Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India

[wanderernomad]

Hey Jeff,

Do you have any idea about the legalities of a foreigner purchasing a registering a vehicle in their name in India?

Buying one of those and exploring for a few months is getting more tempting by the minute!

-Dan

As long as you have a valid Identity Card and proof of residence, you can own and register a vehicle. But if you are simply here for a few months with no permanent residence you wont be able to register a vehicle in your name.

 

[Dan Grec]

As long as you have a valid Identity Card and proof of residence, you can own and register a vehicle. But if you are simply here for a few months with no permanent residence you wont be able to register a vehicle in your name.

Gotcha, thanks. So it won't work on a "regular" tourist visa.
Hmmmm.

-Dan

 

[jscherb]

I got a close look at the fiberglass work that Green Army Motorsports was doing when I visited them - it's really first rate. When they convert a Mahindra Bolero to a "JKU" there are a number of fiberglass parts involved - new hood, cowl section on the body to integrate the hood and a new windshield, new grille, new fenders and flares, hardtop, etc. It's really nice work. Fiberglass work is very labor intensive and labor intensive things can be done very well and cost-effectively in India.

The day after my visit to Green Army, Tushar (my designer friend) and the managing partner of the shop dropped by the house in Delhi to talk more. We talked about several designs I've done - the JL Grille for the JK and the JK Barn Door. This was an academic discussion since I have no plans to go into business to produce any of these parts, but products like those could be could be done in India cost effectively even after factoring in shipping to the U.S. and Green Army was offering to do it.

BTW Green Army does make a barn door for their Mahindra conversions, here's a photo of one. It looks like a liftgate, but the glass is attached to a barn door structure inside and the tailgate+glass opens in one piece as a barn door. Could be an interesting project for the JK - a structure that mounts to the factory JK tailgate and accepts the factory liftgate glass could be made to turn the factory parts into a barn door (this photo is from the article I linked to in the prior post).

After seeing their barn door I did some preliminary design work on a similar barn door for the JK which would mount the factory liftgate glass to the tailgate to create a one-piece barn door. I didn't take the design work any further because I've already got an excellent barn door as part of the Safari Cab hardtop, but it's definitely feasible.

Green Army Motorsports is just one of quite a few custom shops that do this kind of work, it seems to be a growing trend in India.

 

[jscherb]

A video showing off the Green Army modified Bolero/Wrangler:


The barn door is very briefly shown open at about 5:40 in the video above. In a photo in the previous post I showed the exterior view of the barn door (basically all you can see is the glass), and a brief view of the interior frame can be seen in the video. At right in this photo taken from the video you can see the internal frame for the barn door

A similar design using the factory liftgate glass could be done for the JK. The mold for it already exists - the inner frame for the Safari Cab barn door could be used as-is; the glass would be bonded to it and the Safari Cab mounting brackets would be used to attach it to the tailgate. An untrimmed Safari Cab inner barn door frame just out of the mold is in this photo:

A JK barn door built like that would be pretty cool - from the outside the Jeep would look like it had an ordinary factory liftgate, but the tailgate+glass would would swing open as one piece.

Another Bolero customized into a "JKU" by Green Army:


Yet another Green Army custom, this Bolero Camper (double cab pickup) is customized into a "Gladiator"...

 

[Paddler Ed]

Thank you for posting all of these - they land at about time to head to bed here, and I pretty much hit refresh until I've had my fix of stories and tales!

These modifications almost fit into the category of Jugaad but I think they're a step above that now.

 

[jscherb]

Thank you for posting all of these - they land at about time to head to bed here, and I pretty much hit refresh until I've had my fix of stories and tales!

These modifications almost fit into the category of Jugaad but I think they're a step above that now.

I think this qualifies as Jugaad, I spotted this Mahindra at Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan...

 

[jscherb]

Sanva Motors is a custom shop in Mumbai. They're at https://www.facebook.com/SanvaMotors/ and they do a wide range of custom projects and seem to also specialize in food trucks but they do Mahindras as well.

They offer a hardtop called the "Italian Replica" top, I'm not sure what it's a replica of, but it does have some interesting construction features.

This video covers the final installation/assembly of one of their tops:


The one-piece "Main Frame" (the first piece they install in the video) is something I've never seen on any other Jeep top. Also the rear liftgate is interesting, the glass is wide but the narrower bottom section is fiberglass. It's also got a complete inner shell, which is somewhat unique for an aftermarket or custom hardtop and provides a very finished look inside.

 

[jscherb]

Friends Motor Bazaar is another custom shop. https://friendsmotorbazar.business.site/ and https://www.facebook.com/ikbalmoga/

They have an interesting product they call a semi-hard top. It's got a frame inside which supports insulation, and it's covered in canvas on the outside like a regular soft top. This video shows its construction:


A finished example:

 

[jscherb]

Customizing Mahindras is very popular in the Punjab. A custom shop there called Anandsar Jeep Modified has posted several videos of their work:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFymSZvj2tgMwphoBvhB0OQ

From the Banks Custom shop (https://www.instagram.com/bankscustom0005/?hl=en), check this one out - the grille/hood resembles a 70's Jeepster Commando:

 

[jscherb]

A little more "traditional" overland build from Transporter Offroad in Miraj, Maharashtra. Nice exocage.

Custom Mahindra Thar complete with a roof-top tent - In Images

Miraj-based The Transporter off-road vehicle customiser has introduced a new off-road package for the Mahindra Thar.

indianautosblog.com

Transporter Offroad 4x4 Restoration And Customizations- TORC 4x4 | Pune

Transporter Offroad 4x4 Restoration And Customizations- TORC 4x4, Pune, Maharashtra. 7,622 likes · 8 talking about this · 2,412 were here. TORC4X4 WE CUSTOMIZE AS WELL AS RESTORE ALL OFFROADING...

www.facebook.com

 

[jscherb]

A few videos showing modified Thars:


And modified Maxi Pikups:

Best Mahindra Maxi Trucks Modified

Best Mahindra Maxi Trucks Modified

getlink.pro

 

[jscherb]

Custom grilles and hardtops are very common in India. There are many places to get custom work done, even custom fiberglass hardtops (more on that later in the thread). Here's a Thar I spotted outside of the Partition Museum in Amritsar. Its got a custom grille, fenders and hardtop to make the CJ-styled Thar look like a JK:

Indian history note: Partition is the word used for when the British left India in 1947 and the country was divided into India, West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). It was a horrible time, Hindus living in what was to become Pakistan migrated to India and Muslims living in India migrated to Pakistan, and terrible violence ensued - Muslims killing Hindus, Hindus killing Muslims and the British, who had ruled India for 200 years, just ran away. The Partition Museum in Amritsar is a world-class museum documenting this terrible period in Indian/Pakistani history: https://www.partitionmuseum.org/

And speaking of grilles, angry grilles aren't uncommon in urban India, here's one I spotted in New Delhi:

The two Thars in this post have aftermarket hardtops. There are far more choices and styles of aftermarket hardtops available in India than there are in the U.S. I've got lots of photos of custom and aftermarket hardtops for the Thar, MM540/550 and other models, I'll post them later in the thread.

I've got lots of custom/aftermarket hardtops to post, but I think maybe I'll cover military Mahindras next.

 

[jscherb]

I'll do some military Mahindras for a while...

The Rakshak is very common in the military service of India, Nepal and other countries. Rakshak is Hindi for "Protector".

 

[utherjorge]

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.

I would be fascinated to see if this works, because I'll tell you right now....you would print money with that. And I don't even know how that wheelbase stacks up to anything. If that fits a gladiator chassis....

 

[jscherb]

I would be fascinated to see if this works, because I'll tell you right now....you would print money with that. And I don't even know how that wheelbase stacks up to anything. If that fits a gladiator chassis....

Since I'm thinking of doing this project, I've done some analysis on the feasibility of putting a Savari body on various Jeep frames.

The Savari wheelbase is 2680mm, which is roughly 106".

The Gladiator wheelbase is 137.3", so fitting a Savari body on a Gladiator is a no-go. The JL Unlimited wheelbase is 118.4", so also a no-go; the JKU at 116" so also too long. The 2-door JK and JL are 95.4 and 96.8 so those would require frame lengthing. Fitting all of the engine compartment components of a JK or JL into the CJ-style engine compartment of a Savari would likely also be impossible.

But...

The LJ wheelbase is 103.5", so a Savari can be adapted to an LJ chassis without lengthening the frame - some longer rear control arms, adjustments to the shock mounts and a longer driveshaft are probably all that would be required. And some new body mounts welded to the frame to support the Savari body.

The Savari engine compartment is a few inches shorter than the TJ/LJ engine compartment, so fitting everything between the firewall and the grille would require a little work, but should be possible without too much trouble.

The track width of the Savari (1450mm = 57.08") is very close to the TJ (57.8) so no problem there. The JK and JL track widths are 4" and 5" wider than the TJ so those are too wide.

Fitting a Savari body on an LJ frame is the best way to go.