THE MARUTI 800

The Maruti Suzuki 800 was an iconic city car manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India from 1983 to 2014.  The first generation (SS80) was based on the 1979 Suzuki Alto and had an 800 cc F8B engine. Widely regarded as the most influential automobile in India, about 2.87 million 800s were produced during its course of which 2.66 million were sold in India itself. Produced for 31 years, Maruti 800 remained the second longest production car in India, next only to Hindustan Ambassador. The Maruti 800 remained the best-selling car in India until 2004 when the Maruti Suzuki Alto took over that title. It was also exported to several countries in South Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Additionally, it was available in Morocco and selected European markets.
 The introduction of this car did revolutionize the automotive industry in India. Right from its inception, it was considered as the first affordable people's car, the first modern era front wheel drive and high speed small contemporary vehicle, and the only reasonably modern car available in India, the incumbent mainstay Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini being based on long-obsolete 1950s designs. Maruti Suzuki had begun a phase-out of the Maruti Suzuki 800 beginning in April 2010, as they did not have plans to upgrade it to Euro IV or BS IV emission norms, instead choosing to replace it with the second generation Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 in India. Starting in April 2010, Maruti halted sales of the car in 13 major cities: the four metros of Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and 9 other cities including Kanpur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Agra and Surat, where the law made it mandatory for the vehicles sold to be Euro IV compliant. 
Atlast, it's journey came to an end in the 2014's. The Maruti 800 holds a special place in Indian automotive history, symbolizing affordability, accessibility, and innovation. Till date, it has remained in people's heart and people are so much crazy about it that no matter how old their 800 is they undoubtedly opted to restore and preserve it as a lifetime memory instead of selling or scrapping it. 800 was physically a car but mentally it was an emotion for millions of Indians.  


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