It is always wonderful to catch up with sporting legend and cricket God Sachin Tendulkar. And when he gets to talking about cars it gets even more special, as he has long held a passion for anything on wheels. His humble beginnings reflect in what he shared with me about what was once his dream car. It was the people’s car, and one that every kid dreamt of owning as they grew up in the 1980s and 90s. “Dream car when I was growing up? Well I think most of the guys had wanted the Maruti 800 as their first car”, says the master blaster. And when asked if that indeed was the aspiration for him too? “I would say so, yes!” comes the answer. The Maruti 800 launched in India in 1983 and was essentially the first generation of the Suzuki Alto from the Japanese small car specialist Suzuki. It began its innings in India as a completely built import from Japan, and then was manufactured locally right up to its last iteration in January 2014, when it was finally laid to rest. At the time of its arrival, the car was a breath of fresh air, offering Indian buyers a more modern, lighter, fuel efficient car, when compared to the Premier Padmini and Hindustan Ambassador – the primary choices back then.
In conversation with Sachin Tendulkar during the launch of the new BMW 5 Series
And the market has not looked back since. Today we have virtually every brand of car available in India. For Sachin Tendulkar, soon after the acquisition of his dream Maruti came his rapidly rising status as the best batsman in the world. Another childhood fascination had been with BMWs, and while his first one was bought second hand, he has owned a string of them since. He has also famously owned a Ferrari 360 Modena and a Nissan GT-R. Says India’s original run-machine, “As the time goes by, you graduate to better things, and you continue chasing better cars.” More recently, as the brand ambassador of BMW India, he has been seen driving his X5M, 7 Series and of course the customised i8 finished in red.
Sachin's customised BMW i8 finished in red
If you’d asked him a few months ago, he would have told you that i8 was his current dream car. But today he has a different answer, saying, “Dream car now would be… I think I am really looking forward to a particular one that I am going to surprise you with! That’s going to be really special.” While I have an idea of what that surprise is, I have promised not to let the cat out of the bag just yet, and allow him to reveal that surprise to you in a few weeks from now.
Sachin has finally got his hands on the new BMW 7 Series
Meanwhile he has also got his hands on the latest 7th generation BMW 5 Series that was launched in India late last month. And when asked what caught his fancy about the new 5 Series, Sachin says, “I think my favourite thing about the 5 Series is that you can actually park your car with the key, and I like playing around with that thing. You show (that) to someone who is really not aware of it, they find it really amazing. And that’s so creative. I think this 5 has its own character, it’s the ideal size in between you know. It’s luxurious, and it is a beautiful size to drive in Mumbai.” And in case you are wondering, his children too love another new feature on the 5 Series. “The gesture control, because that is something that is incredible. Earlier on I was doing that in my 7 series, but nobody knew that it’s there. In the 5 series, suddenly they got hold of it and now they are controlling everything!” he says. Sachin and his family have experienced the new generation 5 Series while holidaying in the UK this summer, where they used it as their daily ride.
