Blast from the Past- Unveiling of Tata Aria Convertible by Ratan Tata and Akshay Khanna

India’s home-grown auto giant, Tata Motors has been one of the biggest automakers in the local car market. The company has come quite a long way since it launched its very first car - the Sierra - in 1991. To reach its current model lineup, which includes a wide range of models in sedan, hatchback and SUV form, the carmaker has experimented with a number of cars with different body types. Before making its market debut as a premium crossover, the Aria was used as the name for a convertible concept that Tata Motors showcased at Auto Expo 2020.

The Tata Aria Convertible concept is a two-door, two-seater convertible design study that was introduced by Ratan Tata and the Bollywood star Akshay Khanna at the Auto Expo 2000. It is an interesting concept and it managed to catch a lot of attention from the show-goers. In fact, the Aria is said to among the coolest-looking concept models to have come from the house of Tata.

Not much has been revealed about the Tata Aria convertible concept. The Aria was developed on the platform of the Tata Indica, which is the first indigenously-developed car in India. At the show, Ratan Tata also shared his vision about the designing, manufacturing and engineering a car in India for the Indian automobile market. Back in the day, the versatile platform of the Tata Indica also became the base for a lot of Tata cars over the years. We have the Indigo, Indigo Maria and Vista, etc. as examples.

The exact details on the mechanical front of the Tata Aria Convertible were never revealed but in the same year, the coupe version of the Tata Aria was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show. The company said that the car will sport a 140 PS engine if it ever makes it to production. However, the car never hit the dealerships and the Aria nameplate was finally used a decade later for the MPVish crossover we all know of. Still, imagine what fun a 140 PS two-door convertible would have been, especially a decade ago!

Tata Motors has been known for launching its cars much ahead of its time and we’ve got a couple of examples to prove it. The Tata Sierra, Tata Estate and even the Tata Safari are some of the vehicles that came a bit before time and hence, the Indian market was not really ready for them. Of course, the Safari went on to create history but the same can't be said for the Estate and the Sierra. In recent years, Tata Motors has brought in some more intriguing concept cars at various editions of Auto Expo,  like the Tata TaMo Sportscar in 2018 or the Tata Sierra EV concept at the 2020 Expo. We do hope that some of these great concept models make it to production in near future. Tata Motors is also working on the all-new HBX concept-based micro-SUV and the three-row version of the Harrier – Tata Gravitas, both of which will be launched in the ocming months.  Stay tuned to IndianAuto to get to know more details about the upcoming Tata cars in India.