[arup.misra]

Agree with most of members here. But where I beg to differ is the build quality of the body. I've been owning one for the past 6 years (serviced and waxed regularly). Its hardly given me any trouble and have taken all the punishment with the famous smile. Despite this the metal has seen corrosion on many a places thus depreciating any chances of a good resale value. Haven't ever used "hard water" for cleaning. Just wish they made the bodies more corrosion resistant.

[torquecurve]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Agree with most of members here. But where I beg to differ is the build quality of the body. I've been owning one for the past 6 years (serviced and waxed regularly). Its hardly given me any trouble and have taken all the punishment with the famous smile. Despite this the metal has seen corrosion on many a places thus depreciating any chances of a good resale value. Haven't ever used "hard water" for cleaning. Just wish they made the bodies more corrosion resistant.

In Mumbai after 6 years, almost any of the B/C segment cars will show what you experience, unless you have corrosion resistance treatment done when you bought it. My cousin who stays at Andheri W, has a santro (2005-6) which is a total rust bucket. Same car, same model in Pune which a close friend has does not show these signs!

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by (Alok)

Are you sure on this?

Yes. VGT was introduced in Indica in 2008 in the Dicor model which is now called CR4. For reasons best known to TM, this feature is not advertised. Could be due to modest power output.

[harimakesh]

I had recently travelled in 2011 Indica eV2 DLS and in the rear seat three adults could sit very comfortably. the cladding less new exterior was improving the good looks of the car.

The leg room at the front and rear are spacious. engine noise is reasonable. A/c is superb and 1st position itself was chiller.

Only If the transmission hump can be made flat Indica rear seating for the middle passenger will be more enjoyable.

City ride and highway travel was smooth.

The car was brand new with less than 8K kms done in a month by the cab guy and the OTR chennai price was 4.75 Lakhs which seemed pricy for the features it offered.

[Car-Agey]

Great writeup sid. But that's what we have come to expect from you.

I was thrilled when I heard about the Indica, when ir was show cased in 1998 Auto Expo, I traveled all the way from Karnal to get a glimps of this beauty. It is a timeless design. Even after 13 years the design still looks good.

[arup.misra]

Originally Posted by torquecurve

In Mumbai after 6 years, almost any of the B/C segment cars will show what you experience, unless you have corrosion resistance treatment done when you bought it.

Not sure I agree with you torque. We had a Corolla (7 years +) in the family which we just sold off few months back. Washed by the same water same person. It even was exposed to the elements more than the Indica. Yet it never had any sign of rust. No anti corrosion treatment done on either cars.

[root]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Despite this the metal has seen corrosion on many a places thus depreciating any chances of a good resale value.

I have a 8 year old Indica LSI petrol. Had the best pickup and power for a petrol car in its segment for a long time. Its only now that I have one spot with body corrosion, despite having had to park in the open for all these years. Perhaps the difference is the water and rain in Mumbai and Bangalore. The only repetitive problem I have in the car is faulty silencers. Love the driving feel and also the back seat comfort!!

[torquecurve]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Not sure I agree with you torque. We had a Corolla (7 years +) in the family which we just sold off few months back. Washed by the same water same person. It even was exposed to the elements more than the Indica. Yet it never had any sign of rust. No anti corrosion treatment done on either cars.

You are comparing apples to oranges misraji. Corolla is 2.5 times more expensive. If you compare it to a car from the same price range I am sure you will see what I am saying!

[tushky]

A footage from 1998 Birmingham Motor show. We can see a early prototype of indica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjnFynhSh2k

[RockingHorse]

I am a fresh member off the mint, and going to write my memories about the Tata Indica.

My father spent more than 4 decades working for Telco (as we call it) in pimpri plant. My most happening time in a day would be when family sat together for a dinner and father would share a tale or two from his work.

It must have been year 1995-96 and I was a 8-9 year old kid. People working there knew a car was being conceived. A new assembly line being built for it. Tata Motors had named it 'K Block' (and its gate was later known as 'Indica gate'). It was going to be a small car. It would boast of features like spacious cabin, comfortable seats, powered windows and steering (last 2 were kind of novelty back then). New car was going to have sheet metal of much thicker gauge compared to the one used in Maruti's cars and was built heavy and safe!
(There were rumours on the grapevine why some one at a top position procrastinated the car launch, on special insistence by external factors. ) Finally it was launched and almost stole the show.

First time I saw it in flesh was when a distant relative paid a visit to us in his freshly purchased specimen in turquoise colour. I remember myself wonderstuck looking at this beautiful design (by the then standards). Almost remember - It had a wiper at the rear glass, something I saw for the first time. It was a top end diesel model. Only complaint he had was 'Bonnet disat nahi' (Bonnet not visible). Naturally so - as his other car was a Tata Sumo.
Another thing I remember fanintly and members please correct me if I am wrong - The gear pattern was similar to the one Tata had on their trucks. Dog legged gear pattern where the first gear is behind the reverse. I think earlier Sumos also had the same pattern.

Indica was a hit but people also had a lot of issues. I remember the ones like eating tyres (as a kid - I did not understand what it was), bent rims, breakdowns on the road etc.
But the feeling of safety was surely shared univocally. Tata Pariwar - an internal magazine used to publish stories from owners who survived accidents in Tata vehicles back then, Indica started featuring in these stories.

A school classmate's family bought it in bluish silver colour for being a safe car - after they lost their daughter when their M800 rear ended a tanker. Another classmate's family rejected it because of its heavy steering (in DLE version, DLS was a while away) and chose to buy Zen Lxi.

Indica slowly started gaining stardom with its V2 version and lost it quickly as it got its taxi badge. But it was the car that inititiated me to the motoring world although I was not destined to make a career out of it.
Sidindica sir has written the story of Indica very nicely, I just wished to add my 2 cents from my childhood memory. Thanks for reading.

[Leoshashi]

A nice article: https://www.autopunditz.com/news/car...digenious-car/

[Raghuwire]

A superb and endearing take on Indica, India's first made in and made for Indian cars by Tata's brand custodian!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tata-...r-harish-bhat/

[OSH]

Does anyone remember the engine specifications of the Indica and Indigo ? I am particularly looking for the details of the below two engines.

Model : January '03; Tata Indica DLX (Diesel)
Engine Number : 475IDI02AWZP*****

Model : December '04; Tata Indigo LS (Diesel)
Engine Number : 475IDT12LVZP*****

I just want to know the basic things like cubic capacity, NA/turbo, power and torque etc. Thanks in advance.

[salilpawar1]

Replied in the quoted text

Originally Posted by OSH

Does anyone remember
the engine specifications of the Indica and Indigo ? I am particularly looking for the details of the below two engines.

Model : January '03; Tata Indica DLX (Diesel)
Engine Number : 475IDI02AWZP*****
1405 cc, 53 bhp, N/A

Model : December '04; Tata Indigo LS (Diesel)
Engine Number : 475IDT12LVZP*****
1405 cc, 60 bhp, turbo

I just want to know the basic things like cubic capacity, NA/turbo, power and torque etc. Thanks in advance.

[greenhorn]

In case someone is wondering about the magic formula
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...tml#post725816 (Finding the VIN & manufacturing date/year on Indian cars)

Here is the Indica/Marina/ Indigo coding:
I have picked this from Tata Indica Users Group. Due credits to Mr. Achin Juneja, the guru on Tata cars..Very useful info.

The post:
Chassis Number :
A typical chassis no. is --- 600132CTZP78900.

The first 6 characters are the model code --- in this case, Indica DLE.

The 7th character --- 'C' in this example --- represents the month of
manufacture, according to the foll. table :
A --- Jan.
B --- Feb.
C --- Mar.
D --- Apr.
E --- May.
F --- Jun.
G --- Jul.
H --- Aug.
J --- Sep.
K --- Oct.
L --- Nov.
M --- Dec.
Pls note that ' I ' is not used.

The 8th & 9th characters together represent the year of manufacture,
according to the foll. table :
Z --- 0
Y --- 1
X --- 2
W --- 3
V --- 4
U --- 5
T --- 6
S --- 7
R --- 8
Q --- 9
P --- 10
and so on.
In our example, the 8th & 9th characters are ' T Z '. Reversing the order
makes it ' Z T '.
As per the table, this converts to ' 0 6 ', or the year 20 06, the ' 20 '
being assumed.

The 10th character represents the Plant location, with ' P ' for ' Pune '.

The last 5 numbers comprise the Serial No. of the chassis.

So, our example no., 600132CTZP78900, means the model is Indica DLE,
manufactured in March, 2006, at Pune, having chassis serial no. ' 78900 '.

Engine Number :
A typical engine no. is : 475IDI__03 CTZP12345.
The first 6 to 8 character group represents the engine type, as per foll.
table :
475IDI --- Non turbo diesel.
475IDI TC --- Turbocharged Diesel.
475MPFI --- Petrol MPFI.

The next 2 digit number represents the emission norms as per the foll. table
:
05 --- BS-2 from Jan 2005 onwards.
03 --- BS-3.

The remaining 9 characters represent the month, year of mfr., Plant, &
serial no. of engine, as per the chassis no. tables.
So an engine no. of 475IDI 03 CTZP 12345 will be a non-turbo diesel engine,
conforming to BS-3, manufactured in March, 2006, at Pune, & having serial
no. 12345.