Vintage Thing No.3 - the new Tata Nano

I'm sticking my neck out here but reckon this car will one day be a classic

The new Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car at roughly £1300 and does 43 mph flat out. It's designed to put India on wheels and has wind up windows and no airbag.

Hurray! A real car for the real world. We need more cars like this and less life-style gas guzzlers that "say something about you as a person." Usually they say something not very nice in my humble opinion.

All those fancy electric extras add weight. Manufacturers are looking at using a single wire to connect the showroom appeal goodies because the wiring looms are becoming so heavy. Components will communicate with each other by code. I believe this is already common practice on aircraft. But there is always more to go wrong and cars are being scrapped because their bits don't work when the bodyshell and drive train are hale and hearty. Great for the manufacturers of new cars but bad for the environment.

So a back-to-basics mobile like this is a breath of fresh air. We should be using technology to make our cars simpler, not more complicated.

Of course, it's dog slow but I predict that won't last for long. This little car is set to become an icon just as the old Hindustan Ambassador is already a symbol of India's burgeoning motor industry. I predict the emergence of an Indian Carlo Abarth, a horsepower whisperer who will enrage these little cars to speeds far beyond their present capabilities. And soon the artisans of India will be hopping them up and using the basis of the Tata Nano to establish a coachbuilding industry just. It could be 1950s Italy with the Fiat 500 all over again.