HSV Design Indian Ute Tat

[csv8]

The man who styled Australia’s fastest, most powerful muscle car – the HSV GTS – has turned his hand to an Indian-built ute.

HSV design boss Julian Quincey secretly designed the just-revealed Tata Xenon Tuff Truck concept, which is being shown at the National 4×4 and Outdoors Show and Fishing and Boating Expo in Melbourne this weekend.

Based on the Tata Xenon ute that will go on sale here later in 2013 as part of an ambitious national rollout of Indian brand locally, the Tuff Truck concept gets beefed up wheels, bumpers and other styling touches to give it a more muscular look in keeping with some of the better known utes it will in some ways compete with.

The connection between HSV and Tata – the massive Indian group that owns Jaguar and Land Rover and has a hand in everything from tea to hotels - comes through the Walkinshaw Group, which owns HSV and has just signed on to distribute Tata vehicles in Australia.
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Quincey is not the first HSV designer to have a hand in cars produced by Tata; Jaguar design boss Ian Callum is a former HSV designer.

The Tuff Truck concept is a bold early branding statement for Tata just weeks out from the Indian brand’s local introduction. It’s also a far cry from the tall, gangly Nano, the hatchback that put the Indian car maker on the global map when it was revealed in 2009 thanks to its $3000 price tag.

Riding on big, fat Cooper rubber on unique 20-inch Dragway wheels milled from solid alloy, the Tuff Truck show vehicle was designed by Quincey and developed in-house by other companies within the group.

Painted in striking satin-finish Arden grey (a Jaguar colour), the tougher Xenon has been rapturously received by Tata’s management.

It features unique front bumper/fascia, rocker panels, scooped bonnet, rear fascia and running lights. A snorkel is added, along with a winch, driving lights, custom daytime running lamps, sports bar, and roof mounted spotlights.

The four-cylinder diesel driveline is unchanged, so despite its radical looks it’s likely the slowest, most docile car Quincey has worked on.

Tata importer Fusion Automotive (the Australian importer that is part of the Walkinshaw Group) is hopeful some elements of the Tuff Truck – or perhaps the whole concept – might reach production.

“It’s our twist on the Xenon,” said Quincey of the Tough Truck’s chiselled looks and muscular stance. “It’s tailored for the Australian market tastes and is out there in terms of aggression.”

He said the big wheel arches of the standard vehicle gave him a great start to the project.

Quincy worked closely with the Tata people during the creative process and had positive feedback and encouragement from the first sketches he sent to India. Tata Motors’ managing director Karl Slym saw Quincey’s sketches and loved where he was taking the Xenon concept.

The local lads are pumped - and optimistic. “Tata could adopt the whole Tuff Truck idea, or maybe Fusion could get permission from headquarters to go with a low-volume version,” Quincey added.

Bowler, Quincey and Fusion will be keenly judging public reaction at this weekend’s Outdoors show.

With Toby Hagon http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/mo...823-2sf90.html

EH !! since when does Walkinshaw own HSV ???????

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by csv8

EH !! since when does Walkinshaw own HSV ???????

Well...besides the fact that Walkinshaw is creditied as starting HSV in the firstplace...


I believe that after he went bankrupt, he regained part ownership of HSV in 2005...not sure who had co-owned it around then.


Something like that...

[05_ENFORCER]

Highly adaptable, the new Tata Xenon XT is game for whatever’s on your mind. Take on any terrain with the raw power under the hood


WOW, I wonder what sort of raw power figures are they talking about..............................TaTa then..........


.

[NC1183]

I'll be honest, i don't mind the look of that.

[malazn mafia]

Looks like a tweaked previous gen 90s to '05 Toyota Hilux?

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by NC1183

I'll be honest, i don't mind the look of that.

Was thinking the same thing. Lose the roof lights and it will look much cleaner (and probably drop it's consumption figure as well ;)

[XRFutura]

It almost looks like a TRD Hilux.

[FTE]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Well...besides the fact that Walkinshaw is creditied as starting HSV in the firstplace...


I believe that after he went bankrupt, he regained part ownership of HSV in 2005...not sure who had co-owned it around then.


Something like that...

Walkinshaw's TWR company went bankrupt which had nothing to do with HSV. Tom Walkinshaw owned HSV through Premoso which is a separate entity to TWR so was never affected by the bankruptcy so walkinshaw never lost control or ownership.

[FTE]

People do confuse HRT with HSV which walkinshaw did sell.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by FTE

People do confuse HRT with HSV which walkinshaw did sell.

Yeah thats where I slipped up...

[T3-TS50]

You need big kahunas to buy something unknown like this.
I drove the new great Great Wall 4x4 and was massively disappointed by it.
POS IMO
TATA to TATA

[BHDOGS]

I havent looked at what it looks like or read anything about it but if hsv has anything to do with it it sucks dicks and i hate it and hope it blows up.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by T3-TS50

You need big kahunas to buy something unknown like this.
I drove the new great Great Wall 4x4 and was massively disappointed by it.
POS IMO
TATA to TATA

Tata is not really that unkown (Great Wall is Chinese, Tata is Indian)

Other than having just bought Jaguar Rover Wiki says they have auto manufacturing and assembly plants in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
It has research and development centres in India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom

[SumoDog68]

Saw this today at 4x4 show at Melbourne showgrounds. Looks pretty good , paint job is excellent - on the other hand standard issue model not s nice , small tray and looks underdone but it will sell if cheap enough.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Tata is not really that unkown (Great Wall is Chinese, Tata is Indian)

Other than having just bought Jaguar Rover Wiki says they have auto manufacturing and assembly plants in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
It has research and development centres in India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom

Tata has been (and gone) here before. They brought in a line of utes, single cabs from memory.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by b2tf

Tata has been (and gone) here before. They brought in a line of utes, single cabs from memory.

The old ones look very basic, and the car sales spec sheet says it uses more on the freeway than around town.

They are still here.... just as there are some new models for sale, new ones don't look so bad.

[Franco Cozzo]

I like the look of that, is it Ranger sized or F250 size? If it was F250 size I'd be all over it.

It can't be that bad, we've got a few "Indians" with us at work and they're pretty damn good workers.

[The G6ET Spot]

Yep definitely designed by someone from HSV. Found a spare spot on the bumper and decided to throw some DRL's there.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by T3-TS50

You need big kahunas to buy something unknown like this.

Cojones?

[jimt3te50]

Doesn't look like the designer strayed too far from what he knew- like when Nick Hoggios that designed the BA went to Toyota, you can see the same design elements.

Like a band that uses the same three chords in different progressions for different songs. Sure, they're all different, but all sound the same...

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Cojones?

The Americanisation of the Globe

[revcore]

I quite like the look of that...Looks rugged.

[The FOMOCO]

It just looks run of the mill to me nothing special... HSV = chev badged bogan commodores

[SumoDog68]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I like the look of that, is it Ranger sized or F250 size? If it was F250 size I'd be all over it.

It can't be that bad, we've got a few "Indians" with us at work and they're pretty damn good workers.

It is a small ute nowhere near Ranger size , just checked its dimensions and it is
Overall Length X Width X Height (mm) 5125 X 1860 X 1833 , definately looks smaller then that.