[narayans80]

Premier 118 NE (during the 80s)

Standard 2000 (made even popular by Raja Kaiya Vecha song)

Tata Sierra

[PetrolheadRup]

8th Gen Honda Civic:
A lovely looking car and it was a dream to own this car for the 8-year-old me. Still a head turner after all these years, a very timeless design.


Image source: BHPian cityvic's post on the tastefully modified cars thread

TATA Safari
A neighbor used to own one in black. I felt like the king of the road whenever I got a chance to ride in it, its road presence is simply unmatched.



I am guessing the Safari might end up being mentioned in the highest number of posts in this thread since it is a car admired by most kids growing up in the 1990s and 2000s.

[Gansan]

When I was a college kid, I (and my generation of kids) longed for the Yezdi bike and Premier Padmini car. And furiously pedalled my Robin Hood bicycle, handed down by my dad.

Ambassador/Premier/Standard were the only cars available. Bullet/Yezdi/Rajdoot were the only bikes. Chetak/Lamby/Vijai were the only scooters. So our crush was limited to one of those.

By the time Maruti and the Indo-Jap bikes dawned, I had become a young man.

[landcruiser123]

Three of them.

First gen Swift in 2005


First gen Fortuner in 2009


Third Gen City in 2011

[Joscyriac]

The Mahindra Armada. Used to travel in a lot of these when we used to go to mom's native place for vacations. My favourite seats were the third row jumpseats. The love for Mahindra was planted at a young age.

[TorqueyTechie]

I always had a fascination for boxy SUV's. My two crushes (still are) were :

1. Tata Sierra : Loved the looks and the glass box for the passengers behind gave an airy feeling. Boy I would love to get my hands on one even now.



2. Tata Safari : Love at first sight. Got so smitten after seeing the ads (car driving on water and then jumping out of a sand dune).



We could not afford it at that time (had a humble omni). Keep searching for a clean version of either of these cars now.

P.S: Credit to respective owners for the pics

[Simhi]

For me, it was Contessa classic. In those days, Maruti was non-existent and it was only HM, Premier Padmini and Standard.

Image from our forum: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attac...c-conti004.jpg

[JTM]

There is no substitute.

[saikishor]

I always loved the Cruze. But if it had to be a crush, then it has to be the Lancer. It was such an elegant looking car. I really wish we could go back to the 2000’s when it was all sedan and the concept of C-SUV was unheard.

[extreme_torque]

Mitsubishi Lancer, Tata Sierra, Tata Safari. I did not just have a crush, I yearned for them

[ramki.grandhi]

My first and still a crush is a Mercedes. Today I can easily afford a lower variant of MB, still didn't have courage to pull the trigger.
In the world of Premier Padminis, Ambassadors, Contessas, one fine day I've seen this car and fell in love, it took me a couple of weeks to come out of that mesmerizing moment. I was standing close to the car and it was so beautiful, clean, quiet(compared to other cars existed during that time), big, imposing, shiny, 8 old me fell flat for it. Photo of my first love, for ref.

[vibbs]

I guess for me the first crush was Tata Sierra.

Other than that, I drooled over Maruti 1000, Contessa and Cielo.

[arindambasu13]

If memory serves me right, my first crush was the Standard 2000. Very few plied on the roads of Kolkata, but I do remember several instances when I would spot a maroon or blue one on the road from my school bus and drool over it as long as the thing was visible from the tiny bus windows. Never rode in that car simply because no one in our circle was rich enough to own one at the time.

Later the Maruti 1000 (predecessor to the Esteem) was another big crush. It looked like nothing else available at the time, and was a lovely performer with a smooth Jap engine and a light body - the formula which is followed even today by most Jap cars sold in India. Did sit in the Maruti 1000 when a couple of family friends picked these up, and I remember being wowed by the low and sporty bucket seats, the chilling AC and the smooth rev happy petrol engine!

Much later on, in 2005/2006 the Swift was another big crush but this time it was different since my father picked one up (G13B engine) in 2007, while I personally picked one up in 2012 (K12 engine). Loved these cars to bits, but the air of mystery went away once we started owning these cars, unlike the earlier two which remained halo grail cars to a little kid.

[DieselWanderer]

Well its a simple list growing up in the late 90s & early 2000s
1. Maruti 1000
2. Tata Sierra
3. Standard 2000
4. Honda City vtec
5. Tata Safari
6. 1st Gen Scorpio
7. 1st Gen Endeavour

[GrandTourer]

For me, it was the Contessa for the longest time and I had a scale model of it during school days as well, which I gave as a gift to a girl. She sadly didn't reciprocate to something so special


After that was the Tata Estate. It was the sleekest car in existence for me, and I always used to feel that it much be lightning fast. Alas, it was the opposite