Before Tata Nano, Meera Was The First Cheapest Car For Indians

Tata Nano is known to be the first cheapest car ever made, which is priced at only $2,500. However, what few people know is that the vehicle has a spiritual ancestor, which was also from India. This ancestor is small, extremely cheap that even the poorest family can afford it. The car was once a man’s dream, Shankarrao Kulkarni, and it was called Meera.

Despite dropping school at the age of 12, Kulkarni grew up to become a respected and famous engineer. In 1945, he decided to make an affordable car for Indians; in 1949, his first prototype, a two-seat vehicle, came out. Kulkarni made the prototype with three seats by 1951 and then another one in 1960.

Following the mindset of cars during the mid-century, these cars have several interesting characteristics such as lightweight, rear air-cooled engine, and all-rubber suspension that Kulkarni claimed to save more than a hundred spare parts. According to Kulkarni, the all-rubber suspension also gave the car a longer lifespan.

The prototype made in 1951, the car could go 50 MPG, and with a 19 horsepower air-cooled inline-twin, it could speed up to 55 MPH.

By 1970, Kulkarni released the final design for Meera, which still possessed the characteristics we listed above. By 1975, Kulkarni released the specifications for the production of Meera. Now, the car had a V-twin engine which is cooled with water, giving it only 14 horsepower along with four forward gears. However, the vehicle could still run up to 50 miles per gallon. This version had four seats and a small trunk at the car’s front.

Considering the era when this car was made, this final design looked pretty cool. With its ‘70s modern look, the car brought about an almost science fiction feeling.

Meera was intended to be priced at Rs 12,000, which equals $3,500 US today. Unluckily, the car never went to production due to bureaucracy and red tape, as told by Kulkarni’s grandson. Even though Kulkarni drove Meera to an exhibition and was offered free land to build a factory by the Jaysinghpur municipality, he could not get the government’s approval. By 1975, Suzuki succeeded in beating Kulkarni’s efforts with its industrial might, sheer size, and money, and made its way to India’s market.

In 2008, Tata Nano followed the idea to produce a car cheap enough for every single family in India to buy. And Kulkarni’s family wanted to buy it first because they saw Nano as the descendant of Meera and a reflection of Kulkarni’s dream of mobility for all Indian people.