Tata Nano—The People’s Car—to be Featured at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
The Tata Nano, designed to be the world’s most affordable car, will be on view at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum from Feb. 18 through April 25. Unveiled last year in India by Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile manufacturer, the Tata Nano is targeted to families who had not previously been able to afford a car. Billed as “the people’s car,” the base model starts at $2,200 in India and can accommodate up to five adults. A bright, sunshine yellow Nano will be on display in Cooper-Hewitt’s Great Hall, along with diagrams and a short film describing its concept, development and production.
The name “Nano” connotes high technology, small size and low price. This ultra-cheap compact car contributes to the world of affordable motoring, and like its predecessors, Henry Ford’s Model T, the Volkswagen Beetle, Citroen 2CV and the original Fiat 500, the Tata Nano continues the tradition of inexpensive cars made in large numbers. Conceived by Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, the Tata Nano is intended as an all-weather form of personal transportation that provides a safer and cleaner alternative to the two-wheelers that are pervasive in India, where often entire families ride clinging to a motorbike or a scooter.
The Nano offers a high fuel efficiency of 50 miles per gallon, making it more fuel efficient and less polluting than all other cars on the road today in India. Designed by a team of 500 Indian engineers, the 35-horsepower, four-door vehicle has been pared down to the essentials: It is about10 feet long, weighs approximately 1,300 pounds, has an all-sheet-metal body, a rear two-cylinder engine, small tubeless tires, a reinforced passenger compartment, crumple zones, seat belts and achieves a top speed of 65 miles per hour. To allay concerns about safety, the car passed a roll-over test and offset impact, which are not regulated in India. Its barebones design, as of now, does not include more costly features such as power steering, air bags, antilock brakes or an exterior left passenger-side mirror, which are not mandatory in India. Tata Motors is currently developing versions of the Nano for European and American markets.
“Cooper-Hewitt’s mission is to present the very latest developments in design and technology and the Tata Nano introduces more families in India to the new world of affordable and safer mobility,” said Cara McCarty, curatorial director of the museum. “We’re eager to display the Tata Nano at the museum, where many visitors will see it for the first time.”
About Tata Motors
Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company, with over 4 million vehicles on the road in India. It is also the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer and the second largest bus manufacturer. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand and Spain, including Jaguar Land Rover and an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India.
About the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt—granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper—as part of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the museum has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967. The museum presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active educational programs, exhibitions and publications.
The museum is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in New York City. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Public transit routes include the 4, 5 and 6 subways (86th or 96th Street stations) and the Fifth and Madison Avenue buses. General admission, $15; senior citizens and students ages 12 and older, $10. Cooper-Hewitt and Smithsonian members and children younger than age 12 are admitted free. For further information, please call (212) 849-8400 or visit http://www.cooperhewitt.org. The museum is fully accessible.
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