Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

-   -   If only Tata made prettier cars... (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/24410-if-only-tata-made-prettier-cars-6.html)

Well then the next statement from your dad should be- "It smells like a toad too!"lol:

Spot any similarities? Thats a Mark I Palio.Yes, the side profile is similar to that of the Indica's.But the cars dont look identical as such.They do have different characters.The Indica always had a smiling face,while this one had a wierd 'handle-bar' grill.But I prefer the front on this one.The tail lamps on the Indica look better ,but then again, I believe they were copied from the Fiat Punto.So you can say that Tata and Fiat in India own genetically similar products.An alliance made in heaven then? Or in this case,in the mother's womb -IDEA institute!

The indica since 1998. These have been taken off random sources on the internet and may take some time to download

The original 1998 version



The most common V2, also seen on the petrol


Looks almost good above with the fog lights and wider alloys fitted.
The chrome around the grille looks gaudy mostly, but is somehow subdued against the grey/silver in the pic below.


And the 2007 version below, with the changed grille, and IMO too much work happening out front. I hear this was originally a re-design for Rover but the deal did not work out

I think this is from an expo prior to the launch of the Marina. An 'adventure' version of the Indigo. This has the stuff we were talking about earlier in the thread. I wonder what presumably flawed market research stopped Tata's from getting this to the shelf.

That pic of the Marina looks really good. Good find, wizardofid.
Looks a tad too much like the Adventure, but then thats a good thing.

yeah, that looks very very smart - I would've bought a marina by now if it looked like that!!! Who needs body coloured bumpers if you have something that samrt looking - is it the tyres + alloys or is it the combination of colour+bumper ?

it looks like bullet. still freash. just love this car from side.

Yup! Its a pity they didn't leave a good thing alone. Instead they changed the bumper to look like the Ford Ikon (the most popular car then), slapped on absurdly large wheel arches which make the wheels look really small, and added those ugly chrome beadings around the grille - and called it the 'V2'.

they should instead have concentrated on a much better/ powerful/ efficient engine, and improved dynamics and long term reliability.

I don't intend to nitpick but this is not what the V2 was about. Plus the V2 was launched in February 2001. What you refer to is the "All new V2" which was launched sometime in 2004.

My March 2003 V2 is very similar to the Indica in the first 2 pictures.

Hmm let me join the party of V2, non V2 indica and stuff.
Note : This stuff is not off the internet but actual cars the family bought.
1. Grandfather indica : This was the first gen. Noisy as hell, AC was horrible, quality sucked. Starting in morning was like lottery, and there was a possibility that the engine will fall off while running.
2. V2 : No cosmetic changes, still got the same non clear lens fresnel glass.Slightly better AC. Less noisy buy still crude. Engine stopped falling off now and probability of starting increased.
3. V2 2002 June : Exterior was same. Only way to tell was the interiors. First thing was that the circular AC buttons were changed with square ones, and there was plastic cladding near accelerator. New AC, very quiet. The ice on the candy was a deliciously tuned petrol engine, + wonderful stiff suspension. First major improvement which made any difference. This was the indica which lead to increase in sales. I have this vintage
4. New V2(refreshingly new) : A Tata safari guy got demoted to Indica division, and he put claddings on the indica. 13" wheels remained, and it looked like a fat woman with thin legs. Notable change apart from the claddings were the clear lens lamps. Tata also decided that handling is not a desirable trait, and these indica's pitch and roll like crazy. But overall quality of fittings etc., improved/
5. More refreshings : Here I lose the plot. New fog lamps, the smile is gone now.

haa haaa haaaa... how true.
4. The Tatas changed the suspension to a much more softly sprung one as many customers felt that the previous setup is too stiff for city rides. The downside is that at high speeds the car does do some amount of rock and roll when given some neat twists on the wheel. I have experience with both the versions and hence...
Footnote: With the new Turbo DLG and DLX something has changed. My idea is that the suspension has been stiffened to some extent. Combined with the larger wheels on these the car is again rock steady. I realized this during my recent Goa trip. That tendency to pitch on sharp turns is gone.

5. Yeah more refreshments. :D or rather light snacks. Alongwith the new grill (=non-smiley grill) a new set of foglamps, new dual chamber headlights, new pointed ORVMs, new set of tail lamps, a new sporty gear knob, black interior plastics and many such small knick-knacks.


By the way, has anyone noticed that Tatas have subtly made a change to their Indicab range. The first time I saw one on the road I thought some nut decided to paint his cab and do some retrofitment. But now I know better. The new Indicabs (or at least one variant) comes with body colored grills, bumpers, claddings etc. The hideous traffic signal tail lights are gone. In its place there is a christmas tree light which the previous to previous gen of Indicas used to use. I somehow feel that while the taillamps are ok but the body colored bumpers and grills (all white) look bad. They should have left those black. That looked better.

Dual chamber?? Only the indigo gets dual chamber, Indica still has the H4, single chamber assembly. I find it a little weird. If Tata had dual chamber in all its range it would have been better. Cost would have been similar because of economy of scale.

Yeah dual champber is for Indigo only I belive they want to differentiate the sedan from the hatch which is good IMHO.

Btw check out by BIL new 1.2 Xeta, I must say the quality of interiors has improved a lot.

tata has given us car that fits the country at its best and what people want, its here, now time has come we change the look of the indica and all its variants, we are fed up seeing the many variants, change the look completely and the interiors as well,specially the dash board,

As Zappo mentioned in the 2007 Indica Turbo range the suspension has been stiffened as compared to my 2004 Indica N/A. The roll is considerably less...Well about the interiors, my 2004 Indica dashboard and plastic trim was much better finished than the so called black (looks more like dark grey) interior trim of the 2007 version. Also the new ORVM's are not designed properly (god knows who designed this mirror) it does not even shut properly onlce the windows are rolled up..And yeah it does have new Fog lamps made by valeo, belgium (expensive) and a single chamber new design headlight which look nice.