Tata Estate in a fantastically smashing electric avatar! Reimagined as a tribute to Ratan Tata

Station wagons or estate cars somehow never caught on very well in India despite the space and practicality they offered. For example, Škoda Octavia Combi, Tata Indigo Marina, Maruti Baleno Altura have been long forgotten. And so has the Tata Estate. One of the very first cars that Tata Motors made available in the market, the Estate remained in production for about eight years. Now though, we're looking at a reimagined avatar of it as an all-electric car designed by a studio in Pune.

Design studio Sankul Design has come up with a fresh design for the Tata Estate station wagon as a tribute to Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group and former Chairman of Tata Motors. Head over to Sankul's Facebook page for a look at all the stages the design went through before this end result which looks rather good.

To say that it is an electric version of the Estate is one thing but there are barely any similarities between the two. But then, the Estate has been out of sight and out of mind for so long, it is good to see it back making headlines. And in a good-looking skin too. The sleek design is highlighted by a thin strip of LED headlamps integrated in the grille. ORVMs have been replaced with cameras for a more futuristic appeal.

Sankul worked on the design for eight months during which the studio let out sketches of work in progress and in December last year, revealed the final rendition. The images were posted with a note dedicated to Ratan Tata and his vision.

The Facebook post read, "With lots of love and respect, we hereby present you with the re-envisioned Tata Estate. We will be honoured to meet you in person and present our work to you. Request for an opportunity, please. Thank you for being an inspiration to us and many more."

In case your memory of the Tata Estate is blurry, pictured here is one. Launched back in 1992, the Estate station wagon rather a new style of car on Indian roads. It was powered by a Peugeot-sourced XD88 1.9-litre diesel engine paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Estate was in production for about eight years before the reaching the end of line in 2000.