‘CAR’, the second word to have ever come out of my mouth (so my mother claims). I was hooked ever since. My childhood, adolescence and teenage has always revolved around the four-wheels. So, naturally, it was always dream to own a car. But, back when I was a teenager, driving a car was a dream in itself, even though I started driving at an early age, the joy of being behind the wheel of a car always put a ‘mile-long smile on my face’.
Any person, who loves, lives and dreams cars, is always faced with a very daunting question – “WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE CAR?” This is a question which we always dread to be asked and yearn to answer. ‘Dread’ because of the long list of cars on the list and ‘Yearn’ because we all want our ‘favorite’ car to sound cooler than the rest. Me being a die-hard car fanatic, dread this question. Many people would give the most obvious of the choices, varying from the Ferraris, Veyrons, and GTRs to the Lamborghinis and so on. The answers are literally like an ocean out there.
You are probably wondering what this article is about? This is not about the fancy cars on sale out there, nor is this to educate about what a ‘dream car’ should be all about. No, this here is a love story. A love story which began with the clichéd “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT”. A love story which is different than most. This here is about “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT AND LOVE AT FIRST DRIVE”.
The year was 2005. It was on a bright evening, when I was playing basketball with my peers, during my stay at a boarding school. I was engrossed in the game, up until I saw the most beautiful car pass by the school gates, on the road overlooking the basketball court. That was the first time I had seen that car on Indian roads. I had seen a similar car in rally spec, shouting down the dirt roads, sideways and spectacular, in one particular car magazine. And that car, which I saw on the road, happened to be the first car in the city and little did I know that the person driving the car was my father and that particular car happened to be ours. This I found out when I got home during the vacations. There it was, parked in the garage, in a shade of metallic silver. I was smitten. ‘Hook, line and sinker’ was how the Suzuki Swift stole my soul.
When the Swift was launched in India, it made quite the rounds and everybody was raving about the peppy hatchback. It was affordable, practical, looked the world and most importantly, it was oodles and oodles of fun to drive. Racing and rally drivers swore by the capabilities of the swift. So much so that, half my father’s ‘racing’ friends picked up the swift. A few were top rally drivers of the country, legendary tuners and motorsport fanatics. And one of the swifts was a turbo charged screamer, which was capable of putting BMW’s, Audi’s and Mercedes Benz’s to shame. I used to watch my father drive the pants off the car and he absolutely loved every second behind the wheel of that car. He was hooked and I was hooked. He loved the car and I loved it to the moon and back. And when I drove it for the first time, I couldn’t find words to express. Such was the impact that the car had on me. Be it in a straight line or the twisties, the swift never failed to put a huge grin on the face.
Like most love stories, this one too had its low. I just got news that my father had sold the car, since he had a rule of not keeping any car for more than 5 years. I remember crying during the nights, I was mortally wounded about the fact that the car wasn’t there anymore and I would regret not having expressed my will against selling the car. I would always dream about repossessing the car. But, it was a very far fetched dream.
I never really moved on, but I had gotten used to the idea about not seeing or driving that car anymore. I would see the car around sometimes. I could just not gulp down the feeling of someone else driving my car. And each time I saw it, a sudden sadness would wrap me around.
A few of my close friends would always say that I was extremely choosy, that they would relate that habit of mine to Obsessive chronological disorder. This was fitting, because very few things pleased me. I am a rally nut and when it came to choosing my favorite car’, only 3 cars qualified in my list of favorite cars and the Swift sport with the 1.6 liter engine sold in the UK is my most favorite one of them, among the Porsche 911 R with the 6 speed manual gearbox paired with the single mass flywheel clutch and the Mitsubishi Evolution 9 FQ 400. Since the swift sport never went on sale in India, I settled for the Indian Spec Suzuki Swift. And it was extremely fun too. I always prefer the handling aspect of a car more than the performance. The swift just happened to tick all my boxes, and it made for a perfect recipe for the Indian roads.
Come 2013, the second generation of the Swift was launched in India. I was in love again and I had to have it. Since my father was planning on another car, he didn’t need much convincing on the Swift. He wanted to surprise me, but unfortunately for him, I had accidentally found out that he had already booked the car and would be delivered to us in a few weeks. The day that he took delivery of the car, I was preparing for my exams and I could barely study. I had already begun dreaming about driving the car. I was up all night waiting to see the car the next day. That was the best sleepless night of my life. There it was, in the same shade of silver like my previous swift. I was hooked again, as soon as I saw the car drive up; I was in love all over again. I am not a big fan of diesel engines and the new car was in the diesel form. But I looked past it. My old swift with the G13 engine was a hoot to drive and the joy of revving the car till its red line and power shifting up to the next gear and blip-downshifting was more addictive than any drug available on the face of the planet. But the diesel was not half as bad as the petrol and I found the performance adequate for the Indian conditions.
A lot of my friends as me “WHY THE SWIFT?” My answer to them always comes in the form of a pre recorded tape. For starters, the swift is practical to be used every day and it is one of the most exciting to drive cars. Fun, because, the car is so dynamically robust and the chassis is so well sorted. The steering is so communicative and it literally tells you what the tyres and the suspension are up to. The suspension setup is brilliant, the gear throws are just right, the brakes could be better, but never feels inadequate. Body roll is something which the Swift doesn’t know. The Swift feels so well connected to the driver and the response from the car is brilliant. Everything from direction changes and corner turn in happen almost instantly. It may not be the most powerful of the cars out there, but the performance can always be upped by force inducing the car or tuning the engine to meet the demands of the driver. It is the way that the car behaves, which would put a lot of premium cars to shame. And give the Swift a set of corners and it will put a wide grin on the face. It makes those ‘Scandinavian flicks’ look like a walk in the park. It is one of the cars which feels very emotional to drive and own, it is also a car which I love driving. It may sound like a mediocre dream car, but I have my reasons for it. If the Indian spec Swift could do so much, I can only imagine how the Swift Sport which is sold world over would feel like to drive.
For me, the Swift was, is and will always be a very special car and I have and will always swear by the car. Driving that car is always an emotional high for me. Ever since the news about the 2017 Suzuki Swift just around the corner is making automobile headlines, it is all I can think of. Suzuki is also spicing up things by adding a turbo charger to the car. Sleepless nights have begun to dawn upon me. Will it be the better sleepless nights for me? Things are looking extremely interesting. I can hardly wait and the wait is already killing me. I just hope that they launch the Swift sport in India. Say, father, are you reading this? Doctor, how much do kidneys sell for these days?
