[sidindica]

Zestful. Enthusiastic. Natural.

One way love, it never sleeps,
Just grows deeper,
One way love, it pulls you in, it takes you down,
And I wish I knew what I had to do,
To get into your life, to get close to you,
But baby, it's a one way love.

1993.
A star is born.
Trendy.
Lightweight.
Classic jellybean design.
India's first cult car.
A legend that redefined the word enthusiasm like no other.
And stayed on for 10 long years.
Low slung seating position.
Cockpit-like interiors.
high revving ACE engine.
Butter smooth gearshift.
Balanced chassis.
perfect contours.

The Maruti Zen. Its a spirit. A joy. An art of living. If you are not in a zen, you are missing something.
Experienced by over five hundred thousand enthusiasts across the country.
Long gone.
Yet it remains India's most respected small car.

[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.

[theragingbull]

The Zen was one of the favorites among tuners in India. Zens were tuned to the limit until it screamed for mercy. It had a really peppy engine and it's lightweight chassis was a plus point. It's probably the Zen which has most number of registrations in the hatchback category at the Autocar Speed runs.

[sidindica]

Nine hundred ninety three cubic centimetres of heart.

At your disposal.
Fifty horses of all aluminum smoothness.
Sixty in multi pointed fuel injected guise.
Yet the DNA remains.
High power to weight ratio.
Agile.
Responsive.
Reassuring.

Drum sound rises on the air, its throb, my heart. A voice inside the beat says, I know you're tired, but come. This is the way.

But the zen wasn't tired. It ruled for 3655 days at its production run.
Zen derives from the Sanskrit word "Dhyana" and means "To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash of enlightenment."

That revvy buzzy ACE all aluminium contemporary motor just begged for more and more, you feel fresh even after driving it again and again..

That 5 speed manual shifts like a hot knife through butter. Silky smooth...

The heart has reasons which the reason cannot understand.

The Zen not only cared for individuals and enthusiasts alike, it also cared for some "special" people...

[sidindica]

Zen and the art of welfare

We stand apart,
But everything reminds
me of your smile
In my heart,
You are always with me
all the while,
Cause it's you, you all the way
Leaving me with no more to say
We move as one,
We move as one.

Zen AX easy drive.
India's first car factory designed for physically challenged.
So that special people can lead normal life.
To overcome their weaknesses.
To build upon their strengths.
With a 3 speed automatic transmission for convinence.
Hand operated accelerator/ brake controls/ customised steering/ pedals to suit the needs of a special person.
9 different configurations.
All at a starting price of just three lakhs.
Air conditioning made optional for affordability.

YET the Zenthusiastic DNA is all the same.

[cLJ]

Zen is fabulous car. This is the car once ruled indian roads. I am still having my 2002 Model zen and it is a fantastic city car. I had even taken her for long trips of 700km in a day and it returned without any issues. After driving modern cars on the highway, now I am scared to take her for highway drive. The only one issue I dislike is the low slung seating position.

CLJ

[ElantraGT]

Zen, yes a true enlightment for me. We own a Zen 2000 Carb edition and its always a pleasure to drive this car in the citys traffic. The peppy engine always beg to be revved hard. We did numerous highway drive to lot of places in Tamil nadu. Its not only light in terms of kerb weight, but also on the maintenance front. Its literally defined low cost ownership to indian community.

As rightly siad by CLJ after driving modern cars I am skeptical in taking my Zen for long drives. Its purely due to the lack of better brakes. Yes high speed braking is not confidence inspiring in Zen after driving sedans at the same speed. Yet this car is here to stay thanks to its mod friendly features. Some one once called it a POCKET ROCKET and I assure you that its is really a rocket with the right driving skills.

[ph03n!x]

One of the first cars I drove. And after learning to drive in a Contessa Classic, this cute little car was a joy to drive. Quite a few memories on this one. Way to go, Sid. Thanks for the nostalgia

[dhrishikesh]

The ZEN is other car which every college-going youngster looks for after Mahindra Classic 4x4. This cute little pocket rocket is amazing in pick up, acceleration & also better fuel efficiency in city as well as highway.
There are some memories related with this car such as enjoying holidays in Pune via going with uncle's Zen VXi on Expressway @ around 100-120 KMPH, which used be a delight for us.
The diesel version of Zen i.e. Zen-D is also a soild car, better in pick-up compared to diesel Palio available at that time.
A way to go ahead Sid, thanks for rising some beloved memories.

[akshay4587]

Sid,i guess Zen was in production till 2005-06 with that new grill,have you excluded that from list?

[theragingbull]

The original Zen can never be like the current Zen Estilo. Both cars are so different that one is for the enthusiasts and the other is for sedate city drivers. Imagine a Zen estilo drag racing at the Speed runs... lolz! While the Zen was made to be modified, as a right of ownership.

[rr_zen]

Wow ! What a trip down memory lane !

The Zen (the original one) was one of my favourite cars. It was love at first sight when I saw a two page ad in The Hindu in June 1993 (if I remember correct) when I was in the final year of my college. I longed to own one right from the time it was launched and by the time I was financially equipped to buy one in 2003, the older version was replaced by the new version(not the Estilo) which didn't augur well with me. I loved the Zen so much that the name found its place in all of my handles.

[throttleman]

Excellent one Sid!
A few years down the line, I would read your post once again and get emotional for sure - I'm glad am driving one now.

Thank you for everything Zen.

[jesal]

had one of these since 1998 to 2008. went all the way upto ezen in 1998 as well. then went in total loss mode. i still love this car.

[vasanthn21]

My dad was not a car person... never ever had he ever spoken of cars. But, one fine day around 15 yrs back, he spoke of one car and the car was Zen... never ever did I hear him talking about cars... This car could make men dream about it...

Initially I did not like its rear styling... but eventually it grew on me... and always wanted to own one. By the time I had funds enough to buy a car, it was very difficult to get original Zen in good condition. So, finally i settled for the Zen MPFI 2005 Model. Was driven for 19K when I bought it. Just dressed her with team BHP stickers today.

Originally Posted by theragingbull

The original Zen can never be like the current Zen Estilo. Both cars are so different that one is for the enthusiasts and the other is for sedate city drivers. Imagine a Zen estilo drag racing at the Speed runs... lolz! While the Zen was made to be modified, as a right of ownership.

AFAIK, the Zen Estillo has the Wagon R Engine and not that of Zen. Maruti prefixed "Zen" to Estillo to capitalize on the success of Original Zen.

Originally Posted by cLJ

Zen is fabulous car. This is the car once ruled indian roads. I am still having my 2002 Model zen and it is a fantastic city car. I had even taken her for long trips of 700km in a day and it returned without any issues. After driving modern cars on the highway, now I am scared to take her for highway drive. The only one issue I dislike is the low slung seating position.

CLJ

I think the seating position is a matter of personal opinion. I love the seating position in my Zen 2005 (mpfi).

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