[Kosfactor]

It was about time, any other car maker would have axed it long ago. Tata once again proved that it's not always after the money. This one is more of an emotion.

Many years ago our trusty '95 Esteem was finding it hard to cope up with my father's trips to off beat destinations in search of some plants and so forth, a replacement was necessary, and he has been talking about Safari since a decade. So I asked around places that I know about it, I too loved the vehicle's looks.

Friends from Ooty: Don't buy it, less pick-up, gearbox will not last.
Mechanic : Don't buy it, engine overheats , too complex to work on and what not.
Me : Dad please go ahead and buy it

So my dad went to the Tata dealer to book the vehicle and from there the deal went off the rails. No Safari till now.

So long Safari, come back later once you fire all your dealers and lose some weight too while you are at it.

[romeomidhun]

For me, Safari was a "love at first sight" when I was in my early 20s. That butch sporty looks and size! But then one of my friend said that it has only those looks, and mechanically, it is not that good and has poor mileage. Remember, that was some 20 years back (and I had no plans to buy it and no money in my hand).

[cool_dube]

Well, having owned a DiCOR 4WD for 8 years, the SAFARI for me was out of production with the DiCOR going off assembly lines With all due respect to the capable beast the the Storme is, the DiCOR was THE Safari for me, and I am sure for many of us Safari lovers out there.

Signing off with a picture of our beloved Safari which took us to many corners of the country and brought us back home safely every single time.

[rajneeesh]

I first saw the Safari at the Auto Expo in 1996 or 1997. It had the pride of place at the Tata Pavilion at Pragati Maidan. If I am not mistaken, it was around the same time that the Indica also made its first appearance.

I h ad just started working and used to ride a second hand Yezdi at that time. A 4 wheeler was an aspiration and something like the Safari was something you could just dream about. However I had been smitten by the beast the longing for the vehicle never left me. In 2008 I was upgrading my vehicle and the Safari and the SX4 were the two shortlisted vehicles. My son was all for the Safari as it had DVD Screens behind the front seats. The Safari till then had picked up a reputation for being unreliable and difficult and expensive to maintain. It was a struggle between the head and the heart and like in case of most middle class Indians, I took the more sober and safer option and bought the SX4.

Meanwhile my fascination for the Safari didn't end. It grew stronger fueled by the fantastic TVC's .It was also the time I joined Team Bhp. Travelogues by Tanveer (TSK 1979) with his "White Elephant" increased the itch . Time passed and TML kept making small improvements on the Safari. Come 2015 and I was looking to pick up a new vehicle. This was the time when TML launched the 2015 Storme. I took a few test drives, the vehicle was a lot smoother, the clutch was the new auto adjusting one and very soft, the vehicle had black interiors and the turning radius was a lot tighter than the DICOR. This time the toss up was between the Storme and the Octavia
( significantly more expensive). I spoke to my wife on this and in a very simple way she solved the problem for me. What she said is " you have already crossed 40. In a few years the kids will be off to college, we will not need a big vehicle and you will be a lot older. If you want to buy a SUV buy it now and not in your Bhuddapa ( old age)."
That settled it for me. In July 2015 "Rustom" our Safari Storme VX 4X4 joined our family. It has clocked 81 K and every click had brought a smile to my face. It has taken my family to Bhutan, and on a lot of smaller trips. Earlier this year I did winter trip to Spiti and later this December I will be going for the SOUL's "Iconic Thar Drive".

The vehicle has performed impeccably. The maintenance is cheap and the there is no vehicle which can beat it in terms of sitting position and comfort. There are people whole find it old school and lacking in features. But there is a bank of Safari fans who love the Safari the way it is. Last year I was looking to upgrade, I checked out the Fortuner, Endeavour, Isuzu MUX and the Pajero Sport. However, after a lot of evaluation, I found no reason to spend close to 35 Lakhs to replace the legend I drive.

It is a dilemma a lot of Safari Owners face. Having driven a Safari the other vehicle either fall short, or look extremely overpriced. I lot of them replace the Safari with another Safari.

So the love-affair continues. In Delhi NCR, I can retain a diesel vehicle for 10 years
( courtesy the NGT ruling). That means I can have a a few more years with Rustom. I intend to keep him as log as possible and with then think of getting it registered in a different state. But then, there are many miles to go and many lives to reclaim.

[safari_lover]

One of the most iconic products of the Indian automobiles industry. I have always wanted to own one but couldn't manage it till now. Tata made it hard by not including any safetly features in the Lx variant and pricing the VX variant too high.

BTW, if Tata is upgrading the Hexa to meet the regulations, couldn't they upgrade the Safari too without much investment as they share the same platform?

[123.rishabh]

One of my deam cars when I first noticed it in the year 1999. We bought an LX 2.2 VTT Dicor in the year 2008 and it was one of the vehicle which I really aspired to have in our garage since many years. Kept it for 10 years and 95000 kms without any issue and the car took me from Sub zero temperatures in Himachal to Extreme heat in Rajasthan without a sweat.
Practically it makes sense to stop production but emotionally it is really sad to see such a legend being axed. I just wish Tata motors bring something butch in the future and rename it the Safari like LR did with the Defender so that people can reclaim their lives again !
Here is a pic of mine at an autocross event.

[wheelspinner]

Very heartbreaking to see her going. Been my dream car since childhood - always impressed by its rugged muscular looks.

The rise of compact wannabe SUVs together with its lack of essential features, updates to design and dashboard, and being overpriced, failed to attract enough buyers.

Feels so bad, that I can never own this rugged iconic SUV :( Even a few months back I tried finding one in nearby dealerships, but had no success.

[BusyBoyKK]

Sierra, Sumo and now Safari.

TATA built these brands people connected to emotionally (more so with first and last), in the age of no-internet. I wish they bring them back with advanced safety and engine tech and more or less similar iconic design. We will miss the brilliant advertising too.

TATA, if you are listening.

[Karthik Chandra]

This is a memorable picture by ACI, shared by Hormazd...

[Zahoor23]

Tribute to the car producing 400 nm of Torque:

You ruled our roads for 21 years,

You showed us that a lot can happen with just 90 bhp of power back in 1998

You did not have fancy driving modes but a rock solid 4x4 to drool over

You had a driving position that gave inferiority complex to trucks in our National highways

You had a body shell so strong enough that number of airbags were never your priority

You came with a factory-fitted Kenwood CD player when others were fiddling with cassettes

You had a ground clearance that was a benchmark to Artillery tanks

You had the best TV commercials, better than some recent Bollywood movies

You were criticised for having the old-school design for over two decades,

You did have your fair share go niggles just like any other car in the World
But,

That’s what separated YOU from rest of the breed.

Replacement for you shall NEVER be found.

Farewell, Tata Safari.

[46TheDoctor]

I used to own one in the past, it was Dicor GX 4X4. Although i have used quiet a few SUVs since then, no other SUV can match the space, seating height (felt like seating on an elephant), road presence. Front and middle seats were like sofa set in the car. It had its share of drawbacks also, like suspension that was too wallowy, third row seats that weren't ideal for long distance travel despite the humongous size of the vehicle, some niggling issues, etc. But, it provided the experience of a full size desirable SUV in spades!

Some pics in memory of my Silver Knight

[SS80]

I have driven our BHPian Varun's Storme quite a few times and have been on a few trips too. Be it the ghats of Yelagiri hills, Narrow roads of a nearby Dam, Cruising effortlessly at 100kmph with minimal throttle input, flying past the strip of humps at a empty toll gate, this SUV continues to put a GRIN on the drivers face.

Also not many know the comfort of the middle row and its a great place to be. I had downloaded every ad of TATA Safari and saved it to a CD almost 10yrs back! that's the kind of feelings the ads created in us.

No comments about TATA's decision, but that's one REAL SUV that will be remembered for a long time to come.

[AirbusCapt]

I recently drove a Safari after a long time. Long enough for me to have forgotten the experience of owning one and to develop a nostalgic sepia tinted fondness for the car. However a short drive made me realize how much the auto industry and my own standards have moved on
I wonder how I used to think the Safari is a stable mile muncher where in reality, the steering is so vague that she wanders all over the road, lanes are a mere suggestion and the car rolls more than a fair sized boat. The suspension is so soft as to make people sea sick on dry land. The dicor motor has a giant flat spot until hitting 2000rpm and the big beast lurches in first gear until 40kmph and then bogs down in higher gears until it reaches 2000rpm and then starts gathering her skirts. The entire manuver if executed in a hurry resembles a drunk elephant trying to escape. The ride comfort we so praise is actually highly unsettling with the car oscillating, dipping and rocking along road undulations. It's good Tatas killed the Safari, it was about time the ghost was buried.

[narayan]

The best SUV rear end ever ?

[TROOPER]

Came across these on instagram.

Safari truly has some of the most hard-core fans