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THE ANNUAL GENEVA MOTOR SHOW IS USUALLY headlined by a new Ferrari, and off late by new McLarens like the one starring on this month’s cover, but for me the highlight was the Racemo. Not a fan of the name, too boy racer-ish for my tastes, but everything else about Tata Motors’ mid-engined sports car looks so promising! 187bhp, under 900kg, claimed 0-100kmph in under 6 seconds, rear-wheel drive, mid-engine… really, what’s not to like? And after thinking long and hard I really can’t see too many things that can go wrong from concept to reality.
The manufacturing process for instance. Think of Bugatti’s Atelier in Molsheim where the Veyron and now the Chiron is put together for a general (very general!) idea of the concept – the panels, fully painted, come from various vendors; the engine, gearbox and electrical architecture is shipped over from Tata Motors’ plant in Pune; the interiors and components come from suppliers like Sparco; and under the careful eye of skilled, motorsport-trained technicians, each car is lovingly put together. A happy outcome is a very strict watch on quality. A by-product is that this ‘factory’ can be made into a destination for owners – enthusiasts can watch their own cars being built, maybe take delivery at the facility, and it also allows for extensive personalisation options. The motor. 187bhp from the 1.2 turbo-petrol is a lot – the Polo GTI needs 1.8 litres and direct injection in addition to the turbo to achieve the same figures – but it’s not impossible either. Though there will be a fair bit of turbo lag, there’s no getting away from that. And the gearbox – a 6-speed AMT – isn’t going to be the best in the world going by our experience of such ’boxes from the Celerio to Lamborghinis.
Step inside and once you pull the butterfly doors shut the cabin is snug, and visibility especially to the rear rather limited, but it’s all par for the course. On the show car at least I couldn’t find any carry over Tata Motors parts though there were a few areas where quality could be better. And I really don’t want a selfie camera nor gazillion stickers announcing the production number or random aircraft-inspired stuff like ‘no step here’ and ‘pull for inspection’.
Let me be properly Indian here and also point out that the Racemo is under four metres in length. And it is has a 1.2-litre motor. Which means it qualifies for our uniquely Indian excise duty breaks! Indications are the Racemo will cost around `25 lakh and first deliveries will happen by the year end. Time to knit a really large stocking for Santa to stuff a Racemo into. ⌧
‘After thinking long and hard I really can’t see too many things that can go wrong with the Racemo’
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