Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India
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jscherb
Expedition Leader
From another aftermarket company, this hardtop is called the "Armadillo".
It's got an unusual liftgate design - glass wider than the tailgate, but a narrower non-glass portion at the bottom of the liftgate that's the same width as the tailgate. Also note the slider windows in the sides.
It's got an unusual liftgate design - glass wider than the tailgate, but a narrower non-glass portion at the bottom of the liftgate that's the same width as the tailgate. Also note the slider windows in the sides.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
A hardtop from a company called FibreSmith.
A lot more photos on their site: https://www.fibresmith.com/customization/mahindra-thar-hard-top-fibre/
A lot more photos on their site: https://www.fibresmith.com/customization/mahindra-thar-hard-top-fibre/
jscherb
Expedition Leader
How about a hardtop that's all right angles?
They also make hardtops with curves and other angles: http://www.dhtharmodification.com/services/metal-hard-top/
They also make hardtops with curves and other angles: http://www.dhtharmodification.com/services/metal-hard-top/
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Off-topic from Mahindra hardtops for a moment... unlike most U.S. hardtops for Wranglers which look a lot like the factory hardtop, as you can see Indian aftermarket hardtops have many different designs. But not all hardtops in the U.S. look like factory tops, I spotted this listing on eBay recently:
Anyone want one of these? The person's feedback score was zero at the time I grabbed these images, maybe nobody wants this one
.
Anyone want one of these? The person's feedback score was zero at the time I grabbed these images, maybe nobody wants this one
.
tyler.armijo
Member
I wonder why it is that we don’t have hardly any aftermarket tops with how much the rest of Jeep’s are modified.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Making fiberglass hardtops (and other fiberglass parts) is very labor intensive and labor is less expensive in India. And it's pretty easy and relatively inexpensive to set up a small manufacturing operation in India compared to the U.S., so that may be one reason.
When I was visiting with the folks at Green Army (I posted about their custom Mahindras earlier in the thread; they use fiberglass extensively in their customs) out of curiosity I asked them what it would cost for them to mold the fiberglass JK barn doors that I designed. The price they estimated was such that even with shipping from India to the U.S., made-in-India barn doors could be sold for less in the U.S. than the exact same thing made here. If I ever wanted to go into business selling barn doors, I would seriously consider having the fiberglass work done in India. Shipping hardtops is another thing altogether, in that case shipping probably would negate the labor savings, but for smaller things like barn doors manufacturing in India can be attractive.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
There are a number of delivery van variants based on the PikUp chassis. I spotted this one in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh:
Spotted this one in New Delhi. The protection on the windows suggests maybe it delivers or picks up something valuable.
I saw this extended length/widened version in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, this would make a great camper:
Spotted this one in New Delhi. The protection on the windows suggests maybe it delivers or picks up something valuable.
I saw this extended length/widened version in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, this would make a great camper:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
From 1997 to 2005 a magazine named Jeep World was published in the U.K.
When I lived in London in the early 2000's I collected most of the issues; I've also got a computerized/searchable index of the articles (the index also includes JP Magazine and jRations, both of which I have all of the issues in my collection) so last night I looked to see if there was anything interesting in Jeep World about Mahindras since they were sold in the U.K. There were a few articles but not much interesting that hasn't been posted about in this thread already. Anyway, since a few days ago I posted a photo of a square headlight CJ-3b, here's another photo of that model from the issue of Jeep World pictured above.
Apparently this model was called the Bahia. Two other things to notice in this photo - the 9-slot grille (like a Willys MB) and the soft top with no side windows.
It may be that the Bahia was only a U.K. model; I've never seen any references to it in India nor have I seen one myself in India. But it might have been an Indian model as well, I just have no evidence of that.
About the windowless soft top - it may be that it's a that way to enable it to be taxed as a commercial vehicle, which gets taxed less than a private vehicle in many countries. Jeep offered a commercial version of the CJ in the U.K. back in the 80's:
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Speaking of other sources of information on Mahindras, I posted a couple of weeks ago about a new book on the history of Mahindra that's available in India (https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...mahindra-of-india.222439/page-18#post-2922008). I ordered a copy from amazon.in and had it shipped to relatives in New Delhi; it arrived a week ago. I'm just waiting for a few other things to be ready to ship from there to me and then everything will be shipped together so I should have the book soon.
When I lived in London in the early 2000's I collected most of the issues; I've also got a computerized/searchable index of the articles (the index also includes JP Magazine and jRations, both of which I have all of the issues in my collection) so last night I looked to see if there was anything interesting in Jeep World about Mahindras since they were sold in the U.K. There were a few articles but not much interesting that hasn't been posted about in this thread already. Anyway, since a few days ago I posted a photo of a square headlight CJ-3b, here's another photo of that model from the issue of Jeep World pictured above.
Apparently this model was called the Bahia. Two other things to notice in this photo - the 9-slot grille (like a Willys MB) and the soft top with no side windows.
It may be that the Bahia was only a U.K. model; I've never seen any references to it in India nor have I seen one myself in India. But it might have been an Indian model as well, I just have no evidence of that.
About the windowless soft top - it may be that it's a that way to enable it to be taxed as a commercial vehicle, which gets taxed less than a private vehicle in many countries. Jeep offered a commercial version of the CJ in the U.K. back in the 80's:
Speaking of other sources of information on Mahindras, I posted a couple of weeks ago about a new book on the history of Mahindra that's available in India (https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...mahindra-of-india.222439/page-18#post-2922008). I ordered a copy from amazon.in and had it shipped to relatives in New Delhi; it arrived a week ago. I'm just waiting for a few other things to be ready to ship from there to me and then everything will be shipped together so I should have the book soon.