Aravind Model 3: The ₹5000 Car That Never Made It

Aravind Model 3

The first solely Indian designed car was neither The Tata Motors nor Hindustan Ambassadors. It was the Aravind Model 3. The price of this vehicle was only Rs 5000 at that time. Back then, the government wanted a model for developing vehicles and this became the archetype for future models.

Features of the Aravind Model 3

By a single glance, one can tell that the design was inspired by 50’s American cars.
The overall construction is simplistic in nature, with enough space in the interior of the car, wide windows for proper visibility, and rear end protection ensuring safety. Since the car was made by a local engineer, it had a low production cost and was suitable to run on Indian streets.

With little investment of capital, it could have possibly replaced The Tata Motors or the Ambassadors. Unfortunately, it was overlooked and not much information is available about it.

History of Automobile Manufacturing

The history of automobile designing and manufacturing in India dates back to the 1950s. All of us know about the famous Ambassador cars, manufactured by Hindustan Motors, which was popularly called “the car of India”. It was one of the most loved cars of all time and was in run for decades.

But, taking a deeper dive into the history of its design, it is important to know that the Hindustan Ambassador cars were not the ones that were independently designed by India. The initial design was taken up from Morris Oxford Motors, UK and the manufacturing was done in India.

Even Tata Motors, which is credited to be one of the first companies which independently designed cars, without any foreign help, came after Aravind Model 3. It was launched in the year 1998.

This piece of history stands as a testament to India’s automobile journey. The big industries often regard their origin to the well known companies while these hidden chapters of history forever remain unknown.