Seems like there were several Meeras:
"For the third generation of the Kulkarni family in Ichalkaranji near Kolhapur, the [Tata] Nano has revived memories of their late grandfather Shankarrao Kulkarni, who also came close to fulfiling a similar dream fifty years ago.
Shankarrao, like Mr Tata, dreamt of making a small car for the masses, which he wanted to make available at Rs 12,000 in 1975. He created the prototype of his small car in 1949 and then went on to create five more improvised models over the next two decades, says Mr Kulkarni’s grandson, Hemant Kulkarni, who currently looks after engineering company Kulco.
The last model, developed in 1970, was a fully working model of his dream mini car and was much smaller than the Nano, says Hemant. “My grandfather had a keen interest in automobiles and had developed the small car which he named Meera,” he said. “This car has many similarities with the Nano, both have a rear engine, single wiper, five-seater capacity, and similar mileage at 18-20 km per litre,” he added.
Although Shankarrao studied only till standard 7, he was well-known in Ichalkaranji for his expertise in engineering. “He was working with the Kirloskars under the late Shantanurao Kirloskar and had a team of 10-15 people who worked on different parts of the car. All components of the car, including the engine were made locally and some parts like the tyres were sourced from the market,” said Hemant.
The press components were made in a factory at Bhoglewadi, rubber suspensions were sourced from the Swastik Rubber factory in Pune; Tyres were bought from Ceat, the electric components were from Lucas, while the glass products came from Ogale Glassworks. He had an engineering workshop where the first two-seater model took shape. It was passed by the RTO and was given the registration number MHK1906.
Meera then went through a lot of improvisation over the next twenty years and the sixth model, which was registered as MHE192, was the final model, Hemant explained. Mr Kulkarni had introduced rubber suspension, adjustable ground clearance, three doors and tilting wheels in a four-wheeler, for the first time in India.
Work on the small car was started in 1945 and the first model, a two seater, was out in 1949. He made a three seater car in 1951 and started working on the fourth model from 1960. In an interview to a local newspaper, Mr Kulkarni had said that rubber suspension reduces the need for “over 100 spare parts and also ensures that when you cross a stone, the shock is not transferred to the other wheel as is done by the shaft. "
