Thank you ARR; I saw it in some media, maybe twitter , long ago. I am the pioneer user of Luna but within 3 months sold it as the tyre skidded and balancing was a problem so sold it for Rs 150 something like that and then went to TVS 50 , gave it to my son to school; the best vehicle sold 1.5 crore vehicle. Then to Kinetic Honda. yamaha, Royal enfield; Raj doot; then to cars. Luna cannot lose long. This race is made up for advt. Deccan with >50 kms speed cannot come 15 minute late. The old pune road , now a different expressway is there, used to be so undulated; on that with the maximum speed of 50 kms it is impossible. But a story is a story. KR IRS 13 6 23
On Mon, 12 Jun 2023 at 08:03, ARR <[email protected]> wrote: > This is the unique story of a race between the Deccan Queen and LUNA (the > Moped). > > “Luna Moped” was a well-known name in the field of two-wheelers. The > Pune-based Firodiya’s Kinetic Group Company wanted to introduce the small > and easy to handle two wheelers in India, in collaboration with Japan’s > Honda. With Japanese technology, they started designing a cross between a > bicycle and a motor-bike. They eventually manufactured a Moped with a 50 CC > engine calling it LUNA. It was a licensed copy of Italian Piaggio’s Chiao > Model two wheeler. > > The Luna was launched in 1972 in India, by the Kinetic Group. In a very > short period of time, Luna became quite famous and popular as it was light > weight (50 Kg.), small & a great substitute for a bicycle. > > Pune, well-known for bicycles , Luna captured the two-wheeler market. Many > people booked the Moped and the journey of Luna began. > > Initially, there were many queries about the performance of the newly > introduced Luna. Doubts were raised, as to whether it could be useful on > the roads of India or not, since roads were of poor quality. Would it be > able to run on such roads, will it have sufficient speed and pick-up etc. > > To clear the doubts of the public and for publicity and promotion of the > brand, Mr. Firodiya adopted various tactics. Ads were produced for TV and > newspapers. To attract the youth, the Man of the match in Cricket matches > was given a Luna. Famous cricketers Sandip Patil and B.S. Chandrashekhar > had won the Luna. The First rank holders of the 10th and 12th board exams, > were also awarded the Luna. Ads Of Luna came with the tag lines, “Chal meri > Luna"_, & _"Safalta ki Savari”_. Ads also included the promise, _“Luna > karaati pakka waada, kharcha kam, majbuti zyaada”. > > In order to gain the faith of the public with regard to the performance > and speed, Firodiya suddenly made a sensational announcement and declared > that there would be a race between his Luna and the “Deccan Queen”. > > People took it as a mad move and a publicity stunt. How could a 50 CC > Luna moped compete against the super-fast Deccan Queen? > > But, Mr. Firodiya was serious. He arranged the race. He even asked Mr. > Jayant Rao Tilak (then speaker of Vidhan Parishad) to inaugurate the race > at the Pune station. The race was to end at the Dadar Rly. Stn. > > At the finishing point, the Mumbai Police Commissioner was asked to > declare the winner of the race. > > On the day of the race, at 0720 hrs, in the presence of thousands of > spectators and Newspaper reporters, Mr. Jayant Rao Tilak flagged the race > off. > > And, the historic race between Deccan Queen and Luna began. > > The Luna rider, with all his skills, drove the Luna at full speed. In > those days, the old Mumbai Pune Highway still was in use. (The recent > Mumbai Pune Expressway had not yet come into existence.) > > There were many obstacles in front of Luna, especially the difficult > Khandala Ghat. Many people laid bets that the Luna will not get beyond > Lonawala. Mr. Firodiya had also arranged a car to follow the Luna rider, in > case any emergencies were to occur. > > Eventually, the Luna rider entered Mumbai and proved its capability. Mr. > Firodiya was confident about Lunas performance and sure that Luna would > complete the race. > > And history was made that day. > > The Luna entered the Dadar station to loud cheers and huge rounds of > applause, 15 minutes before the Deccan Queen! > > The Deccan Queen arrived at Dadar, a quarter of an hour later. > > The 50 CC Luna moped, won the race, in presence of thousands of > spectators, TV cameras and newspaper reporters. Next day all newspapers > covered the news on the front page. > > Deccan Queen is one of the famous trains of Indian Railway. There are many > records in its name, for eg., the first train to run on an electric engine, > the first deluxe train, the first super fast train the first train to have > Ladies' and catering coaches. > > But it also has the historical record of being the first train to be > defeated by a 50 CC Luna moped. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CABnwRDe6QiCRydhAk1ugDyhWaQ001a%3DJ08aQ--54nfd0e3z2rw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CABnwRDe6QiCRydhAk1ugDyhWaQ001a%3DJ08aQ--54nfd0e3z2rw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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