[Prathiiik]

Reclaim your lives

Guys, it's been 20 years since the launch of the Tata Safari in India!

From the time of its launch in ‘97, the Tata Safari has spawned generations of fans & loyalists. Some even call it the "Enfield Bullet" of SUVs. It enjoys a cult following without doubt, despite being poorer in quality and having a pricey retail tag. Supported by Tata's brilliant advertising campaigns, the Safari has an enviable image.*

For the initial 7 years, an old school 2.0L IDI diesel did duty in the engine bay. There was a petrol too, although it wasn't popular at all. In 2005, the first common-rail engine for the Safari -*the 3.0L DiCOR*- was introduced. Meant to be a stopgap, this 3.0L unit was essentially a light truck engine with a modern head churning out 113 BHP. Then came the 2.2L DiCOR with 138 BHP on tap; this is easily amongst the better diesel motors in the segment today.*

BHPian PrasannaDhanna's Safari, now replaced with a Storme!



BHPian Scuba's Safari, in Serbia!


BHPian JKDAS Safari

[kaviprem]

Thanks for creating such a thread!
I have a lot of good memories in my 6 years ownership with it. Even now, its in my reach [with my cousin]. But, its a long time I saw it!

Attaching a few pics from my side.

[Skyline_GT]

A LEGEND truly. While it may have received brickbats from the critics for it;s poor styling and interiors and inferior quality it was and still is a pure blooded body on frame SUV. Far much superior than the monocoque construction wannabe SUV's(Creta/Brezza) of today.
As a Bullet owner i can agree that the Safari can surely be called the Bullet of the SUV's with it's old school charm and solid cult following!

[GTO]

What an iconic SUV. It looked futuristic when it arrived in 1998. And it sure has a diehard fan following (although I myself have never liked it).

Its 20th birthday tells me two things. One, there are still 500 Safari lovers putting their money where their mouth is, every month! What a brand. Second, a missed opportunity. Tata has completely ignored the UV segment - the Sumo & Safari are antique cars. If there was a modern Safari based on the Aria / Hexa, it would give the XUV500 a run for its money.

Two of the many Safari ads that indisputably contributed to its strong image:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYthT2wB394

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pMIkREluMQ

[roby_dk]

"I am not a rock star. I am a Legend."

While the other brands topped the sales charts Safari enjoys the cult following among enthusiasts. I still remember when we were planning for a new car in 2011 and almost finalized Honda city. It was me who convinced my family for a SUV, initially Scorpio and later finalized Safari without even test driving.

I still love the beast and it has aged quite well, with nearly 160k on odo it is still doing great with no major surgeries so far. It doesn't clock miles as it used to do earlier, thanks to automatic comfort, but will surely cross 200k mark before its 10th birthday.

[Samurai]

It was late 1997, my wife and I had returned from US for a few months in the process of switching jobs. We had bought a new M800 just as a stop gap car. One day we were driving on airport road (Bangalore) and we were stunned to see an American style SUV parked on the side of the road. We simply stopped the car and kept staring... it had the Tata badge! (I was a Tata employee then).

Our surprise might seem odd for somebody below age 30 now. Keep in mind SUVs were non-existent in India then. Since we had just returned from US, we knew exactly what category of vehicle we were staring at. My wife was like... OMG, India has SUVs now!!! Until then Tata was known for only two cars, Sierra and Estate, both were station wagons. Indica came later. The Sumo was already there, but it was a basic UV and had horrible quality. My team member had one, and he had a terrible ownership experience. He used to say Sumo looks like a tough Jeep, but behaves like a fragile car. But Safari looked very different, a true blue SUV.

Fast forward 10 years, in 2007 I almost bought the Safari Dicor 3L. On the day I was planning to book, fellow moderator Tanveer PMed me that 2.2L is coming soon, so I backed off. Then started the long wait for the TD of the new model. The local dealer kept sending TD vehicle to every other branch except the one closer to me. I got pissed off and started looking around for other options and ended with Grand Vitara. If the local Tata dealer had been prompt to give me the TD, I would have been the owner of a Dicor 2.2L 11 years ago.

[varunanb]

Originally Posted by GTO

Second, a missed opportunity. Tata has completely ignored the UV segment - the Sumo & Safari are antique cars. If there was a modern Safari based on the Aria / Hexa, it would give the XUV500 a run for its money.

The safari storm is built on Aria frame and powertrain if I remember correctly. Still I wish they did focus on presenting the vehicle with a better and newer body to interest a bigger audience.

[PrasannaDhana]

Just came across this thread Thanks Prathiiik for featuring my old Dicor pic in this thread. Now it is my Storme's turn:

Yours truly with the storme


Two legends! With my FIL's Amby

[Chetan_Rao]

The 'Reclaim your Life' campaign is arguably one of the best automotive, rather any, ad campaign the Indian market has seen. The car isn't perfect, never was, but what it never lacked was character.

[lohithrao]

It has been a wonderful journey with this gentle giant.
Hope to continue the journey(together), many more years(miles).

[Gannu_1]

Here's moderator Tanveer's Safari:











The epic ownership thread - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...km-update.html (Safari EX 4x4 120,000 km update)

[nainan]

Originally Posted by varunanb

The safari storm is built on Aria frame and powertrain if I remember correctly. Still I wish they did focus on presenting the vehicle with a better and newer body to interest a bigger audience.

I think the Storme was too little too late a capable vehicle no doubt but the already dated design was updated to an unappealing front end and on the heels of the Aria pricing debacle which drove tons of Tata fans away in addition to the ASS woes sort of diminished the Safari brand.

I wish instead of the Aria experiment Tata had come up with a new gen Safari with an all new design and we would have a very different SUV scenario.

However we are where we are but I think its high time Tata realises the popularity and pull of the Safari moniker and use it to the best advantage. The Storme finally getting due recognition from none less than the Indian Army brings a lot of prestige to the badge.

It is time for a successor and IMHO the Harrier 7 seater H7X with its roof rails, raised roof and stance alongwith the excellent potential of JLR technology seems to be a fitting successor and should carry forward the Safari legacy and name. Its time Tata honored the greater part of the pedigree. Any other name for the H7X will be an opportunity lost to carry forward the cult of the "King of the Road".

Some pics of my "Beast" as I liked to call it from the first drive to Velankanni on ECR and then to Cochin. Its been 4 years and I have not been able to replace it. Most people who knew me from the time I had it still cannot reconcile with my current choice of car.

[Ferruccio]

My relationship with the Safari started in 1995 even before the vehicle was born. I was a rookie in Telco, the Executive Assistant to the National Head Sales. I was called in and told that the Indian Army was looking for a vehicle to replace their iconic Jongas. Since I had served 5 years as an auto journalist, I was deemed fit to scour through global UV brochures and draft a rough spec list that could be discussed with engineering.

I had served a stint with the Telco Exports office at Worli and knew of their treasure trove of glossy vehicle brochures. Brochures of just about every vehicle with 4 or more wheels that were sold around the world were neatly catalogued and alphabetically stored in box files at the Worli office.

I carted the brochures of all the SUVs I found and set about carefully entering the specifications and features into Lotus worksheets (MS Excel had not been invented). I would like to believe these worksheets later evolved to become the Safari.

I left Telco before the first Safari was created. But I was fortunate to have worked on some lovely SUVs thereafter - Toyota Prado, the first generation of Lexus SUVs, the Mahindra Scorpio, the previous gen Honda CRV, the VW Touareg and Tiguan.

Half a dozen auto brands and quarter of a century later I was back in Tata Motors and the vehicle I have owned ever since have been a succession of Safaris. It has taken 2 decades for the Safari to meet its raisson-de-etre - a replacement for the venerable Jonga in the Indian Army. 20 years for the Safari to become the GS800!

Nothing like a Safari to negotiate Mumbai - You sit high, feeling like the Toruk Makto in the movie Avatar. You fear nothing, seeing eye to eye with the biggest bullies on the roads - the drivers of the BEST Buses and the MCGM Garbage Compactors. Every other vehicle respectfully makes way for you. You have the right of the road every time.

When it rains and the roads become the Grand Canal of Venice, you wade through without a care while mere mortals stick to the shallows. The 'baglas' (slang for traffic cops in Mumbai because they stand all day, dressed in white like the cranes or bagla in Marathi) all turn around to stare at you because they have a Pavlovian response to white Safaris!

Driving the Safari is addictive - the trouble starts when I drive in my Nano the same manner that I drive my Safari. The look on the face of some of the drivers when they get bullied back by a tiny red Nano is priceless!

On your annual road-trips you can let the Missus and kids cart the whole house with them because the interior space in the Safari is about as much as a standard Mumbai flat, minus the balcony and the loos!

The Missus won't let me buy a dog, so for my next car I just checked out a cat. The Jaguar XE was absolutely claustrophobic after years of driving Safaris. Nah, don't think a Jag would cut it for me.....The good folks at TeamBHP keep telling me there's a 7 seater Harrier coming. Hmm!

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Driving the Safari is addictive - the trouble starts when I drive in my Nano the same manner that I drive my Safari. The look on the face of some of the drivers when they get bullied back by a tiny red Nano is priceless!

I can totally relate. In my case though, it was a tiny Chevrolet Beat in the past and a tiny Kwid currently..

[roby_dk]

Got one more pic of my trip to Rishikesh few months back with friends. Trust me the sheet metal of Safari dicor is much stronger than Endeavour. Can't think of doing this on Endeavour. Forget about dimples which the tin cans from Maruti get pretty easily.