TATA Motors in India To build world's cheapest car of almost entirly plastic!

[FlyB0y]

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/102865/the-next-peoples-car

[TheLoyale]

Tata makes some cars i like! But all plastic! Come on!!

 

Tata is still good!

[4x4_Welder]

They actually say in the article it's NOT a plastic car, but a real car.

[Phizinza]

But all plastic! Come on!!

No rust!

 

Some plastics would be much tougher then the metal used in our old subies.

[TheLoyale]

Yeah it would be good to have a car that won't rust, But i still like Metel better.

[mtsmiths]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari

 

Here's a plastic car that has been a world success. I've always thought this would be a great drop-on body for a reskinned Subaru.

[TheLoyale]

Yeah that's cool. Looks like something they use at the zoo Yeah put Subaru guts in it....

[hatchsub]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari

 

Here's a plastic car that has been a world success. I've always thought this would be a great drop-on body for a reskinned Subaru.

 

OMG i just saw one of those this past weekend. I was wondering what the hell it was. Well now i kno!

[casm]

OMG i just saw one of those this past weekend. I was wondering what the hell it was. Well now i kno!

 

Not to flog a dead horse, but I've owned a few Citroens over the years and can fill in a few things that weren't in the Wikipedia article.

 

The Mehari was the world's first all-ABS-plastic-bodied car. The early bodies had virtually no reistance to UV, and as a consequence tend to tear like paper in parallel to the chassis, or 'starfish' around the rivets that hold them to the skeleton. Running gear is basically the same as the Citroen 2CV - 602cc air-cooled flat-twin, front-drive, interconnected trailing- and leading-arm suspension. Chassis are basically the same as for the 2CV, though the trailing rails are shortened about six inches: they're generally pretty strong, but original ones (which weren't galvanised) are susceptible to rust. Gearing is about 20% lower than the 2CV, and top speed's around 70mph flat-out.

 

The 4WD variants had a 'real' 4WD system - two- or four-wheel-drive (FWD when in 2WD) with selectable high- and low-range, and a manually-lockable centre diff. I was buying one of the ex-Irish Army 4WD models before I moved here in 1998 (I'm half-Irish; grew up there): it had been used as a radio car, and was converted back to 12V from 24V. Still had the service clocks on the dash showing hours-in-service and one other item I'm forgetting. All 4x4 Meharis were LHD, and can be distinguished by the hood-mounted spare - actually, the spare mounts through the hood via a hole cut in it to a hinged frame underneath.

 

They're really nifty little cars. Don't expect a lot in the way of sheer power, though - the 602cc engine put out a maximum of 29.5hp, but swapping the air filter for one from a Citroen AX GT could bump that up to around 31-32hp. They're great little load-luggers and surprisingly capable off-road courtesy of their long-travel suspension and light weight. Really fun, underrated little cars.