitant prices of Land Cruiser 200 Series. Previously, the LC200 used to cost in the price bracket of 10-15 million, but now the prices have crossed the 22 million mark for unregistered ones and people who were able to afford the LC200 in the past are now looking for other avenues to satisfy their automotive lust. Also, the people who currently own LC200’s do not want to sell their rides for lower prices so there is not much left in the market for people looking to buy an SUV with good looks, reliability and resale in the 9-13 million budgets which make the vehicle in question an excellent value for money.

Keeping all that in mind, many small time investors are buying these vehicles, not to enjoy them, but to sell them later at a profit, because the past data shows that these vehicles appreciate in value substantially. Maybe the government of Pakistan can replace dollar with Toyota Prados in an effort to curb the rapid depreciation of Pakistani rupee.

             

Top 5 Automakers of 2014

Consumer Report’s annual Brand Report card came out earlier this year. It rates automotive brands with respect to the survey collected from one million car owners. Like the last few years, this year too, the Japanese Automaker dominated the industry with their quality and technology while the Americans slid to the bottom.  Lexus topped for the second time in a row. The publication refused to score few automakers such as Mitsubishi, Mini, Porsche, Jaguar, Tesla and Land Rover because only few models were tested and lacked sufficient data. Let’s run  the countdown.

5- Toyota

Corolla – One of the Top selling cars of Toyota in the Middle East.

Toyota placed the 5th spot this year thanks to it’s experience in the industry. As the consumers put it Toyota is “Reliable, comfortable, inexpensive & quiet”. Toyota dropped points when it comes to driving dynamics. The mainstream Toyota cars just aren’t too fun to drive but are bought for their looks and cheap prices.

4- Subaru

The dynamics of a Subaru is uniquely constructed for road love along with safety.

Subaru tied on the 5th spot with Toyota. They don’t sell as much as their competition but their cars are flawless is design and driving dynamics and scored great in the safety test. The all-wheel drive is known to have great fuel economy. Subaru is reported to be somewhat noisy & some models lack in modern connectivity features.

3- Audi

Audi made it to the deserved spot. The German automakers is known for it’s luxury product to be extremely enjoyable to drive, exotic interior and it’s fuel economy. The exterior of almost all their models are found unique too. Audi scored the highest in the road test which is without a doubt, the right place.

2- Acura

Honda presents their luxury as Acura, which is  the 2nd best brand automaker in the consumer report. Though Acura is not one of the most exciting cars on the streets but the Japanese luxury automaker has given Acura very solid wheels. Consumers find it “sporty, reliable & stylish.”

1-      Lexus

Lexus dominated for the second straight year. The brand scored the only “excellent” in it’s reliability where as everyone else scored a “good” or worse. The consumers said about Lexus that it’s cars are “usually quiet, gently exotic, comfortable & fuel efficient and are the most reliable cars.”

The consumers are disappointed in the new Lexus IS sedan but they do like other models such as the GS-350.

Wait up for the Worst 5 automakers of 2014….

Uzair Rehman

Maruti Suzuki 800 (Mehran) production ends after 30 years.

Maruti Suzuki has finally ended the production of the famous 800 or as we know it, Mehran after 30 years of being the poor man’s workhorse. The 800 has gone out of production after nearly 2.7 million units have been sold in India since 1983, the year it was first introduced.

Suzuki 800 or Alto as it was first introduced was the replacement of the Suzuki FX, and we’ve written about the legacy of Suzuki Mehran which the 800 will be leaving behind but the case in point for Pak Suzuki is that the 800 no longer had any appeal left with the urban population of India as Alto, Wagon R and Santro took its place while the Nano led the way but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t an ubiquitous car, it will be remembered.

The last of the Maruti Suzuki 800s rolled off the production line on January 18 of this year and although it sold ‘very well’ according to Maruti Suzuki’s executives, the car was rendered unviable due to India’s own emissions legislation, BS IV. BS means Bharat Stage, not as you may think.

It is often said that Pakistani cricketers take so long to retire that they pass their time when they could retire with grace to be remembered in great words, similar can be said about Suzuki Mehran in Pakistan….it has way outlived its time and we won’t be surprised if people don’t breathe a sigh of relief when it actually ends production but let the news die down of their demise, and people will remember it as their long friend which was a true workhorse, a car that ran on spit and could be fixed by any roadside mechanic in the remotest areas of the country.

India bids farewell to its icon only next to the Hindustan Ambassador, the 800. Good bye old friend!