Hi folks,
It was in the
year 1981 when my mom and dad spotted Suzuki 800 running on the roads of Kathmandu, Nepal. Back home, soon the same car was to make its debut and revolutionize the way and lifestyles of the masses forever. No wonder, as the bookings had opened, sometime in
Oct 1983 my dad did book one by paying INR 10,000. The bookings were made directly with Maruti Udyog Limited (A Govt. of India Undertaking). The colour choice preference was made in following order: White, Red and Green. Till this time, the vehicle wasn’t yet launched in India (to happen in Dec 1983).
No easy or transparent way to track your number, my dad and mom used to be in touch with some of their friends who had booked it a few weeks or months before them. These friends would further keep in touch with others before them, so there was an information chain making use of which one would make out the pace of delivery and predict his month/year when the number could come. By
late 1986, there happened a change in the model
from SS80 to roomier SB308 at an added cost. In a common man’s talk, it was referred to as the
new model or the aerodynamic model. This was indeed a much bigger reason of happiness for those who were still waiting for their number. While 2 of my dad’s friends had received their SS80s, one just replaced his SS80 with an SB308 by paying a premium (black) to make it INR 1 lac. Dad tells me that many people who’s number would come, would rather except black cash from others and take the delivery of the vehicle for them, thus earning a premium. Anyways, my mom and dad waited further for their turn. One of their friends who had booked just a month before them had got the delivery in January 1987 so they were now eagerly waiting to receive the letter from the dealer in New Delhi (Aganall, Jhandewalan). But then a rumour flawed in that in coming fiscal budget in February, there will be a price hike of flat INR 10,000 on Marutis. What this resulted in was, the dealers started to rather hold back the stocks than to notify their customers that their vehicle was out from the factory and ready with them. My mom and dad could figure this out and were pretty sure that the number has come but the dealer is playing foul with them. So, they went to the dealership without the call letter. I vaguely remember this day, I was 5 years old accompanying my mom and dad, playing with a toy car along with my elder sister
. Obviously, without the call letter, the dealer refused to entertain and then my dad had to call his old friend who was then the director in Maruti Udyog Limited and complain against the dealer. As a result, a phone call went from the director, MUL to the dealership confirming that the vehicle was already out from the factory and with the dealer, so now the things took the right shape. While all this drama happened for about 3 days, my mom used to wonder how the people would walk in with a briefcase (full of cash) in hand and drive away with the keys. Finally, on the third day my mom and dad received their genuine piece of vehicle at a genuine prevailing price by paying an additional INR 58,000. Couldn’t get white or red as in preference, they were very happy with the green Maruti Suzuki 800 Std.
This was a non A/C car, without a factory fitted stereo (2-in-1 as it used to be called then) and without the seat belts either. At the time of delivery, the car odo was 37 km (it was directly run out from the factory in Gurgaon to Jhandewalan, New Delhi).
About 80% of the components were "Made in Japan". What all
“Made in India” OEM stuff I could figure out was 4+1 skinny Ceat (non-radial) tyres, may be the rims as well, a 12v Exide battery, Lucas TV ignition coil, Lucas TVS horn and the fuel pump(which was indeed borrowed from the then Ambassador in this particular lot of cars).
I remember, the people used to come and touch my car to feel it. If left unattended for a longer time/overnight, the people would pilfer the fender turn indicator lights, ORVM, Suzuki “S” key hole sticker, wiper blades etc. All these things we faced a lot during the initial years of ownership when my dad would often leave me behind to stay with the car and attend to it. As a result, during very early days of ownership, we lost the SGP(Suzuki Genuine Parts) ORVM and replaced it with Lumax(MGP). Same with the fender indicator lights and even one of the bumper parking lights. Come 1990s, the things started to change for better.
The challenges:
Until 2008, the car had a nice covered parking which was now taken over by brand new Honda City. From then on, I was solely maintaining this 21 year old car. I myself used to wax it with formula1 carnauba wax from outside and polish the upholstery. This car was indeed a head turner. Many people used to stop by, come out of their new cars and approach me enquiring about my car, model , how do I maintain it and if I would be ok to sell it to them. With time, the car started to age further.
Reliability and roadworthiness were some issues as a couple of times owing to bad traffic jams, the thermostat malfunctioned and didn’t turn on the radiator fan resulting in
car overheating (I normally used to keep an eye on the thermostat needle). My understanding of this car is that it’s a happy to run and happy to rev but hates idling, traffic jams and excessive clutch usage. Next was stringent “pollution under control” norms and this vehicle being a
pre-BS would qualify at only at some selective PUC centers. The cops would see my old car and would stop me to see all the documentation. I used to keep it up to day though. What more, the new age mechanics at Maruti Authorized Service Station(MASS) are trained and experienced on MPFI and barely understand
how to tune a carb. As a result, I never had my carburetor touched since 2002. More so, in the recent past, whenever I used to take my car to a MASS, their staff would rather give lesser importance to my vehicle(being older than their age), thinking it as
something of residual value. That all said, came the real problem for me,
the challenge to source the replacement SGP parts which were no more available in India. For instance, there was an issue identified with the distributor(
OEM Nippondenso) or may be MASS staff couldn’t make the setting correctly ever since the point-condenser were replaced. So the replacement MGP distributor was a Lucas TVS. Similarly, about 2 years back, the master brake cylinder (
OEM Nabco) started leaking draining down all the brake fluid and the replacement MGP was a Bosch. At about 70k kms, as a precautionary measure, I replaced the timing belt(which was an SGP) with an MGP. There was no way to source the original SGP spares. I had checked with MGP distributor for India (Alwa Auto based out in Gurgaon) if they could source me from Japan on order, but the answer was
“even these OEM suppliers in Japan are no more manufacturing these old components”. So, eventually my car had started losing its all Japanese character. Further, the recommended engine oil is
20w40 grade for this vehicle(carb based) which is also no more available at MASS and they put 5w30(Mobil1 or Castrol). I once said that if I bring an aftermarket can of 20w40 grade and let them do everything else, but they refused this. Lastly, when these
NGT norms came in, no way that I could even run it weekly for fitness. Also, in the coming years as its registration will expire again, the
RTO will refuse to extend the registration for another 5 years. This would render the car illegal. Still I wanted to keep it parked, but this wasn’t acceptable to my mom and she decided to sell it during my absence. I was later informed by my dad and that too when the deal was already done. So, after a good 29 years and 2 months of ownership, I said a goodbye to it on 25th April 2016.
Some pictures from my archive:
The car: Notice, that the tail lamps (
Tokaidenso) didn't fade or change colours even after 29 years. Now that is called quality.
Notice the bumpers have somewhat faded (But they were never black. This car came with grey bumpers and dashboard) but they didn't crack anyways. Notice the original chrome hub cups still sparkling as new. Now that is called quality.
Notice the top-notch scratch-free interiors. "The plastic". This is called quality. I bet, it will be tough for Maruti to compete to its very own 30 years old product.
Windshields and all the glasses are of
"Central Japan"
The hood opener:
All ivory upholstery:
Notice the ivory texture:
The Japanese cabin light / Map light. Even the bulb inside was a Japanese. It didn't fuse ever. Indeed non of the bulbs in this car ever fused. Now that is called quality.
Mitsuba Electric windshield washer motor (Made in Japan:
Nabco brake master cylinder:
Mikuni carburetor: Vacuum venture based. Never had any issues. Highly responsive. Still used to suck in with a brutal force.
"Made in Japan" thermostat system. I had once replaced the radiator though as due to ageing and a couple of stone hits, it had started to leak.
Notice the thick sheet metal clearly visible at the inside at B-pillar. The car was a solid built with all body components imported from Japan.
The id info tag put under the hood by MUL
The chassis number for tracing by RTO:
The original Japanese key and the key chain which the dealer had then provided along the vehicle.
The last filling. Full tank(30L).
The final odo reading:
Will
MISS YOU!