In the eighties the age of the scooter had dawned in India. At that time the most important and valued scooter was the Bajaj 150 cc scooter also called the Baja Chetak. This was a 4 gear scooter and sold at a premium in the market.
The Gujarat State Government Company obtained a licence from Bajaj to manufacture 150 cc scooter called the Leo Prince.The scooter was a slightly older version of the Bajaj and Vespa scooter and had 3 gears. However the scooter was a hit with the public as it was available without a premium. In looks the scooter
was similar to the Bajaj scooter, though iyts paint job could have been done better.The Leo hit the market and had a steady sale, but after sale service was poor and people buying the Leo felt that they were not getting their due. Thus a good product began to lose its sheen in the market. I had purchased a Leo and found that it was a good machine and easily gave 40km on a liter of petrol.
The GDL began to run
up losses and it was sold to the Gujrat Narmada Fertilizer company. This was the signal for the demise of the Girnar and slowly it vanished from the scene. The Leo was however a good product that was allowed to go to seed. Apart from mileage the scooter developed 7 BHP and had a top speed of 90 km an hour. it was almost trouble free as it had incorperated the shaft drive like the bajaj scooter in place of the chain drive like in motorcycles and scooters like the lambretta.The Leo Prince was produced for about 8 years and was withdrawn from the market with the advent of the Japaneses Bikes which began to flood India. But I will say that the Leo Prince was as good as the Bajaj or Vespa and deserved a better fate. This points to the fact that even a good product can fall by the wayside, if not properly marketed and not given after sales service.
