[RGK]

These were the reasons given by a 407 driver to me for its huge success long back .

-Cheap spares available across India.
-Terrific pickup and robust engine.
-4 tires only (all International brands had 6 tires). 608 came with 6 tires.
- Customisable body building can be done - including push back seats, DVD etc.

At that time, Bajaj 207 is one of the compact Indian made LCV (excellent engine) available.

India Post (speed post vans) and Professional couriers extensively depend on these LCV's for timely deliveries. They fly on the highways from Chennai to southern cities on all nights.

[bigvishnu]

Happy Birthday 407!

Reminds me of a day in 2000, in my final year campus placements Pre-Placement talk of Eicher Motors. The presenter went on and on about Eicher's products for 2 hours. When he was done, my good friend Shivam had a question. See Transcript below:

Q. Sir, thanks for the presentation. could you throw some light on what products you have, and the relative market share of your products Vis A Vis TATA 407?

A: The TATAs are Huge, and 407 is HUGER.

That rested the case for me. had a job offer from Eicher but i never joined.

Due respects to anyone who has associations with Eicher, I took a personal call based on the body language and the confidence (or lack of it) displayed by the executive from Eicher then

From that day ,every time i see a 407 on the road, i remember how some 'moments' could be career / life altering in nature.

[Dr.Suraj]

Wow!

Guess TATA is known to produce wonders, iconic, engineering marvels market changers, shockers, mass loving & massively loving products since a LONG TIME!

& One more thing worth celebrating is :

They have stuck to their tradition - repeatedly - for more than 25 years !

[silverado]

I might the only person on T bhp to have a TATA 407 scale model! from Centy toys, i adore it a lot and i love that Truck very much.

Pictures on scale model thread in some older post.

Apart from the mechanicals, i think it has been beautifully designed.
Looks stunning in cream colour.

And its exhaust note is music to me.I can actually mimic that sound.

[gurudutt]

Congrats to TATA and the 407 team for completing 25 yrs of service. I remember going to college in these trucks (am not kidding , the govt. busses rarely used to stop and we had to use alternative means) and i really liked grunt of the engine and they could reach good speeds if not overloaded.

[KkVaidya]

I still remember this iconic episode i had heard about the 407 around 20 years back:
One of my father's friend used to work in the customs vigilance department. Once he was on noon duty and got the news of a 407 carrying contraband. He was the co-driver in a Mahindra CJ3 (that was the staple vehicle with the forces then). He chased this truck for around almost 40 minutes till he could overtake.
The jeep was unable to catch the 407 on the ghat road. It could not even get close to the fully laden 407!! Such was the might. Once they got on a straight, only then could the jeep overtake it.
They said if the road was fortunate to give them a straight or they could have lost sight of the 407!!
Since that day all 3 of us (me, my dad & his friend) have immense respect for this mighty TATA.
Long Live the 407

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by RGK

At that time, Bajaj 207 is one of the compact Indian made LCV (excellent engine) available.

That one uses the OM 616 engine from Merc. Same one you find in Trax and Traveller, and some WDNNN series Mercs.

The 407 uses home grown engine from Tatas, IIRC.

India Post (speed post vans) and Professional couriers extensively depend on these LCV's for timely deliveries. They fly on the highways from Chennai to southern cities on all nights.

The Postal dept in my city Ernakulam, graduated direct from Fargo and Dodge vehicles direct to 407. I used to wonder in late 1980s how the post dept could manage to run those vehicles - we had sold our Fargo in in late 1970 - due to age and lack of spares. Still wondering from where India Post sourced those spares.

Once, had to call a spare driver on one of our buses since the regular guys were on leave. This guy used to drive for a vegetable merchant, and drove a 407. Out of curiosity, I asked him how the vehicle is (it was a new launch back then). And his response was surprising. The guy used to do 3/4 overnight trips per week from Coimbatore to Ernakulam. And the timings he mentioned were phenomenal.

Later on, met quite a few 407 owners in the fishieries sector. They purchased fish from the landing centers at Thopumpady (Kochi) or Vypeen and took ice packed fish to various places in S. India. Mobiles were not heard of then. And they call up various markets once the fish was loaded, and decide which place promised best price. Once the destination was decided, they called back to confirm.

The phenomenal speed of these vehicles was what made them a hit with the perishable goods sector.

But there was something special both these drivers had to say. They adulterated their diesel (diesel used to cost around 7 to 9odd rupees back then). For better pickup, they used to add petrol. Yes - you read that right. These guys used to add petrol to a 407 for better pickup. The technical side of mind was skeptical of how this was possible, but these semi-literate guys used to do it.

An aside on the competition though. In past few months, had the occasion to purchase construction material (stone, sand, "metal", etc). The standard measure for price is the "1210", "Mitsubishi" and "Nissan". No 407 or 607 there. The 10 tonners are only segment where Tatas find a place here. All these vehicles are tippers; and yet to see a x07 tipper.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

That one uses the OM 616 engine from Merc. Same one you find in Trax and Traveller, and some WDNNN series Mercs.


The 407 uses home grown engine from Tatas, IIRC.

The Postal dept in my city Ernakulam, graduated direct from Fargo and Dodge vehicles direct to 407. I used to wonder in late 1980s how the post dept could manage to run those vehicles - we had sold our Fargo in in late 1970 - due to age and lack of spares. Still wondering from where India Post sourced those spares.

Out of curiosity, I asked him how the vehicle is (it was a new launch back then). And his response was surprising. The guy used to do 3/4 overnight trips per week from Coimbatore to Ernakulam. And the timings he mentioned were phenomenal.

Absolutely. Traveller's success was also due to this great engine apart from its comfort. The engine noise levels were very very low. Due to its high speed performance, the brakes in bajaj-207were not efficient.

Have seen many 407's speeding on the NH-47, crossing the famous "kudrai medu" effortlessly between palakkad and thrissur.

When I interacted with some of the professional courier drivers long time back, they challenged me, " Sir, We can target any vehicle in the highway and overtake". Have physically seen 407 zooming past in one of the busiest highway (2 laned at that time) during night times.

[Renjith Rajan]

Sorry for the ignorance guys. But most of the previous posts mention about the speed/pickup of the 407.

What is the engine specifications of 407, then and now?

[coloneljasi]

When we used to live in Dubai, I remember going to school in an ACGL-bodied TATA 407 in the early 90s. Those LHD non-AC mini buses were noisier when compared to the other Japanese mini buses in our school's fleet. But we loved it nevertheless!

[benu9714]

The 407 engine was derived from the original Tata 1210 engine - by eliminating the middle 2 cylinders of the 1210"s 6 cylinder engine. That is why the 407 emgine is designated 497 - 4 cylinders with bore of 97 millimeters - while the 1210 engine was 697.

This enabled Tata to produce an engine with many parts - pistons, con-rods, valve gear, injectors etc - in common with the 697 engine, thus saving development costs. This also gave the engine great lugging power as the 697 and 497 are long stroke engines with a stroke-bore ratio of about 1.20. This also accounts for the deeper exhaust note compared to other LCVs.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by benu9714

The 407 engine was derived from the original Tata 1210 engine - by eliminating the middle 2 cylinders of the 1210"s 6 cylinder engine. That is why the 407 engine is designated 497 - 4 cylinders with bore of 97 millimeters - while the 1210 engine was 697.

This enabled Tata to produce an engine with many parts - pistons, con-rods, valve gear, injectors etc - in common with the 697 engine, thus saving development costs. This also gave the engine great lugging power as the 697 and 497 are long stroke engines with a stroke-bore ratio of about 1.20. This also accounts for the deeper exhaust note compared to other LCVs.

I'm afraid your facts are all incorrect.

The 1210 engine was designated as 692. It had a bore of 92 MM and stroke was 120 MM. It displaced about 4.8 litres and developed 112 HP at 2800 RPM. It was derived from Mercedes OM 312 engine whose bore and stroke dimensions were 90 MM and 120 MM respectively and which admeasured about 4.6 litres. Tata had rights only for IDI version of this engine and the DI model (692) was developed by Tata after the expiry of its collaboration, without any help from Mercedes.

697 was a bigger engine with bore 97 MM and stroke 128 MM. It was DI from the begining. It measured 5675 CC and was Tata's flagship engine until Cummins B 5.9 arrived on the scene. 697 was license-manufactured by Tata, the original designation being OM 352. Interestingly, Tata obtained license for 697 from Mercedes after the expiry of its collaboration with them. This was done by paying Mercedes a lump-sum royalty. 697 wasn't used in 1210 ever. 697 Turbo developed 160 HP @ 2800 RPM and was first used in 1516 model which was launched in 1980-81 and redesignated as 1616 later. It was also used in 2416 model. Later, 697 NA model was introduced which developed 130 HP at 2800 RPM. It was used in models like 1510, 1613, 1313, etc. A TCIC 180 HP version of OM 352 also existed in Germany but was never used by Tata.

Actually, there are two Tata engines called 497. One is 497SP which measures 2956 CC and is used in 407, Sumo, Spacio, etc. A CRDI version was also used in Safari DiCOR 3.0. The other engine is simply known as 497. 497SP isn't a long stroke engine since its stroke is 100 MM compared to 128 MM of 697. 497 is a bigger engine whose stroke is 128 MM and displaces about 3.8 litres. It is used in models like 709, 909, 1109, 712, etc. It is this engine which can be considered as a chopped-off 697. 497SP isn't a chopped-off 697, although the fact that its bore is identical to 697's does suggest at least some commonality with 697.

Hope this makes things clearer.

[ComSub]

I have nothing but fear and contempt for the 407 considering a rowdy-driven 407 water tanker side swipped my Dzire in 2009 in Bangalore resulting in body panel damage to the car. It remains my only accident to date in over 20 years of driving. Also the loud engine noise coupled with the largely rowdy drivers (all variants, water tankers, pick-up, truck. etc.) in Bangalore makes me dispise the 407 and bristle and stay clear whenever I hear the approaching rattle of the engine.