The Original 1984 Maruti 800 Experience – Sit Back, Relax & Relish

We at MotorBeam are nuts and we don’t deny that a bit. Many things that we set out to do while driving, testing, shooting and reviewing the various cars and bikes are often being gawked at and attract stares as if we have lost our brains. But, as we got in and prepared to drive this particular car, all we experienced were gentle smiles, sweet gestures and thumbs up from whoever we encountered. And, we were very sure even before we turned the ignition on that all our readers will also give us the same reaction once you are done reading this review. Oops, we can’t call this a review. This could only be termed ‘nostalgia’ as most of us Indians will have something or the other related to this car.

It’s not an exotic sports-car. In fact, it is one of the most common sights on Indian roads. It’s not ridiculously expensive either. Instead, it is one of the most affordable cars of all time. For people in their 60’s and 70’s whose choice when buying their first car was limited to the Ambassador and Premier Padmini, this came in as a whiff of fresh air. For people in their 40’s and 50’s, this was their first set of wheels. Guys and girls in their 20’s and 30’s grew up and learnt driving in this car. To cut a long story short, this car literally put India on wheels. Like what Ford Model T is to Americans and Volkswagen Beetle is to Germans, this car is to Indians. Until you had confined yourself into a dark room for the past 25 years or so, you would have rightly guessed by now that we are talking about the Maruti 800.
This particular car we drove was a 1984 manufactured model with high import content and consequently much better build quality than the later models that had high local content. It has passed through 4 owners and has covered a total of 122,389 km till date. So, how does a car which redefined the way Indians traveled in the 80’s look and feel now? Does it make sense at this day and age when cars have moved forward? Or is it only fit for rekindling fond memories associated with it? We drove it to find out and the answers are really surprising, even for us. Read on.

‘Boxy’ is ‘Sexy’ Outside:
30 years is a very long time for anything and more so for something as fashionable and ever-changing as the design of an automobile. But that’s precisely how long the design of the 800 has lived on with the existing 800 still using the same basic shape and theme of the original Suzuki SS80, albeit with a few facelifts. It just goes to show the greatness of the original’s design. Look at it and the Maruti 800 still looks simple and clean with an edge on practicality over aesthetics. It is small yet purposeful, boxy yet sexy and is eternally cute evoking a similar reaction to seeing a cartoon character. The square-shaped headlamps, the rectangular indicators with tiny parking lights and the slab-like tail-lamps are classic ‘800’ stuff that makes this car instantly recognizable.

The bumpers are massive by those standards to protect the car and its occupants in case of an unfortunate accident and, to our eyes, the car seems to be riding on a pretty high ground clearance. Remember, when this car came out, India didn’t have decent highways, leave alone the Golden Quadrilateral and the Expressways. The boot can be accessed only through the rear windscreen that can be opened. If it sounds familiar, you are right. Honda brought back this concept recently with its Brio hatchback. The later 800 models though came with a boot that could be opened.

‘Simple’ is ‘Smart’ Inside:
The 800, when launched in India, was competing with two other popular cars of it’s era, the HM Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Compared to them, the 800 was smaller, shorter, narrower and consequently, had less passenger space. You might think that its a big negative point but the way the available space has been put to use can teach modern small cars a thing or two in practicality. For example, the jack to lift the car up has been smartly placed in the left corner of the hood. Though there is considerable leg-space both at the front and the rear, this is the only area where the 800 gets a drubbing from the Ambassador and the Padmini. The quality of interiors seems to be much better though and the 800’s interiors are proven to be durable to this day.

Just like the exteriors, the interiors are also simple and neatly laid out. It just reminds us of the fact that being simple is always better and smart too. ABS, Airbags, Climate Control and Power Windows were unheard of in those days and the 800 came with slider controls for the air-conditioner. Lesser electronics means lesser trouble and greater reliability. Every single button, knob and latch still works perfectly unlike many modern cars which suffer from unreliable electronics. The interior overall is still a nice place to spend time in and travel for 4 adults.

‘Small’ is ‘Big Fun’ to Drive:
Turn the ignition on and the car shows its first signs of age. The starter motor takes some time and effort to crank the engine on. Once done, the engine is pretty refined compared to the shaky and noisy competition the car had in those days. The clutter-clatter of the engine is pretty audible compared to these days though. Press the accelerator pedal and that’s where the real surprise is. The car moves forward swiftly with the light kerb weight helping things here. The absence of power steering is felt only at parking speeds and the steering weighs up nicely as speeds build up. The car willingly skates into corners and stays composed until you take sudden directional changes which creates a fair amount of body-roll. To hell with the Stability Control, this car knows nothing about those gizmos. It is just uncomplicated mechanical bits at its reliable best.

We knew that driving the car would be fun but, to be really frank, we never expected that it would be so much fun to putter around. It again shows that there is nothing that can bring as big a smile in your face as a small, light and nimble car sans the gizmos. To make things better, so much fun comes pretty cheap too with negligible maintenance costs and amazing fuel-efficiency. Having said that, the brakes are the only thing that scared us. A few episodes of ‘pressing the brake pedal and the car doesn’t react’ later, we stood hard on the brakes to bring the car to a stop, the absence of a brake booster making its presence felt here.

‘Japanese’ Build Quality Impresses:
As we stated earlier, this 800 was manufactured in 1984 which means that, except the tires and the battery, almost everything else was imported from Japan. The build quality of the Japanese component manufacturers needs a special mention here as this car still has most of the original fittings intact, and working too. The Stanley sealed-beam headlights and Tokai Denso taillights and indicators still looks and works great and have not faded 28 years into its life. Under the hood, most of the components are still original, manufactured by companies lie Nippon Denso and Mikuni. Even the original ‘Suzuki’ and SS80 scripts in the valve cover are intact. The car is devoid of rust around the joints and hinges but the repaint has not quite brought the magic of the original ‘Sky Blue’ color that the car came with.

Bring back this Time Machine:
If ever there was something that comes close to the concept of ‘Time Machine’, then this would be it. A few hours in the ubiquitous 800 sent us back in time and brought back the sweet memories when driving, controlling and stopping a car were completely in our control and consequently so much fun. If you are worried that you may never afford to have fun driving a Porsche or Lamborghini, we suggest you scout for a good old 800. It is infinitely less fun driving the 800 we agree, but then you would be spending just peanuts for it.

There is just one obligation to Maruti-Suzuki that we have and one that most of you readers will also agree to – “Bring back something as simple, as cute and as much fun as the original 800 please”. With this, we let you loose to feel the nostalgia and share it across. The floodgates are open in the form of ‘comments’ section below. Pitch in with the countless experiences, memories and moments that you would have had with this ubiquitous little gem of a car that changed the motoring landscape of India once and for all.