Indian automotive hall of fame

[Rotorhead]

With all the flashy/jazzy/fast/beautiful/powerful cars and bikes we get to see nowadays, i guess its time to rewind and pay our tributes to the cars/bikes of yesteryears which forever will remain etched in our fond memories for a long time to come. Its time to pay tribute to the cars and bikes which have had a major impact on the indian auto industry and in our minds. Here goes my list. Please feel free to add your thoughts.

Cars/and others
1. Ambassador - The grand old man of indian auto.
2. Fiat padmini - second only to amby but with its own share of diehard
fans.
3. Contessa - a truly a design ahead of its time and luxury unmatched.
4. Tata sierra - the brute in tuxedo. Just for its looks and nothing else.
5. Maruti 800 - The dawn of new era.
6. Matador - the true people mover of yester years.
7. Tata/leyland - the muscle power of india's economy, then and even now.
8. Mahindra jeeps - choice of macho men.
9. Gypsy - the style statement
10.bajaj auto - the most loved and the most hated. So unfair.
12.Santro - suzuki india loses monopoly.
13. Accent - 3 pot hot shot.

Two wheelers
Bajaj scooters - hamara bajaj
Rajdoot, yezdi - work horses of yester years. The pride of yester years
bollywood
Yamaha RX - the rebel
Shogun - Now yamaha has a fight on its hands.
Bajaj CD100 - aam aadmi ka two wheeler
Samurai - no hassles bike.
Bullet - The true superbike.


have more to list out but need to rush now..so might have missed out quite a few so please dont flame me.

[aaggoswami]

For me:
4 wheelers :
1) Maruti 800. The car that changed the automotive scenario in India. The cars can be divided into two era till year 2000. Cars BM ( Before Maruti 800 ) and AM ( After Maruti 800 ). The car that put India on wheels. Even today can be a good car and is capable of taking a lot of beating.

2) Zen : The original Zen. Nothing comes close to this car. One of the best qualtiy hatches India ever had. A-star comes close to this car.

2 wheelers :
1) Hero Honda Sleek : One of the better 100cc bikes.
2) Bajaj Pulsar : The one that inaugurated 150cc and above segment in India.

[lightpower]

2 wheeler:

RE Bullet: Running Strong even after the Mother Company collapsed

[Rotorhead]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

For me:
4 wheelers :
1) Maruti 800. The car that changed the automotive scenario in India. The cars can be divided into two era till year 2000. Cars BM ( Before Maruti 800 ) and AM ( After Maruti 800 ). The car that put India on wheels. Even today can be a good car and is capable of taking a lot of beating.

2) Zen : The original Zen. Nothing comes close to this car. One of the best qualtiy hatches India ever had. A-star comes close to this car.

2 wheelers :
1) Hero Honda Sleek : One of the better 100cc bikes.
2) Bajaj Pulsar : The one that inaugurated 150cc and above segment in India.

yeah, how could one forget the Zen - finally here was a product that raised the bar for other manufactures. And ofcourse the sleek, a real looker, the first bike to have a real sleek side profile. Drool maal for all the wannabe heroes of those days. Remember in those days all those college hot shots either wanted the rx or the kawasaki kb or the sleek. Defenitely part of the hall of fame.

[greenhorn]

hey you forgot the indica. The first truly indian car

[salilpawar1]

Originally Posted by aagoswami

Bajaj Pulsar : The one that inaugurated 150cc and above segment in India.

Err... that credit goes to the HH CBZ, in my opinion, even though it never possessed an engine other than its 156cc mill.

[Rotorhead]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

hey you forgot the indica. The first truly indian car

Indica yeah- the car that made schumakers and senna's out of cab drivers. Jokes apart this is one car that started the diesel revolution. The sad part is the Indica has grown leaps and bounds since the initial model but still the cab tag seems to be stuck with this much deserving car.

I would also like to add nano which is well is on its way into the books not just into the indian hall of fame but also into international hall of fame. The cheapest production car and worth every penny at that. Also reva defenitely deserves to be a part of this hall of fame - the first ever indian Electric vehicle- all credit to maini to think differently and come up with a novel idea-albeit a little expensive one currently but if only the government provides some subsidy and the car can be placed between 1 to 1.5 lac range then we will defenitely see a lot of reva's atleast in the city. Our own desi prius.

[rawnak]

i would like to add
premier 118ne - i loved that car at that time, lada like design.
m800 deserves the hall of fame the most since it brought car ownership
to middle class before that car ownership was a luxury. Also technology wise
too m800 was far ahead.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

hey you forgot the indica. The first truly indian car

That credit would go to Mahindra for Scorpio.
Indica was designed by IDEA ( I think we all know this ) and had a close resemblance with Palio. Fiat says the close resemblance is the reason to bring in Palio late with upgraded looks.

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

Err... that credit goes to the HH CBZ, in my opinion, even though it never possessed an engine other than its 156cc mill.

But it was pulsar that was better machine in terms of FE and user friendliness. CBZ was out and out enthusiast machine ( the best machine to do wheelie ).

[greenhorn]

exterior styling does not an entire car make

I doubt if IDeA had anything to do with the engine , drivetrain, suspension etc.

PS: I still could be wrong. The standard gazel would arguably hold the distinction, of being an entirely indian designed car, but its rather infamous

[loving_alaap]

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

12.Santro - suzuki india loses monopoly.
13. Accent - 3 pot hot shot.
.

I totally disagree with these.

Santro & Accent are not yesteryears cars. They are hall of fame of recent years (unlike other cars, hall of fame of yesteryears), and still going strong.

Santro & Accent are IMO another revolution in Indian automative history, and only because of them, Maruti & other manufacturer have to improve their quality.

[five46]

Quick one-
Two Wheelers:
HH Splendor: It awakened the econo-miser in every Indian.

[ACM]

Agree with most in the original thread starter list,

Additions:
TATA: Indica, Sierra, Estate, Sumo, Safari - First truly India Car, Lifestyle car, Estate Wagon, MUV& SUV. All designs were ahead of their age except perhaps the SUMO.
Maurti 1000 - First truly modern car,
Cielo - Onslot of the Quality options other than Maruti.

[madhukar_n]

from the original list i question accent's presence !!
i think we missed Qualis - it changed the taxi segment !!
also i would include zen(as someone has pointed out) - it was the merc of hatchback

amoung the 2 wheelers - splendor is missing.. it was the mass bike. and what about tvs 50 - it was the rural bike !

[architect]

My takes on this:

Cars
Premier Padmini
HM Ambassdaor
HM Contessa
Maruti 800
Daewoo Cielo
Tata Indica
Reva

UVs, MUVs, SUVs, People Movers
Willys & CJ
M&M Bolero
Tata Sierra
Tata Safari
Bajaj Tempo Matador
Maruti Omni

Two Wheelers
Bajaj 150 (originally the Vespa 150)
LML Vespa 150
R E Bullet
Yamaha RX100
H H CD100 (& Splendor)
Bajaj Pulsar
H H Karizma