The car ride is a matter of prestige in India. After Maruti Suzuki launched the Maruti 800 in 1983, the car market in India accelerated. This car is known as the first car of the general public of the country. The car, which has been around for over 4 decades, is rarely seen today, but it was in first place in the local car market.
Harpal Singh got a chance to take the Maruti 800 through a lucky draw. At the time, the company had produced 28 lakh Maruti 800 cars, of which 26 lakh were sold in India and 2 lakhs were exported.
The story of the Maruti 800 release is also very exciting. Back then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was present at the launch of the Maruti 800 and handed over the keys of the first car to a customer named Shri Harpal Singh.
Most notably, Harpal Singh, the first customer of the Maruti 800, drove the car throughout his life. Harpal Singh, an employee of Indian Airlines, lived in the Green Park area of Delhi. He left for Meerut the next day after getting his car. He was accompanied by his wife Gulshanbir Kaur, daughter Govinder Paul Kaur and her husband Tejinder Ahluwalia, and younger daughter Sunita Walia. This is their first trip, and they have never had to change that car for the rest of their lives!
Harpal Singh had bought the car at the time for Rs. 47,500. While talking about his Maruti 800’s first trip to Meerut, he said we stopped twice on our way to Meerut where a large number of people came to see the car.
At that time many people applied for this car, but only a few people were able to get the car through a lucky draw. According to Harpal Singh’s younger son-in-law Amardeep Walia, many people were willing to give the car one lakh rupees, but they refused. Not only that, he traveled by that car his whole life.
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Ahluwalia, who remembers the day he got the car, said the ceremony was in Gurgaon, where all of our family members were present. Rajiv Gandhi was accompanied by Indira Gandhi at the event. They were both acquainted with my father-in-law as they worked at Indian Airlines. Rajiv Gandhi hugged Harpal Singh after he got a car key! For more information please watch the video below.
