More details have emerged on the Tata Nano based half tonne pickup truck that will hit the Indian market next year. Codename Penguin, the pickup will compete with players like the Mahindra Gio.
It will be powered by 350cc one cylinder diesel engine. This is essentially half the cylinder block of the engine powering the Tata Ace, which itself uses a sliced Indica cylinder block.
The Nano pickup uses the same engineering techniques like single windshield wiper, 3 wheel lugs, scooped out dashboard and short wheelbase. The engine is also mounted at the rear axle, doing away with a propeller shaft.


On the July edition of Overdrive, a popular monthly magazine in India, pictures of the Tata Nano pickup truck test mule were published. Overdrive say this vehicle was testing with its loading area packed with cans on the outskirts of Pune, in the vicinity of Tata’s production plant.
A single wiper, three wheel lugs and a similar dashboard layout substantiate its Nano mechanicals. The engine was apparently mounted at the rear axle and sounded exactly like the Nano’s twin cylinder exhaust tune.
The Nano’s platform as we said earlier will not end with just a passenger car. We are not sure what else it can give rise to, maybe only a Nano tractor wouldn’t come about.
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