People’s cars turn out to be the greatest cars ever built. Because of certain people.
In the list of the 10 greatest cars ever built, an iconic sportscar or an evocative form on wheels would generally be relegated to the bottom of the list. The top honours are always taken by humble automobiles, cars meant to be sold to as many people as possible.
The greatness of these cars are not in the numbers sold – by that count, the Volkswagen Golf and the Toyota Corolla should be up there – but by the engineering brilliance that has gone into them to impart mass appeal. It is the breakthroughs in engineering, design and production that give these cars their ‘all-time great’ status.
Generally, the greatest car of the 20th century is considered to be the Volkswagen Beetle. And following it are the Ford Model T, the BMC/Rover Mini, the Citroen 2CV and the Fiat 500.
Okay the pecking order changes depending on whom you ask from which country, but these cars perpetually figure in the top-five list. What’s common to all of them is that each of these cars had a visionary, a father figure, who made it happen.
Of course, Ratan Tata wouldn’t like to be associated with the greatest villain known to mankind, but you can’t erase history. The Beetle was Adolf Hitler’s idea. He was the one who actually sketched it out and laid down the parameters based on which Dr Ferdinand Porsche engineered the uncharacteristic, improbable World Number One.
Among other things, Hitler specified that the car should be able to accommodate four, be powered by an air-cooled engine, cruise at 100 kph and cost 1,000 Reichsmarks. Hitler’s KdF-wagen (Strength through Joy) went on to become world famous as the Beetle, and its appeal transcended boundaries, generations and class divides. And going by its enduring popularity, even time.
The Model T, on the other hand, was the end product of the world’s greatest wonder of mass production. So much so that old man Henry Ford’s factories was a magnet to industrialists from around the world, who’d watch with awe the way Model Ts rushed off the assembly line.
Henry Ford was clever enough to increase the wages of his workers so that they could afford the Model T, and ruthlessly slashed the cost of the car to keep sales moving. The over 15 million Model Ts that were built between 1908 and 1927 is a staggering figure even today, by all counts.
Dante Giacosa was a gifted engineer who gave his life to Fiat. Many of the cars that Giacosa created are today considered some of the greatest cars of all time. And the Nuova Cinquecento or the new 500 was his master-stroke. The 500 offered protected mobility to the Italian masses and like the Nano, was an entry-level car.
When launched in 1957, the Italian market was 330,000 two-wheelers strong. By 1965, the two-wheeler market was down to 200,000 units, all thanks to the 500. Is history going to be repeated?
Like Giacosa, Sir Alec Issigonis was also an engineering genius who, among other things, also created the Mini. The seed for the idea of a compact car however came from Leonard Lord, the chairman of the British Motor Corporation.
After the 1956 Suez crisis, when oil prices peaked, people bought those queer but clever bubble cars. Lord’s idea was to “drive them off the streets” with a proper miniature car. And the car that Sir Alec created was a marvel of automotive packaging. In a car measuring just ten feet in length, 80 per cent of the space was used for the passengers and luggage and the balance for the drivetrain.
The engine was placed horizontally in the engine bay and power went to the front wheels. And bingo, you had a tiny, fuel efficient car that could accommodate four adults. Like the Beetle, the Mini was universally loved – it was classless. Paul McCartney drove one, so did the hippie down the road.
Like the Beetle, the Citroen 2CV was born because of clearly defined but tight parameters. Back in 1935, the head of Citroen, Pierre-Joules Boulanger specified the car that was designed to replace the farmer’s horse-cart – it should weigh less than 300 kg, be able to carry four adults at a speed of 60 kph, be extremely frugal by giving at least 20 km to the litre of petrol, allow the farmer to wear his hat inside the car, be able to accommodate a bale of hay or long planks of wood, and the most famous requirement of them all: to be able to ride over a ploughed field while carrying eggs without breaking a single one of them.
No wonder that the car that emerged was a miracle of sorts, despite the derision with which it was received when launched in 1948 – it was in production up to 1990!
Back home, the Maruti 800 can be rightly called the people’s car. Again, the visionary behind it was Sanjay Gandhi. Because of circumstances and sheer serendipity, Suzuki happened to be there with the right product at the right place at the right time. And SS80 went on to become the car that put India on wheels – with about 2.5 million being sold in the country since its inception. The Maruti 800 is still in production today, despite being toppled by the Alto in the best-seller list. But now it is ready to give the Nano the crown of the Indian people’s car.
