Tata Nano AMT
Of fat men, parking joys and confudled designer
I RECKON THE NANO is the Citroen 2CV of our generation. The 2CV was the dream of Citroen’s then Vice President Pierre Boulanger as means to get rural France in the thirties to move to an affordable form of motorised transport. The Nano was the vision of Tata Motors’ exChairman, Ratan Tata who desired a low cost car that would put the Indian family from two wheels to the safer confines of a car. And so these two interesting cars came to be and a car cannot be interesting without its associated quirks.
While the 2CV was often referred to as the umbrella on wheels thanks to its minimalistic styling, the Nano is a proper car with a proper roof and functional windows. It isn’t without its share of quirks though.
The access to the fuel cap is via the front bonnet. A quirk that had our design guru Aslam, flummoxed at the fuel pump. Speaking of fuel, the Nano returns 14-15kmpl in the city. I think it could be better if not
Ifor the AMT transmission that refuses to shift to a higher gear at low speeds. Understandable since the Nano doesn’t make much power. The time it takes to shift from second to first is alarmingly slow and can be quite a bother if you wish to overtake someone. Otherwise, it is a zippy little runabout perfectly suited for the city. It is spacious on the inside, a fact ably demonstrated by our three starlets (refer pic below). It is game for the occasional long journeys and is extremely easy to park.
I admit I have grown fond of the Nano over time and it has been my cheeky little city car, receiving the thumbs up from scooter-borne ladies and other Nano users (yes, there is a secret Nano-owners club). The ladies in my building love the red bug and my extended family loves it as well. My sister adores it. So the question is, would I buy a Nano?
A manual in red... perhaps.