Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

This is what a $100,000 JKU looks like...

Actually, it seems to be an ordinary Sahara JKU, I spotted it at the Hyderabad airport this afternoon and just had enough time to grab a cell phone shot of it. I've seen a few Cherokees in India but this is the first Wrangler I've seen. They've only been available here a year or so, and they're very expensive... base JKUs seem to start at about $85,000 here; diesel versions at $97,000 and since this is a Sahara I assume it's more.

It's right hand drive, like all vehicles here, and it's got the export front bumper on it that rises up to meet the front fenders. Other than that it went by too fast for me to notice anything else.

 

[Yuke]

I love my sliding windows, it is time for gull wings.

is there a kit to use the same opening coming? I would be interested in bringing these to market...

 

[jscherb]

I love my sliding windows, it is time for gull wings.

is there a kit to use the same opening coming? I would be interested in bringing these to market...

Glad you like the windows.

I've done several prototypes of gull wing cargo doors but haven't done the final work to create a commercial kit because I haven't felt that there would be enough demand for a kit.

 

[MattJ]

Hey Jeff - not sure if you saw it, but the Trail Kitchen was listed in the headline of a recent SEMA article. Congrats! Here’s the link:

News from SEMA Show Exhibitors

 

[jscherb]

Hey Jeff - not sure if you saw it, but the Trail Kitchen was listed in the headline of a recent SEMA article. Congrats! Here’s the link:

News from SEMA Show Exhibitors

Thanks for sharing that - I hadn't seen it. When it comes to things like that, the companies that sign up for my designs often forget to tell me what they're doing .

 

[jscherb]

Today while driving through Hyderabad, India I passed a Jeep dealership... (it's 6pm Sunday night here but 8:30am Monday EST as I'm posting this).

There was a JKU in the window so I had to stop to check it out. It's pretty much identical to the U.S. version, with a few minor changes, such as a front bumper that rises to meet the front fenders:

Also, the side marker lights stick out from the fenders, I'm sure to meet visibility requirements.

It's RHD of course:

And in the rear the long format license plate will mount below the bumper where the word Wrangler is in this next photo; the U.S. location for the licence plate holder has a blankout plug.

I didn't see any other obvious differences from the U.S. version, except of course the price tag, which starts at the equivalent of $85,000 USD and goes near to $100,000 and probably beyond.

Other than the Wrangler at the Hyderabad airport I posted a photo of a few days ago, the Wrangler in the dealer is the only one I saw in the two weeks I've been in India this trip (and I saw none when I was here for the month of February). I have seen a few Compasses, but they're not very common either.

I spent most of the last week in the states of Karnataka and Telangana. Here it's usually cheaper to hire a car with a driver than it is to rent a car, and also a lot less frustrating because driving in India is a challenge. This next photo is the car hired for the trip; it's pictured at the ashram at the ancient city of Hampi where it became a playground for the locals...

Earlier the swami-ji from the ashram and I were feeding the monkeys, I suppose they wanted more. I won't bore you with photos of that.

Off-topic side note for those interested in Indian mythology, the mythical Monkey Kingdom of Kishkinda is across the river from Hampi, the black-faced monkeys are said to be descendants of Vali, the evil monkey king of the Ramayana epic, and the red-faced monkeys are said to be descendants of Sugriva, who was Vali's brother and succeeded him when Rama killed Vali.

 

[Zeep]

( I didn't see any other obvious differences from the U.S. version, except of course the price tag, which starts at the equivalent of $85,000 USD and goes near to $100,000 and probably beyond.)
Talk about tariffs!!!

 

[akpostal]

Glad you like the windows.

I've done several prototypes of gull wing cargo doors but haven't done the final work to create a commercial kit because I haven't felt that there would be enough demand for a kit.

This would be great for me. I keep my spare inside against the drivers side making the space between the tire and glass all but useless or at least hard to get to. Also if the back is loaded for a trip having small hard to get items within easy reach would be a huge bonus. But Im sure Im speaking to the choir on this.

Im surprised no company has picked up the Barn Door concept yet. To me this idea makes more sense then a lift gate especially if the spare is on the back gate.

 

[jscherb]

This would be great for me. I keep my spare inside against the drivers side making the space between the tire and glass all but useless or at least hard to get to. Also if the back is loaded for a trip having small hard to get items within easy reach would be a huge bonus. But Im sure Im speaking to the choir on this.

A production version of the prototype gull wing hatch I posted the other day should be able to retail for $250 or less per side. I've never focused on getting them into production though because as I said the other day I'm not sure there would be enough demand for them to make it worthwhile. And since I don't sell anything so if it were to get to market some company or someone would have to want to take it on.

Im surprised no company has picked up the Barn Door concept yet. To me this idea makes more sense then a lift gate especially if the spare is on the back gate.

After years of enjoying the use of the barn doors on my LJ and JKU I completely agree with you on that. One company approached me about the barn door when I first built it but I didn't believe they'd be able to do a good job of manufacturing it and getting it to market so I didn't pursue it with them. My barn door molds have been gathering dust for a long time, if a company or person is interested in bringing the barn door to market they can contact me.

 

[jscherb]

An example of a hardtop with a barn door from India...

The Mahindra Thar, a stripped-down version of which is now sold in the U.S. as the Roxor, comes from the factory with a soft top and there is no factory option for a hard top, but there are about 4 or 5 aftermarket companies here in India that offer hardtops. Spotted this one in New Delhi today with an aftermarket hardtop. Even though this has a Thar badge on the side, I believe it's an MM540, which is the model that preceded the Thar. I say that because the Thar has a side-swing tailgate like the Wrangler and this one apparently has a drop-down.

Found another image of this top on the Team-BHP forum, which is an Indian forum I belong to...

The hardtop is apparently available with a rear barn door like my Safari Cabs, although the one I spotted in new Delhi doesn't appear to have that option. The one I spotted does have a slider window in the rear hatch though.

I'm haven't decided yet if I like the styling of this top, or if the styling would look good on an earlier Jeep like a TJ.

 

[jscherb]

When I'm in India I always find interesting jeeps to post photos of, here's a news story that I'll be watching: https://www.bloombergquint.com/busi...-of-jeep-design-imitation-baseless#gs.2uUlHvU. According to Bloomberg news FCA is claiming that the Roxor looks too much like the classic Jeep.

Yes, it does look like the classic Jeep CJ, but Mahindra changed the grille design for the U.S. Roxor to eliminate the 7-slot look.

What's interesting is that Mahindra has been a Jeep licensee for about 70 years - in 1947 or so Mahindra started importing CKD kits from Jeep and assembling them in India. Over time Mahindra added more local components and today there are no FCA-sourced parts in Mahindra vehicles as far as I know. But Mahindra has been producing 7-slot grille vehicles here in India for decades, it's just now that they're being sold in the U.S. apparently FCA doesn't like it. Will be interesting to see where this goes.

For reference, here's a Mahindra brochure from some years ago...

 

[jscherb]

Of all the Indian states I've ever visited, by far Rajasthan has more jeeps than any, in fact I believe there are probably more CJ3b and related variants on the road in Rajasthan than anywhere else in the world. It's even not that uncommon to see a daily driver WWII MB/GPW Jeep on the road.

I'm in Udaipur in Rajasthan for a few days and today I visited the Maharajah of Mewar's antique car museum - all of the vehicles in it are in the Maharajah's personal fleet and have been in use. There are two WWII Jeeps in the collection, according to a museum person they're 1942 vintage and are still used in local events and parades. Being the vintage they are, they most likely came here either under Lend-Lease to the Indian or British Army or were brought over when the U.S. got involved in the CBI (China-Burma-India) Theatre of the war. They've both been repainted at some time in their lives but other than that they appear unrestored. One has a WWII-vintage M100 trailer, the other has what appears to be an M416 variant, I'd guess most likely built in India in the 50's.

And off-topic for a moment, for the James Bond fans - you may not know Udaipur by name, but if you've seen Octopussy, you've seen some of the amazing sights here. The Lake Palace served as the floating casino in the movie; the mountaintop Monsoon Palace was villain Kamal Khan's mansion, and the hotel I'm staying in lakeside facing the Lake Palace is the hotel where James Bond stayed. And this Rolls was borrowed from the Maharaja to appear in the movie...

 

[MattJ]

One has a WWII-vintage M100 trailer, the other has what appears to be an M416 variant, I'd guess most likely built in India in the 50's.

Those fenders look familiar! I think I've seen them on a Jeep with a custom safari-top-barn-door-design . . .

 

[jscherb]

Those fenders look familiar! I think I've seen them on a Jeep with a custom safari-top-barn-door-design . . .

There might be slight resemblance...

Another photo from today - here's an interesting piece of fender-mounted gear that was on one of the MBs in the collection. It's an axe that stores in two pieces...

 

[Dan Grec]

There was a JKU in the window so I had to stop to check it out. It's pretty much identical to the U.S. version, with a few minor changes...

This is the standard export JK that basically every country outside North America gets.
I've seen hundreds in South America, Southern and Eastern Africa, Australia, Europe.
The 2.8 diesel is cool, though people don't like the lack of power, and in fact in South Africa & Australia people avoid them like the plague.
Hopefully the 2.2 diesel they'll be getting in the JL will be better.
-Dan