The good old Tata 207. PICS from around India

BunnyPunia · 29th October 2006, 00:54

we got hold of Gurjan, who owns this PB registered 207 in Punjab during the Leg 1 of the GIR (great indian road trip)
he has been with us since.
the truck was a pickup version and we made the rear ourselves in mayapuri in delhi. in went a cabinet, spare parts, clothes, 70L cans for speed 97 for the fireblade, spare tyres, 300cans of red bull, cams, laptops, refreshments etc.
we are now in blore and the truck went thru a routine service today. i rode it from jaipur to del n back and it did quite refined with the windows up. its a non-turbo one and with the bigger rear part creating lot of resistance, it now maxes out at an indicated 105. its been returning 10-10.5kmpl regularly and the driver keeps following us and keep its between 90-95kmh
it has no power steering and the amount of play in the steering wheel did bother me a lot when i rode it to del n back but then i believe such things r part n parcel of a truck!
we have had no major issues with the machine and although it is bigger than the Mahindra pick-ups, it is still a lot drivable in city traffic. gear shifts are very decent for a machine like this and so are the brakes (tested from 90km/h when a call centre qualis came from nowhere when me and sunny entered delhi at 3am from Jaipur to pick up the fireblade)

we still have more than 10,000kms to go and hope she survives everything that comes her way!

BunnyPunia · 25th April 2007, 15:33

This 207, with the 3.0 L DI engine survived without even a slight problem on the approx 18000 km trip it had all over india while it was serving as a back up vehicle for our road trip.

Here are some pictures taken of the vehicle around India.

It served as a big room for all our stuff including jerry cans, clothings,electronics, parts, tyres, red bull cans, water etc as well has a back up two-wheeler

It had a private number plate, which helped matters a lot at borders and toll tax booths

Somewhere on the NH-8

In Kaza, spiti valley

Even the longish Blaze (and sometimes the jupiter) felt at home at the back of the 207

In leh

In kumarakom, kerala

Filling the CBR with 97 octane fuel. Thats me holding the pipe above tank of the cbr

Somewhere high up in the hills

In Sikkim

Drove this a lot between vijaywada and bhubaneshwar.. Gets to around 110km/h max, due to the high rise rear. Returned 10-10.5kmpl regularly.

Rtech · 25th April 2007, 15:40

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. What's it like to drive though?

low_bass_makker · 25th April 2007, 15:46

very nice.....I think this 207 is nice vehicle....and I have seen quite good use of this vehicle........

esteem_lover · 25th April 2007, 15:49

Thanks for the wonderful pics. whats with the O.K tata bye bye in this pic.

BunnyPunia · 25th April 2007, 15:51

well, its a mini truck afterall!
This version didnt even have power steering and the play in the steering was enough for me to enact the driving scenes of old hindi movies!
That said, a tacho was a luxury

The vehicle has lot of grunt, the 'box felt nice for a vehicle of this type. In the whole trip, it never had a prob no matter how harsh we used it, over any type of terrain, flat out thru highways and what not!
Suspension became better with more load at the rear, upfront 3 could sit with ease. With the windows rolled up, even the NVH levels were amazing!

But i remember being harassed by a Rajasthan state transport bus on my way to Jaipur. The 207 didnt go above 100 due to winds and the bus guy kept bothering me, staying right at my tail!

oktatabyebye.com was one of our sponsors for the ride. the site was launched by makemytrip.com guys and is about travelling around India.

navdeep · 25th April 2007, 16:04

nice picture.. ya have seen these on xbhp.com

salilpawar1 · 25th April 2007, 16:07

By the way, isn't there a rule that pick-ups have to be registered as commercial vehicles in India?

AFAIK, this was exactly the reason why Ford didn't launch its much hyped Ranger Splash pick-up and also the reason why Tata TLis officially registered as an 11 seater MUV in order to be a private vehicle.......

BunnyPunia · 25th April 2007, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

By the way, isn't there a rule that pick-ups have to be registered as commercial vehicles in India?

AFAIK, this was exactly the reason why Ford didn't launch its much hyped Ranger Splash pick-up and also the reason why Tata TLis officially registered as an 11 seater MUV in order to be a private vehicle.......

Tata TL.. 11 seater? Are you talking about the 207 lookalike with the 2.0 Safari engine? How can it be a 11 seater.

coming to the pick ups, up north we have seen many privately registered tata 207s and even in himachal i have come across many privately registered Mahindra Bolero pickups

Rtech · 25th April 2007, 16:13

Quote:

By the way, isn't there a rule that pick-ups have to be registered as commercial vehicles in India?

Is there really such a rule? I've never come across it and know of quite a few people who own privately registered pickups (Tatamobiles, Old Nissan crewcabs). I think this is hearsay.

tsk1979 · 25th April 2007, 16:16

I think the rule says soemthing about the Loading weight(max cargo weight) to passenger ratio. Not too sure though.
With so many weird rules in Indian MVA, I will not be surprised.

condor · 25th April 2007, 16:31

Earlier rules allowed a non-commercial pick-up truck, irrespective of it being a single-cab or a dual/crew-cab. A few years back, this rule was modified, and now only crew-cabs [dual-cabs] can be non-commercial. Single cab pick-ups are supposed to only be commercial vehicles. Even for the non-commercial pick-ups, they are registered as non-commercial by quoting them as 11 seater soft-tops. This means, at registration time, they need to show 11 seats total - 5 in the cab, and a 3+3 [2 benches], length-wise, in the cargo-bay.

But, this particular 207 raises the question if registration rules for pick-ups are different in different states. I have not seen a single non-commercial single-cab pick-up in Karnataka. [Else, even I would have had one]

Bunny, any idea how did this 207 one end up as white-board ?

BunnyPunia · 25th April 2007, 16:36

no idea condor, but as i said in post no 8, we have seen many a picks in north india with private no plates

tsk1979 · 25th April 2007, 16:44

The number plate is of Amritsar. In Punjab RTOs you can do a lot of things, provided you know what strings to pull, and what strings to loosen.

jkdas · 25th April 2007, 21:44

nice pix........................

29th October 2006, 00:54	#1
BunnyPunia BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 895 Thanked: 1,257 Times View My Garage	tata 207 DI we got hold of Gurjan, who owns this PB registered 207 in Punjab during the Leg 1 of the GIR (great indian road trip) he has been with us since. the truck was a pickup version and we made the rear ourselves in mayapuri in delhi. in went a cabinet, spare parts, clothes, 70L cans for speed 97 for the fireblade, spare tyres, 300cans of red bull, cams, laptops, refreshments etc. we are now in blore and the truck went thru a routine service today. i rode it from jaipur to del n back and it did quite refined with the windows up. its a non-turbo one and with the bigger rear part creating lot of resistance, it now maxes out at an indicated 105. its been returning 10-10.5kmpl regularly and the driver keeps following us and keep its between 90-95kmh it has no power steering and the amount of play in the steering wheel did bother me a lot when i rode it to del n back but then i believe such things r part n parcel of a truck! we have had no major issues with the machine and although it is bigger than the Mahindra pick-ups, it is still a lot drivable in city traffic. gear shifts are very decent for a machine like this and so are the brakes (tested from 90km/h when a call centre qualis came from nowhere when me and sunny entered delhi at 3am from Jaipur to pick up the fireblade) we still have more than 10,000kms to go and hope she survives everything that comes her way!
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 15:33	#2
BunnyPunia BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 895 Thanked: 1,257 Times View My Garage	The good old Tata 207. PICS from around India This 207, with the 3.0 L DI engine survived without even a slight problem on the approx 18000 km trip it had all over india while it was serving as a back up vehicle for our road trip. Here are some pictures taken of the vehicle around India. It served as a big room for all our stuff including jerry cans, clothings,electronics, parts, tyres, red bull cans, water etc as well has a back up two-wheeler It had a private number plate, which helped matters a lot at borders and toll tax booths Somewhere on the NH-8 In Kaza, spiti valley Even the longish Blaze (and sometimes the jupiter) felt at home at the back of the 207 In leh In kumarakom, kerala Filling the CBR with 97 octane fuel. Thats me holding the pipe above tank of the cbr Somewhere high up in the hills In Sikkim Drove this a lot between vijaywada and bhubaneshwar.. Gets to around 110km/h max, due to the high rise rear. Returned 10-10.5kmpl regularly. Last edited by BunnyPunia : 25th April 2007 at 15:39.
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 15:40	#3
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,770 Thanked: 359 Times View My Garage	Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. What's it like to drive though?
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 15:46	#4
low_bass_makker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Faridabad Posts: 6,815 Thanked: 305 Times View My Garage	very nice.....I think this 207 is nice vehicle....and I have seen quite good use of this vehicle........
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 15:49	#5
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	Thanks for the wonderful pics. whats with the O.K tata bye bye in this pic.
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 15:51	#6
BunnyPunia BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 895 Thanked: 1,257 Times View My Garage	well, its a mini truck afterall! This version didnt even have power steering and the play in the steering was enough for me to enact the driving scenes of old hindi movies! That said, a tacho was a luxury The vehicle has lot of grunt, the 'box felt nice for a vehicle of this type. In the whole trip, it never had a prob no matter how harsh we used it, over any type of terrain, flat out thru highways and what not! Suspension became better with more load at the rear, upfront 3 could sit with ease. With the windows rolled up, even the NVH levels were amazing! But i remember being harassed by a Rajasthan state transport bus on my way to Jaipur. The 207 didnt go above 100 due to winds and the bus guy kept bothering me, staying right at my tail! oktatabyebye.com was one of our sponsors for the ride. the site was launched by makemytrip.com guys and is about travelling around India. Last edited by BunnyPunia : 25th April 2007 at 15:54.
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:04	#7
navdeep BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 892 Thanked: 4 Times	nice picture.. ya have seen these on xbhp.com
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:07	#8
salilpawar1 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (MH-01) Posts: 852 Thanked: 247 Times View My Garage	By the way, isn't there a rule that pick-ups have to be registered as commercial vehicles in India? AFAIK, this was exactly the reason why Ford didn't launch its much hyped Ranger Splash pick-up and also the reason why Tata TLis *officially* registered as an 11 seater MUV in order to be a private vehicle.......
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:16	#11
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	I think the rule says soemthing about the Loading weight(max cargo weight) to passenger ratio. Not too sure though. With so many weird rules in Indian MVA, I will not be surprised.
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:31	#12
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,014 Times View My Garage	Regn rules for pick-up's Earlier rules allowed a non-commercial pick-up truck, irrespective of it being a single-cab or a dual/crew-cab. A few years back, this rule was modified, and now only crew-cabs [dual-cabs] can be non-commercial. Single cab pick-ups are supposed to only be commercial vehicles. Even for the non-commercial pick-ups, they are registered as non-commercial by quoting them as 11 seater soft-tops. This means, at registration time, they need to show 11 seats total - 5 in the cab, and a 3+3 [2 benches], length-wise, in the cargo-bay. But, this particular 207 raises the question if registration rules for pick-ups are different in different states. I have not seen a single non-commercial single-cab pick-up in Karnataka. [Else, even I would have had one] Bunny, any idea how did this 207 one end up as white-board ?
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:36	#13
BunnyPunia BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 895 Thanked: 1,257 Times View My Garage	no idea condor, but as i said in post no 8, we have seen many a picks in north india with private no plates
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 16:44	#14
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	The number plate is of Amritsar. In Punjab RTOs you can do a lot of things, provided you know what strings to pull, and what strings to loosen.
	() Thanks

25th April 2007, 21:44	#15
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	nice pix........................
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