[beejay]

Man, your GTX looks hot in Red. Never knew that the GTX came in this colour.

Also, the Fiat logo never came on the center of the boot like seen on your car. There is just a FIAT strip on the left hand top corner.

[rpmx1000]

Have fun! Lucky you to get a Palio 1.6 GTX at that price!

[sidindica]

The car looks very immaculately maintained. BTW your car also has new sports front fenders which were not there on the original car, aren't they? They look very cool and first came in S10 before coming in 1.6 sports.

Full Palio history:

Fiat launches palio in september 2001 in 1.2 EL MS, EL PS, ELX, 1.6 GTX and 1.6 GTX SP (ABS and driver airbags) trim levels.

• colours: EL and EL PS: flame red, twilight blue, silver frost, royal gold, glacier white, fern green, forest green, tangerine mist.
• ELX: all shades plus galaxy black and a very rare mustard colour called mystic yellow.
• GTX and GTX SP had flame red, tangerine mist, silver, gold, white, galaxy black, fern green and mystic yellow.
• In march 2002, limited edition S10 and 1.2 sports (with 1.6 GTX features minus alloys) is launched.
• S 10 is available only in yellow colour and 1.2 sports is available for the first time in formula red colour in addition to tangerine mist, white, black, silver, gold and fern green.
• twilight blue, forest green and mystic yellow are discontinued.

Dwindling sales doesn't deter Fiat to launch a new range of "1st anniversary edition" palios in october 2002.

• EL and EL PS gain body coloured bumpers, new 2 tone grey dashboard, new upholstry, rear seat belts and door trim+boot carpet.
• rear defogger deleted from EL PS model.
• ELX and sport also gain new upholstry, ELX gains two tone dashboard.
• a new double layer of clear coat is applied for improved paint finish.
• GTX gains a "red tailpipe" tip and for the first time, also available in formula red colour in addition to tangerine mist, fern green, black, white, silver and gold (same shades in 1.2 sport also). Flame red is phased out in 1.2 sport and GTX.
• EL, EL PS and ELX gain a new shade called 2 tone hazel grey in addition to available shades like white, silver, gold, flame red, tangerine mist, fern green and galaxy black (only available on ELX and higher models).

Palio diesel launched in 2003 march with 1.9 diesel

• 3 varients-EL, ELX and ELX SP (ABS+driver airbag) launched
• features same as petrol equivalents except tachometer, standard on all models.
• new jet black (thunder black) is introduced (only in ELX and ELX SP) in addition to 6 other colours: flame red, white, silver, gold, hazel grey and fern green.

To improve fuel efficiency, Fiat introduced 1.2 petrol Palio NV in mid 2004.

• four models: EL, EL PS, ELX, and sport
• 1.6 GTX discontinued for time being
• shades: EL, EL PS: white, silver, gold, hazel grey, flame red
• ELX-all above plus a new colour-passion purple in addition to available galaxy black.
• sport-all mentioned shades but flame red was replaced by formula red. sport also gains alloy wheels.
• palio diesel ELX SP discontinued, alloy wheels made optional on 1.9 ELX.
• al models (including diesel) now sport new blue round fiat logo on the tailgate

In 2005, Fiat quietly launched upgraded Euro 3 palios and jacked up prices big time.

• same models in petrol-EL, EL PS, ELX and sport
• EL and EL PS gain 2 new shades-thunder black and moon mist grey in addition to white, silver,and flame red. All other shades discontinued.
• ELX gains black and beige interiors, stone guard deleted.
• 1.2 sport gains new front fenders from S 10.Formula red replaces flame red, all other 4 shades also available.
• Palio diesel has EL PS, ELX and ELX with alloys.
• EL has 4 colours-thunder black, white, silver and moon mist grey.
• ELX (only diesel) is now available in formula red in addition to aforementioned shades.

In march 2006, Tata-Fiat alliance heralds the comeback of 1.6 GTX now labeled as 1.6 sport.

• Tata fiat dealers ONLY can sll 1.6 sport in formula red and canary yellow colours in addition to 1.2 EL PS and 1.2 ELX
• 1.2 EL MS discontinued, 1.2 sport and 1.9 diesel still available in limited quantities and "fiat only" dealers who also sold petra and adventure.
• slowly, as the alliance progresses, the old palio is phased out, and the "fiat only" dealer shut down to make way for tata-fiat dealers.

Tata-fiat dealers launch the new palio stile in march 2007.

• 3 models-1.1 SL, SLE and SLX in white, black, dark green, dark blue and grey launched
• 1.6 sport launched in formula red, magnesium grey and black.
• 1.3 palio multijet diesel launched in march 2008 in 3 models-SD, SDE and SDX in 5 colours-black, white, grey, red and blue.

[beejay]

That's quite interesting. Thanks for the nice read. I think the red is called formula red, not flame red.

Yes, I read that the flame red was replaced with the formula red. Still trying to rack my brains on how the flame red looked like.

[shantyrocks]

wow..!
Did you study FIAT as your thesis??

[JVH]

You never seem to amaze us Sid! It was really an informative read and should should be one stop post for Palio's history in India. Thanks for sharing.

Update on the spares - I spoke to Hariprasad and the spares whose order was placed about a month ago show no signs of arrival. Wonder where FIAT is shifting its spares division to!

[JVH]

Tha parts arrived last week but couldn't manage the time to go to the center. Will head to them this week and update.

I'm also planning to see if I could get the suspension done. Will try to get an estimate and then decide. Ravveendrra's thread will be of help

[Ramsagar]

Thats one heck of information SID. Guess none of the FIAT dealers or representative can reveal such an information.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by beejay

That's quite interesting. Thanks for the nice read. I think the red is called formula red, not flame red.

Yes, I read that the flame red was replaced with the formula red. Still trying to rack my brains on how the flame red looked like.

IIRC Flame red was a maroon, a nice rich deep red.

Cheers,

[beejay]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

IIRC Flame red was a maroon, a nice rich deep red.

Cheers,

Oh, I get what you mean. The maroon. Thanks.

[JVH]

Yesterday, I took the car to Venkatesh who was the main mechanic of Hariprasad Automobiles for a good 2 decades. He's opened his own garage - Gowri Automobiles at Sajjan Rao road.

I had 2 issues with the car

1. Gear shifts were not precise and the reverse lift mechanism was screwed up (courtesy from another dear friend who was not used to the lift mechanism inspite of live demos)
2. AC was not working

Apart from these 2 main issues, I also wanted to check with all the other details of the car including the niggling suspension issue and a general inspection.

I left the car with him @ 11.00am and collected @5.30pm. It was diagonized that the clutch cable had gone kaput and it was surviving because of some jugad did by the Hariprasad guys. Those fellows did not care to mention me about this and instead did all the jugad because of which the gear bracket bed was also slightly tilted towards the driver side. Regarding the AC, we found out that there was no gas. So, thank heavens it wasn't major.

The total bill was Rs. 3674. Here's the split
Labour - Rs. 1200
Clutch cable - Rs. 1860
Reverse lock spring - Rs. 14
Gear Knob - Rs. 600

He also cleaned the radiator and filled the coolant.

Update @81000 kms

Suspension is still a bother. Venkatesh said its fine judging by the ride quality. He did not check under the car in detail but said he'll do that next time.

I really have no complaints about the car. It's so surprising the way it rides and looks even after 9 years and 81000 kms later that I do not even look at my other car.

A quick word about Venkatesh - He does know a whole lot of stuff about the car and he's really passionate about the work. He'll involve you in the diagnosis and is quite easy to get along. But let me warn you that his garage is way too humble even compared to Hariprasad. So, don't expect world class facilities. I recommend him and he is way better than Hariprasad guys. Palio owners can give him a try. Let me know if you need his contacts.

[hillram]

Congrats on acquiring the GTX.I owned a GTX for about an year and sold itoff,a decisioni regret now.The car is solid and most drivable around.Enjoy your ride.

[JVH]

Originally Posted by hillram

Congrats on acquiring the GTX.I owned a GTX for about an year and sold itoff,a decisioni regret now.The car is solid and most drivable around.Enjoy your ride.

Thanks hillram!

I'll never ever sell this car. Me and the car are one soul now LOL! Really, there are no complaints. Even Venkatesh gave a thumbs up when he drove it for about half an hour.

[recshenoy]

My cousin need to get his Palio serviced. We wanted to try hariprasad. good that i came across this thread! Thanks mate!

could you kindly post his contact details and address of the garage!

[JVH]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

My cousin need to get his Palio serviced. We wanted to try hariprasad. good that i came across this thread! Thanks mate!

could you kindly post his contact details and address of the garage!

Sure mate! Here you go

Venkatesh - 9379192193
The garage's name is Gowri Automobiles. Its on Sajjan Rao road next to Sajjan Rao circle towards Kalasipalyam. If you reach Sajjan Rao circle, you won't miss it.

You can refer my name and the car - Jayant, Red Palio GTX.

Note that for regular servicing, Hariprasad is OK but one is not sure what they can mess. For ex. my clutch was messed up and they didn't even bother to tell me.
One more thing, this garage is just a shed, about 2 months old. But the mechanics are pretty competent.