Words & Photography: Adil Jal Darukhanawala      23 Mar 2009

View : Tata Nano Special Coverage!

Upscale, higher powered, better equipped, highly fuel efficient and the cleanest production car from an Indian maker, the Nano Europa intends to spark off an all new race for the most efficient four-seater city car in the world. Adil Jal Darukhanawala has the exclusive low down on this classy gem which should hit roads not just in Europe but also in India by 2011!

Mamata mata and Singur may have scarred Tata Motors but it hasn't deterred the company in any way for it continues to push ahead with its Nano project. While the Nano for the Indian masses is scheduled to begin rolling out - in small numbers - from Pantnagar this month, the development team has already firmed up the packaging of what an upscale version could look like for sale in developed markets.

Enter the Nano Europa, fittingly shown as a prototype in Geneva early this month but surely destined for series production by late 2010. Ratan Tata, visionary architect of the world's cheapest car has been on record to state that henceforth all Tata cars displayed at motor shows would inherently have production written into their make-up and this places the Nano Europa in the "when" and not "if" category.

As you can make out from the images of the car we have from Geneva, the car has the same mono-volume design but it has been enriched with sporty accents, notably in the guise of the stacked headlamps plus those pronounced

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wheel arches which now house 14-inch alloy wheels shod with Pirelli P6000 rubber of size 175/50-R14. The preference to slick sporty style is evident not just with the eye-lash style glass slivers on the bonnet which shroud the projector beam headlamps but also an all new bumper with round fog lamps instead of the rectangular ones in the deluxe version of the Indian Nano. I also liked the use of LEDs shaped in hockey-stick profile day time driving lights incorporated into the headlamp cluster.

Even the rear end is different but it continues the round lamp theme from the front bumper with reversing lights built low down in the rear bumper. Interestingly the centrally mounted single exhaust of the Indian Nano has been dispensed with and there is an all new side outlet. The upright rear tail lamp lenses are strikingly different while the rear windscreen has been given a striking black base to enhance the glazed area. Even the roof is done up in black and this does deliver a very striking combination as was evident in both the Nano Europas on the Tata Motors stand at the Palexpo halls in Geneva. One was a yellow and black number which was strikingly beautifully to behold while the silver and black job was elegance personified. The body colour theme also enveloped the door mounted rear view mirrors which had turn signal indicators built into them.

View : Tata Nano Special Coverage!