[salilpawar1]

I've already done some minor visual embellishments like blackened b-pillar as you pointed out. These photos are a bit old. Agree with you about the rims part, but lacking vitamin 'M'.

Talking about Petrol Indicas. Check this thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...eeper-car.html

[greenhorn]

I dont know whose this is , but love the sound

YouTube - Tata indica New header

[nsbhagwat]

Originally Posted by sidindica

MORE DREAMS PER CAR

I still cannot forget how crazy I was when I saw the Tata small car at the 1998 auto expo.

I still cannot forget how crazy I was whenever I saw pre launch full page teaser ads of the car which at that time had "the external dimensions of the zen, the internal dimensions of the ambassador," and as Mr. Tata said, "the Indian public wants the economy of an affordable diesel car, to be priced at that around of that of a Maruti 800".

The year: 1996.
The first styling model is ready and undergoes wind tunnel tests at the company's newly created engineering and research center, Pune.

The car goes rigorous wind tunnel tests at I.DE.A. lab and comes out triumphs with a very low Cd which promises to be best in this class of cars.

OOh la la..Time: December 1997, The magazine "Auto India" carries the first exclusive photos of the car n its cover titled "Telco's knockout! Tata Small car unveiled!" and when I purchased the magazine, I was going crazy. and crazy. and more crazier than ever before.

Sidindica, I can understand your excitement. I went thru the same emotions when I started working on the Indica at the company's ERC. I was assigned to designing of the AC plumbing for this car.

This was the time when no one knew what the car would look like. We had a special gate pass to enter the sanctum sanctorum. Each entry or exit, we were frisked thoroughly to avoid any leaks whatsoever.

I had also the privilege to work on the AC development activity at a wind tunnel in Sydney Australia in early 97.

Nikhil

[drifter]

The Indica V2 petrol was quite a nice car. Very peppy to drive and I loved the engine note. But FE wasn't a strong point. I wouldn't get more than 9.5kpl in Bombay traffic (in 2002). I even got 5kpl once.

But the Indica in general gave the Indians what we needed - a big car for at the price of a small car. She looked especially good in the first generations. All the later ones were watered down in the looks department. Yes the car had quality niggles, but the parts were really cheap and better yet most garages easily handle the Indica.
The Indica does deserve a special place in Indian automotive history in my humble opinion.

Drifter

[gomzi]

Wow! That's about all I can say about this thread. Sidindica, you have outdone yourself and this series of articles truly feels like it was a labour of love for you.

Indica is for it price a really VFM car. The interior space, the comfy suspension, decent power and ofcourse great mileage really make it a car to buy. As you pointed out unfortunately just these factors have made it so popular in taxi segment and therefore unpopular for private buyers. I own a Indigo CS and truly think its the most VFM in the < Rs 5 L category.

But unfortunately even my relatively recent buy (1.5 y.o) has sprouted problems. Tata have made improvements to the Indica since its launch, but I do feel they have to still improve further in quality. That will come with more experience.

Is it only me or is the paint finish of Indica's really superb? I always feel like the Indica V2 onwards has the best and long lasting paint finish in its segment (based on looking at my neighbours car)

[SMK]

Great write up Sid! enjoyed every bit of the detailing.

Here are some pics of my Indica Turbo DLG which is no longer with me now.

[tsk1979]

If most of you were asked this question "How many indica's has your immediate family and you owned". By that I mean parents.
You can quickly answer.
I have to think.
So lemme think
1997 - Maroon DLE, no power steering
early 21st century - Greenish DLS with power steering
2002 - Indica V2, and Indica V2 refresh
Later - Indica turbo first gen
So that makes it 5 indicas. + 2 indigos

Out of these 7 sisters, one remains with me still
One is mine 2002 June "Refreshed V2",
with 110000+kms on the odo, she still runs.
Of course the AC compressor bearing is almost gone, the headlight switch had to be changed a couple of days back, and there are one or 2 rattles, but apart from that, she sees the workshop much less than the white elephant!

[faridsahmed]

here is my machine. a Frugal machine - in true sense !!!

[sschivate]

Sid,

wonderful write-up, a trip down the memory lane.

Here are my photographs...

Regards,
Sameer.

[shortbread]

When me and my friends passed out of college and started with our first jobs most of us just owned motorcycles. Then one of us bought an Indica. We kept laughing at him, things like people waving at him from the road sides thinking its a taxi, how the Zen will leave him for dead at the traffic lights, it will break down anytime etc..etc...
But what a car it was. We must've covered thousands of kms on it and took the car for granted. Distance was never a problem, all of us pool in some money, a few litres of diesel and we were away. With our meagre salaries cant think of any other car that would have taken us so far.
It was tough as well, bad roads, rough weather, three accidents, it still kept running. Im sure he missed a lot of the service intervals as well, ran two months on bald tyres, The car never complained.
Later on we moved on to better cars and some how attitudes changed, these cars were taken care like they were our own kids. even the slightest creak or rattle we run to the service centre, mileage wasnt a problem and better salaries meant bigger fuel bills, although the extra power was of no use since we sat in city traffic most of the time. made sure the car was serviced regularly, try and avoid bad roads, washed every week.
Last time I was back home and our car went into service I borrowed the Indica again from my friend. It was definitely worse for wear and negligence, creaks here and there, but it still had lots of space, ran on whatever little diesel was left in the tank, took on whatever the roads threw at her.
A brilliant car, no doubt.

[vijaythacker]

Thankyou Sid for taking us through the journey called INDICA.Wow man what a superb narration from its birth till now Vista, tata has surely come a long way.
I still remember the slogan, More Car Per Car one which has led many people go for this car.Only wish they could improve more on their sales andservice department with few dealers, nothing more to say then.When we sold off our 7 years maruti 800, upgrade was looked as to bigger car then that, and i wanted to buy a diesel one, big and small which can accomodate 5 adults easily, easy on pocket and reliable for 5-7 years, and indica was the only option came out along with Palio which was out of sight to buy.So came in my Tata Indica Dls V2 2005 silver one.
My small tribute to this thread.

[sv1976]

Terrific write up Sid. Enjoyed every bit reading this and I really think Indica deserves such a great tribute. What a car!

I have driven 60000+ kms across south India on my V2 DLS that I sold last July. That car had seen some real crazy stuff during my bachelour days with friends/solo. But it never gave me any major problems barring the usual fan belt fuse, a flat tyre etc. And the best part, I could fill gas for Rs. 500 in Bangalore and 4 of us were comfortably at home in Kerala during weekends.

Even now when I drive my Fiesta, at times I miss that spacious cabin though I have other advantages of a Fiesta.

A great car and a justified tribute. Thank you for this wonderful thread.

[nithinnarayanan]

A few pics from my side.

BTW Superb writeup Sid.

[rpmx1000]

Wow..This makes me feel so good I went for a Turbo DLG as my first car..Still very much in love with the ownership experience! Thank you sid! You don't need to wake up, you can write great articles even in a state of slumber

[trrk]

Hi,

Though I could not take any pics, the Vista anniversary edition looked great with alloy wheels, black roof, leather seats and leather inserts in the dash etc.