For many like 75-year-old P Lahiri, a retired man from Ballygunge, the launch of Nano on Wednesday offered a mixed feeling. Though most enthusiasts visiting the Tata showrooms regretted that Nano could not roll out from Bengal, nothing could dampen their enthusiasm for the car.

As Nano hit the Tata Lexus Motors, KB Motors and RD Motors showrooms in the wee hours of Wednesday, thousands thronged to book the car or simply have a look at it. “I have been waiting for months for Nano to hit the market. I hurried to the showroom with my family,” said Arindam Mukherjee, a businessman from Santoshpur. His son Ankit, a Class II student, was equally curious about the car.

“All my friends know about Nano. I have come with Papa to see the car,” said Divya Gupta, a Class V student of Pratt Memorial. With telephones ringing non-stop, the staff of Tata showrooms were busy in answering enquiries of customers and booking forms costing Rs 300 each that sold out like hot cakes.

“Since morning we have sold nearly 1,800 forms from our three outlets,” said a salesperson of KB Motors in Ballygunge Circular Road. Tata Lexus has sold over 1,000 forms from their outlets.

Housewives like Namrata Das and Shampa Sen did not wait for their husbands to accompany them to showrooms. “We came on our own and bought the booking form. We want to book the car on April 9 itself,” said Das.

With three variants of Nano available —-Tata Nano Standard, Tata Nano CX and Tata Nano LX—- one can book the car directly or through loans offered by the banks with which Tata Motors has tied up or through online. Within 60 days of closure of the booking, which commences on April 9 and continue till April 25, Tata Motors will announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase through computerised random selection.