When one enters history

When one enters history

Since Henry Ford’s first model T rolled off the production line, there have been only a handful of common-man cars that have entered history. This means I’m not talking of all the fancy Maybacks, Rolls Royces or Bentleys.

One of the few such models would be the infamous Mini. Yes, there’s many many variants, but still, the mini remained unchanged since 1959’s very first model till 2000s last one, before the shop closed up and BMW presented the new fancy Mini. But the drawback was, the new Mini had a wheelbase just a foot shorter than a Land Rover Discovery 3! Yes, on the inside it was hardly a practical daily runner. For a 2 door hatch it had neither a proper rear seat nor a proper trunk. And it wasn’t exactly in the price range for a common man either. So why DID it sell? Most say that it was purely on the name “Mini” that its predecessor created.

Yes, let’s look back on it. The now almost dead British motor industry half a century ago was solely another government organization. It all revolved around 4 letters BLMC. British Leyland Motor Corporation. A large company that had its fingers dipped in too many jars that it was simply not working. The Cars weren’t cheap, they weren’t reliable, and they weren’t appealing to the buyer. And one by one, the companies of BLMC fell. But one car among all this became popular. Yes the Mini. It sold like hotcakes. But still BLMC wasn’t happy. Why? In their desperate attempt to create a name for themselves BLMC ended up selling the mini at a loss. With every car it sold, it piled up its losses. Yes, the every-popular Mini entered history, bring its builder only financial loss.

Today we see the next Mini roaming the roads. No, it’s not called a Mini, nor is it made by BMW. It isn’t even from the same continent. Yes, it’s the new Suzuki Swift. The next generation common man’s car. It looks unique and outstanding, yet blends into its urban surroundings when it needs to. It comes with 4 doors all its practicalities, and even a reasonable price tag.

So, what’s the measuring stick to judge is a car enters history? Well, there is no such scale. But we see it on the roads from outside the Hilton to outside a Hawker Center or Koththu Kade. But when you walk into a toy-store and among all the scale models of exoric European sports cars and fancy American vehicles, you see an in-production Japanese hatchback, you KNOW that that car is part of history.