When you hear the name Maruti, the first thing that comes that might come to your mind is the iconic Maruti 800. The legacy of this family car is what made the car maker what it is today. Not just for the Maruti Suzuki, but also for Indian automotive history the Maruti 800 has played the role of an affordable family car. To keep the legacy alive and pay tribute to this legendary car, Maruti Suzuki had the first ever Maruti 800 restored to its original form.
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The car has been placed proudly at the company headquarters as Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director of sales & marketing- MSIL tweeted “75 years ago India took its first step as an independent nation. 40 years ago we did the same with the first Maruti Suzuki 800. We are proud of our little part in putting India on wheels and will keep continuing our journey,”
The car was produced at the Maruti Udyog Limited which is now the Maruti Suzuki India Limited factory in Haryana. The car was given to Harpal Singh by Indira Gandhi who was president at that time and visited the factory. The car had a number plate of DIA 6479 and was with Singh until his death in 2010. It was at Singh’s residence for a while, leading to decay damage. The owners also got it repaired and washed out but they didn’t want to let go of this icon.
Some pictures of the car got viral on the internet and that’s how Maruti Suzuki found it. The viral images indirectly helped in the restoration of this first Maruti 800. Maruti worked out of their way and brought back the original parts and shine of this icon. Although this car can not be legally driven on the roads and hence, the company decided to place it in the headquarters to pay tribute to its history.