[drive_or_die]

WOW- I am loving this thread.

I still own the moonbeam silver Zen LX MPI 2001 Honeycomb grill (similar colour as of speedsathya's car). My car has black bumpers without Power Steering/Windows etc. The car has done 55K on ODO, the car was literally parked at home for approx 3 years. During these 3 years, the car will betaken out once in 4-5 months whenever me or my brother will visit home (we were studying away from home). The best part was charge the battery folowed by regular service- the beauty was ready to take on road.

The car puts a smile on face (even reading this thread did so) whenever I drive it. We had spent 14k on ICE & 16K on alloy wheels (in 2001).

I planned to do couple of mods on my Zen like putting EPS & Auto Gearbox but later dropped the plan. I am enjoying it in 2001 specs. I have the beauty with me in Bangalore now & the Zen will get an ICE upgrade as 2011 new year gift

Best part, I have been asked by numerous people to sell my Zen but I flatly refuse. I plan to keep it alive till I can, in fact I had mentioned in other thread that for me the cars are like family members.

I also have emotional attachment with the car as I learnt driving on this car. Moreover, the car was bought by my dad (he is no more now), so I want to retain it as long as I can.

[DRIV3R]

Few pics of this timeless classic called ZEN.

[drmohitg]

This was the car i learnt my driving on. The first car we bought. I still remember the feelings as a kid when i went with my father to take the delivery. God this car ruled the roads for a good ten years. I have only good memories of each of the 2,20,000 KMs we had it with us.
Just a thought- If maruti was to launch this again in its original avatar what do you guys feel. Will it survive today? I feel it might still end up outselling quite a few cars even today( estillo for sure).
RIP beloved little car.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Just a thought- If maruti was to launch this again in its original avatar what do you guys feel. Will it survive today?

Definitely, IMO.

But the one to be made 'alive' is not the last generation 'original' Zen, but the one just previous to that - the model with honey comb grill. Plonk the 1.2L K-series engine, revamp the interior like the new Wagon-R, add some good features, so that it can be priced at the 3.7 - 4.7 lakh range. Surely it will outsell Estilo, A-Star, Spark and Beat. It can give a good competition to i10's lady friendly attitude also.

[drive_or_die]

One model which I did not find on this thread was Zen Classic. This model had round headlamps and different tail lamps as well. I never sat in that model but I understand that interiors were also different from normal Zen. The Classic model had premium price tag.

On personal note, I did not like this model . Nevertheless, the model should be mentioned in 1993-2003 journey of our loved Zen.

[sureshkishore]

After a long while I have got my hands on yet another ZEN in the family. My Brothers 2001 Zen Di. Since he was out of station I had been using it for a month now. I have really fell in love with it.

It is ten years old, but hardly shows its age. ZERO rattles, Still looks cute as ever in much younger company.

It has done 103000kms so far the engine is a real gem. Very Fuel efficient, rev happy TUD 5 Engine is a gem. EPS is superlight (is a letdown though). Surprisingly the A/C is good. Despite not having tints the car cools well.

Must say the character of the Zen Diesel was not much different from his petrol sipping twin.

[Zero Cool]

It was my first car, also the car on which i learnt driving. it was easily one of the most maneuverable cars ever, real boon on out congested streets. the low seating position reminded me of F1 cars. looking at this thread brought a smile to my face.

[amitwlele]

Thanks for starting this thread. Its really nostalgic. My in laws had a Zen and used to enjoy driving it. But the sad part was that it got submerged in water during the rains of 26th July (was it in 2005?) in Mumbai

MIL service centre did a decent job of bringing it back to life but we sold it off later.

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

I was disappointed too, when they changed to the 2 spoke 'crap'
Found a solution to it. Went to the auto spares market and picked this one up! It's a BEAUTY maneuvering the car in this one!

Thanks so much!!! I don't know how I missed your post - but that pic made my day!

Also loved the navy blue color of the MH410. Thinking back - such a beautiful car, carb version, non-power-steering... should have been heaven to drive!

[CoolFire]

Originally Posted by drive_or_die

On personal note, I did not like this model . Nevertheless, the model should be mentioned in 1993-2003 journey of our loved Zen.

Obviously not many liked this one. A terrible overkill, it can hardly be categorised with the other Zens here. Still the fact remains.

[Live To Jive]

Originally Posted by newcoolgadgets

Other than the fact that the Zen was a cult car when I decided to buy it, there were so many other goodies in the final version that swayed me towards it. Here's the list:

1. Front Power Windows, with driver side Auto down and window locking.
2. Rear de-fogger
3. Rear Wash and Wipe
4. Fabric trim on all doors
5. Front and Rear Fog Lamps
6. Central Locking
7. Power Steering
8. Seat pockets
9. AC and Heater (the AC is inadequate for central India, but works great up north and down south)
10. Full Wheel Covers
11. High mounted Stop Lamp
12. Folding Rear Seat
13. Parcel Shelf in the rear
14. Child Lock on rear doors
15. Internally adjustable Rear view mirrors (driver and passenger)
16. Anti-glare Day-Night Rear view mirror

That's all I can think of now. It may not sound like much now, but 4 years ago, this was a lot for a small car, especially the Zen.

These features were common on other cars. In fact the original Zen never had many of these features but they were added later.

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Nope, this is the original Zen steering wheel, MH410 times

We had a MH410 Zen but it had a 2 spoke wheel. Looks like only the initial few had the 3 spoke ones. If if remember correctly, the original Zen came with 13" wheels and later they switched to 12" ones.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Just a thought- If maruti was to launch this again in its original avatar what do you guys feel. Will it survive today? I feel it might still end up outselling quite a few cars even today( estillo for sure).

I don't think so. In fact the Ritz could have been styled on the old Zen (like the new Mini, Beetle & 500) and badged the Zen. The Estilo is basically not a Zen. In fact Maruti has dropped the Zen name from the new Estilo.

The Original Zen was truly a lovely car and I hope Maruti comes out with a worthy successor to it based on the Ritz platform with Petrol and Diesel options. That will be a winner.

[verditer]

Hey Sid, you've got tributes nicely written for both the cars I have had - the Zen and now the Safari. What a pleasure to read these.

The Zen will remain special to me forever, had a 2005 Zen until 2010, did 95000 kms without a problem, gave her away to a friend who is giving her enough rest now, unlike me. With me she never saw rest, but never complained.

[drive_or_die]

I pampered my Zen with a "Spa" this weekend and sharing her pics with fellow BHPians. She puts a smile on my face whenever I drive her around

[zenren]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Zen and the art of colourful joyride..

For those who fancy colouring books
And lots of people do
Here's a new one for you.
A most unusual colouring book
The kind you'll never see.
Crayons ready?
Very well
Begin to colour me......

Riviera red. For the eternal blood in you.
Mellow Yellow. To shine like a sun around you.
Leaf Green. For the ecological few.
Passion Purple. Eternal.
Atlantic Blue. Sober.
Exotic Green. envy.
Sapphire Blue. Classic.
Moonbeam Silver. suave.
Pearl Silver. sweet.
Cool Silver. truly cool.
Miami gold. elegant.
California Gold. As hot as a Mojave.
Milky white. Pure.
Superior White. peaceful.
Copper orange. fresh.
Midnight black. Silent night....

Holy night. All is calm. All is bright.

These are the eyes that watched him as he walked away
Colour them grey....
This is the heart that thought he would always be true
Colour it blue.

You can go on and on to keep describing this beauty. Yet all these beauties have one thing in common. A heart.

Guys,
I was searching for the exact shade name of my red Zen (95 model- should be the original shade of red that came with the initial lot) and realized after searching in the web that this seems to be highly classified information that is unavailable anywhere.

Any idea which colour shades came with the original zen when launched in 1993? Which additional shades got introduced in 96/99(with LX/VX introduction) and 2001? With many Zen owners among us, I guess some would remember the exact shade of colour (especially the prefix!)

Here is what I remember:

Red, White, Blue and Yellow were available in the initial lots of 93 till 95 though I'm not sure of the prefixes. I think the blue was called Neptune Blue and was it Passion Yellow or Lemon Yellow? I don't remember the prefix for red and white.

Some time in 96, I think some metallic shades like violet, green, sky blue were introduced. With the introduction of body coloured bumpers in 97, yellow and blue shades got some slight change IIRC - blue got a little lighter and yellow a little darker.

In 99, they introduced LX/VX variants and introduced a bunch of new colours. I literally lost track of the changes from here on!

Next set of changes could be with the introduction of the Euro 1 and Euro 2(MPFI) Zen.

Here are the colours mentioned by sidindica. I feel we still have some shades missing. Please add/correct. If someone remembers the duration during which the colour existed, that would help others verify

Riviera red.
Mellow Yellow.
Leaf Green.
Passion Purple.
Atlantic Blue.
Exotic Green.
Sapphire Blue.
Moonbeam Silver.
Pearl Silver.
Cool Silver.
Miami gold.
California Gold.
Milky white.
Superior White.
Copper orange.
Midnight black.
Neptune Blue (93-96)
Passion Yellow or Lemon Yellow? (93-96)
Turquoise Green (99-03)
Peacock Green
Ruby Red
Cherry Red

[shk 8896]

Finally got my hands on this 2003 Zen LXi and experiencing the newly found art of living.The car even though 10 year old and more than 80k kms on odo is still young at heart.
Cheers,
Sreehari