[SEL] Slightly OT: Indian Copies/Clones

Peter A Forbes diesel at easynet.co.uk
Sat Feb 12 11:55:49 PST 2005


Most engine guys are aware of the Lister and Petter engine copies that are made
in India and sold by various vendors.

I noticed one on ebay the other day, that said "Ready for Biodiesel" or
something along those lines, which is a triumph of optimism over engineering!

Anyway, apart from the somewhat dubious quality of the manufacturing process,
these seem to bring a lot of pleasure to the owners and hopefully a lot of
profit for the vendors. Lister and Petter never seemed to worry too much about
these copies as they were onto more 'modern' engine designs and they didn't see
these small-scale copies as a problem.

More recently, a more worrying trend has emerged in the antiques and
collectibles market, that of copies of old instruments such as sextants,
compasses and similar items.

On any given day on ebay you can find "Kelvin & Hughes" sextants, all in a nice
mahogany box and with suitably dark or blurred pictures so you cannot see that
they are virtually brand new items. Until you see that the vendor has half a
dozen for sale, all of the same item with the same picture, and a scan of their
ebay feedback ratings often finds negative feedback from buyers who have
(somewhat stupidly in my view) expected an old and valuable instrument, only to
find a cheaply made copy.

I don't collect such items personally, but it may be worth a gentle warning for
anyone contemplating 'anything' in that line, to be very watchful and if
necessary ask the vendor if it is a new reproduction or an original item. False
or misleading descriptions are NOT allowed on ebay.

Peter
 



The hijacking of established names such as Kelvin & Hughes and other companies
is pretty rife these days


--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel at easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel




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