It’s literally too good to be true.

For $2500 (Ushs. 5 million) you can buy a brand new city car from Tata Motors.  Last week Tata unveiled the Tata Nano – the cheapest car in the world – at the New Delhi Auto Expo.

According to industry pundits (read: Not Tumwijuke and Co. Ltd) over the next two years this teeny tiny car will be the must-have items for the young, trendy and upwardly mobile.  It will be like the Nokia 1100 ka-torchi reloaded you must own before you buy an i-Phone.

The Tata Nano has a 623 cc rear engine and rear wheel drive.  It has a fuel economy of 4.55 liters for 100 kilometers under city road conditions and is the first two-cylinder petrol engine with a single balancer shaft.  The use of a rear mounted engine to help maximise interior space makes the Nano similar to the original Fiat 500. 

However there is a reason why the Fiat 500 was never put into production.  The concept car, which is similar in styling to the Nano, is like the Nano, butt ugly.

The hideous Tata Nano looks like it was designed by a 35-year-old mentally challenged man-child with serious mommy issues.  It is really no more than an upgraded bodaboda or a pimped up wheelbarrow.  I know nothing about its reliability, comfort or crash test results, but nothing can convince me to invest in a brightly colored Smart Car wannabe. 

Tata boasts that the Nano has 21 percent more interior space than its closest rival, the Maruti 800 (another barf inducer) and that it comes in different variants, including one standard and two deluxe variants. The Deluxe variant will have air conditioning, but no power steering.

Yay. Oba?

With Uganda’s increasing fuel prices and the ridiculously high costs of repair and maintainance on our pothole ridden roads, I should be rejoicing. Still, I don’t want to have to wear a Dolly Parton mask, a pink Regina Belle wig or cut off my head whenever I drive my new Nano through the streets of Kampala.