An Ode to my Zen, Cute little jelly bean

[Silver Knight]

Clock chimed 1:00 in the morning. I was trying hard to sleep. Came out off the house. My KL 07 AP 678 Maruti Zen was always a beauty to look at. Got into the car and cranked her on. Even with all and sundry sleeping it was hard to hear her engine, testimonial to her name Zero Engine Noise.
Got up at 6 am next day and gave her a wash. It was the best wash I gave her ever. She was leaving me today!
By 8 am I was ready, checked all her papers and mom gave her spare keys. It was my last drive with her. I am selling it off to a guy some 80 Km from my place.

I was nursing the car like I was just driving a brand new car. I was very particular in maintaining by dearly loved maiden car bought with my hard earned money.
Memories flashed in my mind.

• The day I got her.
• The power pack that could be revved her like there is no tomorrow.
• The joy when I filled her up to test the mileage. It was 19 kmpl with A/C!
• First scratch I made on her.
• Day I took better out of an Octavia on the Wayanad Calicut twisty.
• Countless blasts on the Calicut- TCR, TCR- Cochin, Calicut- Kannur and occasional non-stop Kannur- Tcr trips.
• Day I locked with the keys inside.
• My fastest (till date) 2 hour 10 min Tcr- Calicut run.
• My friends were always jealous of her paint finish and tight bodyline.
• My first and only puncture in the rains.
• My last 15K run with Yokohama Iceguard snowtires
• Music of 145 profile tires on the curves.
• Awesome handling.
• And lots more.

I could feel the dampness in my eyes when I handed over the keys. When I relized it was time to bid adieu. Bye-bye 678. My first car. The car that never skipped a beat. Miss her a lot… My cute little jelly bean.

[hillram]

hey dude..very emotional and passionate write up.Sounds you and your Zen are inseparable !!!

[breezydrive]

Hang on man, if you love her so much then take the keys back and live with her.

[bharti22shresth]

Hang on there mate! You have to let her go. Totally understand your feelings. My santro and I share b'days and this year she gets 7. God I love her but even though I even haven't put her up on the market, I can still feel that her time to go has come. And even the thought of not seeing my silver lady on the driveway each morning brings tears to my eyes. I can only imagine what actually you must be going through.

[BenjiRoss]

Great car. I know you'll miss her.
By the way, mods please change the title for the typo. "cut" instead of "cute"
I was expecting a modified 2 seater zen when I read the title!

[Exhaust_Note]

I own a ZEN and I know how this wicked little cute thing makes you fall in love with her again and again... .

Did not use her much for a few months and started toying with the idea of an upgrade.
Then, recently I started using it for daily commute to office and all the budding thoughts of selling her for a better car had been just erased off in the first 2 weeks.

Mine is non PS model, but still I just have to look and think "thats where I need to get through" and it just glides in to the nooks and gaps effortlessly. Over the years I think it has developed an understanding of my mind and preempts most of my driving actions by a few seconds. No really! Honest!!

One hell of a car. One hell of a companion.

[aaggoswami]

@Silver_Knight :
Why are you selling this car off ?
Is the car giving sort of irritating or repetitive trouble ?

Zen was one of the best built hatches. No rattle or squeak for long, was a blast to drive and with an experienced driver behind the wheel, could give rude and ego bashing shocks to many cars.

I had similar feeling when I gave my Caliber. Dad is now planning to sell our 92 M800, but our entire family is opposing him.

I wish the car remains with an owner who takes care of her as well as you did.

Sometimes, we cannot run away from sad moments.

[dushmish]

Could feel every word of what you wrote Silver Knight. I had a Zen for 5 years. Awesome car. A true companion. Never failed me. I upgraded to a Dzire. Luckily for me, my dad sold his 1995 M800 and I passed on the Silver Beauty to him. I drove to Jaipur from Mumbai in a single day (18 hrs - 1205 km) with my 2 yrs old daughter and wife. From Baroda to Jaipur it was hot as hell. Temp ranging between 40 to 45 all thru the day.

The air con was amazing. Didn't run it on max even once. No rattles. Best drive I ever had. Am lucky, it stays in family. I get to drive it when I go to Jaipur.

Ok, now tell us the good news. Which car have you upgraded to?

Cheers

Dushmish

[Silver Knight]

@aaggoswami
not at all. except for the regular service and consumables the car was simply impeccable. The tires and clutch plate was due for replacement.
@dushmish
I upgraded to an artic white Swift Vdi.

[king_julian]

SilverKnight,

A very touching write-up. As a fellow Zen owner I can understand your feelings and as aaggoswami pointed out, we would always want a car like that to go to someone who would look after it like we did! Whenever the thought of buying a new car crossed my mind, one of the things that was topmost was that it should make me feel like my Zen made me feel when I drove it the first time. Maybe with Punto that wish has come true!

Amit.