Though slightly varied models might have been introduced by Fiat, Ambassador, and Standard, nothing much happened for quite some time. One taxi I remember with fascination and love is Austin of England. For whatever reason, I was drawn to that car. There was a car which we used to call Bug Fiat, as small as a car can be. Really cute. And always fanciful Volkswagen Beetle. A favorite for many with engines in the back. Till I went to the U.S., I did not know this was a preferred car by women there. There was the large and huge Impala with a wing-like design in the back—a rarity, a sure stunner. Maybe I had seen some Studebakers—is that the right spelling?

These were some of the cars and models I remember. Most of them were imported ones.

Then came the storm by name as a small car project. Indeed, their first few models like Maruti 800 and Zen were small cars. Nice to look at, though. Then slowly, their models started dominating all roads.

One day, as I was standing on one side of a very busy highway, I tried to count how many Marutis I could find in groups of tens that passed me. To my surprise, the percentage of Maruti cars was almost 70 percent. Then, with liberalization, many more new models and makes flooded the markets.

I don’t recall in what order they came. But one car model that struck a chord was Hyundai’s Santro. And in my official capacity, I had the good fortune of visiting their factory in Chennai twice. The officials were graceful enough to spare their time and take us around the full factory explaining the processes. It was awe-inspiring. So methodical, orderly, mechanical, efficient, and fast. The factory was spic and span, absolute cleanliness, and orderliness. There was a sort of viaduct overhead through which the cars moved and got painted—automatic. And as the car landed down in their final descent, a worker would put a little petrol, and another would simply drive it off for further transportation. I did not see even one car fail to start. And the stream of cars was coming non-stop.

If one manufacturer is making so many, what would be the total production of cars in a day in India? This does mean so many cars are being sold in India. Where is the road capacity? That is why in Chennai, I find it difficult to cross even a smaller street nowadays. It taught me that the models I had seen were only the tiniest bit, and worldwide, there were ever-growing numbers of models.

And the first visit to the U.S.

Continued in 288. Moving Models - Part 3