Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India

[jscherb]

I think I am going to start looking into buying one of those FC-150s and having it shipped to the states. It really would be the coolest. Like a small deuce and a half


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I am told that a 20' container from Delhi to the east coast of the U.S. is under $2000, which I think is pretty reasonable.

The challenge with a Mahindra FC is that the last of them were made in 1999 and virtually all of them went into commercial service. 21 years or more of commercial service in India is very hard duty so finding a nice one might be hard. Also you'd need to do a '96 or earlier to avoid the 25 year restriction on imports of complete vehicles into the U.S. unless you could find some exception to that rule that you could use. And, India has implemented tough rules over the past few years to get older vehicles off the road, so FCs (along with the Indian classic Ambassador) are less common on the roads these days, so there won't be too many to choose from.

Mahindras like the Commander, Marshal, Major, etc., are much more common and it's not hard to find one nice enough to consider bringing over here.

 

[billiebob]

An early cowl/chassis brochure. Many custom bodies were built on this platform.

I have photos of chassis on the "interstate" the driver on a crate running between the chassis manufacturer and the bus body builder. Priceless how India focuses on industry.

 

[billiebob]

Of all the Mahindra Jeeps, this is the one I want.

 

[jscherb]

Some FC and CJ ambulance brochures.

 

[jscherb]

Another ambulance brochure. Both FC and an MM540 (Commander) ambulances are shown.

Enough of the FC variants for now, I think next I'll cover my favorite model - the Savari.

 

[jscherb]

Before I move on to the Savari, I'll go back to the Thar for a moment. Mahindra has a customization studio and you can order a Thar, Bolero, KUV, TUV, Scorpio and other models outfitted to your taste right from the factory studio. The studio has a 23-page brochure showing some of the possibilities; I'll just post the pages that have to do with the Thar for now.

 

[jscherb]

I've posted photos of the Commander and Marshal in 2 and 4 door versions - there are actually several different body lengths. The top photo is a Marshal, the middle one is a Maxx, and the bottom one is my all-time favorite Mahindra variant - it's called the Savari and it's a long wheelbase/long body version.

I've been considering importing a Savari body and putting it on a stretched LJ frame. I can buy a used Savari in India, get a shop there to pull the body off the frame and put it in a container and pay them by giving them the running chassis. I believe importing the body only would get around US import restrictions on vehicles less than 25 years old and I wouldn't want the Mahindra chassis or running gear anyway.

The video that the still above came from:

 

[14JKURX]

That would be a cool project!

 

[tyler.armijo]

So I may be asking a lot but I have seen you do it prior in your Land Rover ideas thread but would you be willing to make a graphic showing the different versions (Commander, Maxx, Savari) compared to a Tj, Lj, Jku I am interested to see how they compare body and wheelbase because I feel like the savari looks massive but when compared to a jku probably pretty similar in size


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[jscherb]

So I may be asking a lot but I have seen you do it prior in your Land Rover ideas thread but would you be willing to make a graphic showing the different versions (Commander, Maxx, Savari) compared to a Tj, Lj, Jku I am interested to see how they compare body and wheelbase because I feel like the savari looks massive but when compared to a jku probably pretty similar in size


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Here you go...

TJ, LJ, Mahindra Maxx, Mahindra Savari:

JKU and Savari:

 

[jscherb]

This Savari is in tourist service and I photographed it in the Hindu holy city of Pushkar in the state of Rajasthan. Savaris are very common in Rajasthan and also in the Himalayan foothill states like West Bengal. Few seem to be used as private vehicles, they're most often seen in tourist and shared taxi service.

 

[jscherb]

A Savari commercial

The language in this video is Gujarati (one of the 17 or more major languages in India); it's an ad by a Mahindra dealer in the state of Gujarat. The gist of it is that the people are sad because they're unemployed. The dealer says he will finance a Savari so the people can go into the rural taxi business. They're seen breaking a coconut in front of their new Savari, that's for good luck, and then they're happy because they're in business with their Savari.

 

[tyler.armijo]

Here you go...

TJ, LJ, Mahindra Maxx, Mahindra Savari:

JKU and Savari:

Sorry for the delayed reply but thank you so much! It’s crazy how they fit a full 4 door in the wheel base of a lj


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[jscherb]

Sorry for the delayed reply but thank you so much! It’s crazy how they fit a full 4 door in the wheel base of a lj


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It's two things - first, the Maxx/Commander/Savari wheelbases are 2" longer than the LJ (105.6" vs. 103.5"), and the front doors don't have to be wide enough to allow people to get into the back seat - two-door veghicles of all types generally have wider doors than 4-door vehicles.

Wouldn't it be nice if Jeep built a 4-door LJ using doors like the Mahindras. Also, I like the detail pressed into the door sides:

 

[jscherb]

The Savari was also available with a removable hardtop.

And here are some with soft tops. This first one has slider windows in the soft top sides: