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Old 2nd June 2016, 23:54   #1
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Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

1) Daewoo Matiz II (M150)

Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads-13308598_1221763987857884_6543710613742434684_o.jpg

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  • 1.0 4 cylinder engine that was carried over on spark
  • new fenders, bonnet, bumpers, taillights, tailgate
  • new interior trims
  • ABS and dual airbags
  • The car is listed on olx and it seems to be a halol registered vehicle. The same place where GM has a factory. So, its in actual a homologation/test prototype that was imported from GM Daewoo Korea which was to be launched in 2004 as chevrolet spark, or facelift of original matiz with a new name. But that never happened and its next iteration came in instead. This caught me by surprise while I was browsing on olx.

2) Chevrolet spark (M150)

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  • A lower version of the same car with the chevrolet spark badge and chevrolet logo on steering wheel was spotted by my friend outside manesar, in 2015.
  • The GJ17 registration again confirms its another prototype.

3) Fiat palio weekend 1.6

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  • Announced by Fiat and 2-3 cars were even built
  • Review appeared on magazines in mid 2002
  • Car is a facelift of erstwhile siena weekend and milder version of Palio adventure
  • This is NOT a converted Siena weekend with aftermarket palio body panels, but original Fiat India manufactured
  • Launch cancelled at last minute as Fiat was more focused on adventure
  • 1.6 engine with 100 bhp

The purpose of this thread is to collect and highlight any cars that were planned to be officially launched in India and were homologated but were cancelled due to some of the other reasons and yet, they can be spotted somewhere doing rounds in the hands of private owners.

Please share pics of more such cars, if any one comes across.
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Old 3rd June 2016, 00:04   #2
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

It is illegal to sell non homologated/ test proto cars out to the public. I'm surprised how did the matiz'es made out of the plant.

The Palio weekend was available to purchase.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/11371076.cms
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Old 3rd June 2016, 00:33   #3
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Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

Last edited by GTO : 3rd June 2016 at 13:49.
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Old 3rd June 2016, 01:41   #4
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

@ HydroFuel

What we used to see on road was the 800cc Matiz with 52 bhp and 3 cylinder engine (M100). The one shown here has a 1000cc, 4 cylinder engine (M150). If you can remember the Matiz we used to see, had its registration plate on the rear bumper, not on the rear hatch door as shown here and the tail lights were also slightly different from the one shared here. The one shown here is a 2004 model where as in India, Matiz was launched in 1998/99.

Sharing a picture for reference- (Image courtesy - Google)

The M150 on left and M100(Launched in India) on right.

Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads-daewoo_matiz_m100__m150.jpg

Last edited by GTO : 3rd June 2016 at 13:49. Reason: Quoted post deleted
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Old 3rd June 2016, 09:18   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Samba View Post
What we used to see on road was the 800cc Matiz with 52 bhp and 3 cylinder engine (M100). The one shown here has a 1000cc, 4 cylinder engine (M150).
Any idea of the (M150)specifications of the power this car use to produce?
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Old 3rd June 2016, 10:52   #6
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

Quote:
Originally Posted by sidindica View Post
The purpose of this thread is to collect and highlight any cars that were planned to be officially launched in India and were homologated but were cancelled due to some of the other reasons and yet, they can be spotted somewhere doing rounds in the hands of private owners.

Please share pics of more such cars, if any one comes across.
Wow!!!

Nice thread Sid, this will be nostalgic

Read somewhere in the forum posted by GTO that the team had reviewed a Peugeot but was not launched

Quote:
Originally Posted by sidindica View Post
[*]Launch cancelled at last minute as Fiat was more focused on adventure
Pun intended???
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Old 3rd June 2016, 13:59   #7
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

Awesome thread!

There would be so many fun one-off cars created by enthusiastic engineers at Tata & Mahindra (think 100+ BHP Indicas, super fast Scorpios etc.). Sadly, the projects never saw the light of day, and neither will these prototypes. On their best day, they'll only see Auto Expos.

One car that deserves a mention on this thread is the pre-production Thar which Behram drove at the 2010 EXAMM. While the production Thar differed from it, this is the 'Daddy' of the Thar.









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Old 3rd June 2016, 14:13   #8
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

Dear Rushabh - thank you so much for the video and the photographs! MH01V521 will forever stay in my memory. I have these photographs and videos in my hard drive at home. By the way, in the video, at 36 seconds, someone has said "winch the Thar" two times. Let me clarify that the first attempt was made in 4H whereas the second attempt was made in 4L. I did this as a trial run even before attempting the first obstacle of EXAMM. The second attempt and then the complete EXAMM / AKC were a cakewalk, everyone knows that. Very few people actually know what MH01V521 was, on those two unforgettable days! .

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar
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Old 3rd June 2016, 14:28   #9
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re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

Quote:
Originally Posted by vdm295 View Post
Any idea of the (M150)specifications of the power this car use to produce?
Roughly it was around 1000cc, 4 cylinder, 62 bhp, 87 nm torque.

As far as i know, this very same engine was plonked in the Chevrolet Spark which we see in India.

Last edited by Samba : 3rd June 2016 at 14:33.
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Old 4th June 2016, 00:15   #10
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Re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

Here's an Opel Zafira (Holden Zafira) which was brought in for testing by GM.
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Old 4th June 2016, 22:51   #11
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Re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

The Renault Modus was caught on Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi roads in 2011

Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads-modus.jpg


Did they miss their ambition ?
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Old 4th June 2016, 23:51   #12
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Re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

The cute suzuki cappuccino, the kei car from japan. It was brought to India for auto expo. I don't think maruti had any plans to launch this as they never take any risk or go out of their comfort zone

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Old 5th June 2016, 01:24   #13
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Informative thread.
If someone notices most of the Fiat cars can make to this list from the Fiat India strategy revealed thread.
We have been listening since ages about Fiat Bravo, Fiat Panda, Jeep and we have pics of two big Fiat Vans travelling all across India.
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Old 5th June 2016, 01:31   #14
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Re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

This was oneI was eagerly hoping for. A Fiesta hatch even now, at Aspire's price point might bring in decent sales.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...aged-figo.html

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Old 5th June 2016, 05:00   #15
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Re: Yesteryear scoops: Pre-production prototypes & unlaunched cars on our roads

The Tata Magna:

I think the development was in a fairly advanced stage with pre-production prototypes being spotted at different places.

This was Tata's take on the luxury executive market with a fully home grown car - Magna. I believe this was to be powered by the 2.0 litre diesel.
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