Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India

[jscherb]

I've had my LJ at elevations just under 13,000 feet in the mountains of Colorado, but I've got plans to go even higher. A recent thread in the Indian BHP automotive forum about a trip in a Mahindra Thar describes where I'd like to go: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/247970-ladakhi-winter-automatic-petrol-thar.html. The road to Leh in the Union Territory of Ladakh in the Kashmir region (nominally Indian territory but disputed by India, Pakistan and China) surpasses 17,000 feet. A photo from the thread:

That's the highest point on the road to Leh, but and other roads in the area scale mountain passes at 19,000 feet:

The region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir

In the photos above, the BRO referred to is the Border Roads Organization, part of the Indian military - it's a bit like the US Army Corps of Engineers and it is focused on building roads and other improvements in the Indian border areas and neighboring friendly countries.

My wife has done the drive to Leh (she wasn't driving, she had a driver who knew the roads for that trip) but I wasn't with her so that expedition is still on my to-do list. I usually spend 3-4 months a year in several trips to Inidia but haven't been able to travel there since the pandemic began. Hopefully will be able to get back to India later this year. I plan to exchange my current visa for an OCI card (sort of like the Indian version of a U.S. green card), so I'll won't be subject to some of the restrictions of a normal visa and will be able to travel to India even when normal visa travel is suspended.

Not sure if I'll do the drive in a Mahindra, we'll have to see what's available when I'm able to go.

 

[jscherb]

Outfitting Mahindra Thars for camping/overlanding is becoming popular in India and some nice work is being done over there. This is a video from a shop in Noida (New Delhi area) showing a overlanding build they recently did.

Some key points in the video (which is in English BTW):

• 3:40 Rooftop fuel, water, shovel and sand ladder mounting.
• 4:55 Water pump for the rooftop water supply.
• 5:30 Water pump switch and spigot.
• 7:00 Foot pegs to climb the rack. Later in the video they describe these as "motorcycle foot pegs". I think they're custom made for the rack but it made me do a google search on motorcycle foot begs and it turns out there are many that look like they could be used for climbing racks if someone wanted to add foot pegs to their rack.
• 8:00 A better look at the rooftop water supply and pump.
• 8:30 More about the rooftop water supply; showing how they've added a fill cap. Also, a pump wouldn't be able to draw water from a sealed container, so they've added what I believe are vents for the containers, they're small white things at the right in the top of the containers.
• 10:40 Review of the various lights.

Worth watching, some good ideas in here:

 

[jscherb]

Here's an interesting video from India - a hard barn door with a glass window for a soft top Thar:


I wasn't able to find any further info on this one, apparently this video is all that's been posted about it. This one appears to be a DIY, but barn doors with soft tops are fairly common in India, and there are a lot of shops that will do one for you - more on this in an upcoming post.

It's not too hard to do something similar for a Wrangler; I did this one for my LJ some years ago. It's a soft barn door upper, a lot like soft uppers for half doors, but a hard upper to work with a soft top could be done the same way.

 

[jscherb]

Speaking of barn doors for soft tops, something that's very common in India that you never see here are "fixed" soft tops. By that I mean soft tops that don't fold down. They're generally built on a fixed, welded frame and the canvas is stretched over the frame and permanently attached. The factory "soft top" for the original Thar was this type. Here are some fixed soft tops with full barn doors:

A sunroof in a fixed soft top:

What the frames for these tops look like:

All of the above are the work of a shop in the state of Punjab (https://www.facebook.com/HarmeetDentingMotorWorks), although that type of soft top is very common in India:

BTW the reference to "denting" on the sign above means "removing dents", not adding them .

 

[pith helmet]

Interesting. I wouldn’t mind a fixed soft top but don’t think I’d want the sun panel. That being said, our 2018 was a twill soft top model on the lot but I talked them out of a hard top they had in the shop. It turn out that I actually prefer the soft top but don’t care for putting it down.
Just need to figure out a rack like the other post above. I’m not crazy about the commercially available ones.

 

[jscherb]

It's very common in India to mount things externally on fixed soft tops by making holes in the canvas and bolting to the fixed frame. Here's a video showing some homemade mods on a fixed soft top.

• 0:08 Propane tank
• 0:18 Homemade tailgate table
• 0:28 and 0:50 Roof rack (appears to be a homemade rack)

I've posted these next photos before; both of these Mahindras are in rural taxi service and they've got racks bolted through the soft tops.

I guess if you have a fixed soft top you wouldn't mind making holes in it to mount things because you're not going to be putting the top down anyway. But it makes me think that if you wanted to mount a roof top tent (or just a rack) on a soft top Jeep, why not install through the soft top to the roll bar - it's so much trouble to move one of those exocage racks out of the way to put down a soft top that I'll bet nobody does it anyway.

 

[oldnslow]

What is the point of a soft top if you can't put it down or remove it? It seems like a hard top would be better under those circumstances.

In fact that is what I did with my TJ - I wasn't driving with the soft top down so I bought a hard top. I liked it a lot better that way.

 

[jscherb]

What is the point of a soft top if you can't put it down or remove it? It seems like a hard top would be better under those circumstances.

In India, fixed soft tops are mostly about price - in 2017, a new Mahindra Thar started at 5.4 lakh rupees, which is about $7500 USD. Adding a hard top would significantly increase the cost of the vehicle. And replacement canvas for fixed soft tops can be had over there for about $200 USD.

As far as I know, Mahindra never offered a factory hardtop for the original Thar, it wasn't until the new model Thar debuted in 2020 that a factory hardtop (and fold-down soft top) was a factory option. Hard tops are available for earlier Thars though, there are many more aftermarket hardtop companies in India than there are here - I posted photos of many of them earlier in this thread.

Fixed soft tops can be removed; I've seen many Thars with the top removed but the fixed frame still in place. Here's one I spotted in Vasant Kunj (a section of New Delhi), the full fixed soft top has been swapped for a half cab but it's still got the rear hoop of the full top installed as well as the tub-side retainer bars, so they can swap the full soft top back on if needed.

This video shows how the fixed soft top canvas is installed (it's an aftermarket replacement canvas that uses the factory frame). It really doesn't take all that long.


If I ever move to India (my better half and I discuss it often), I'd likely buy an older model Thar with a fixed soft top although I'd modify the canvas so that the sides could roll up like on my LJ. I don't like the sun on my head but I do enjoy the open feeling when the soft sides are rolled up...

 

[jscherb]

Another fixed soft top with a barn door, this one from a shop called Lakshmi Thar Accessories in Haryana (www.lakshmitharmodified.com). This one has glass side windows as well as a glass window in the barn door.

Their website features this Mahindra "CJ-5" (it might be an MM-340, Mahindra mostly didn't use the same designations as Jeep did in the U.S.). Nicely done:

 

[givemethewillys]

I really like that last one you posted. I almost never, ever drive my cj5 with the top uncovered, but often take the sides off. I really like the soft top with the solid windows idea though!

 

[jscherb]

I'm sure you've all seen photos of 4-door TJ and YJ Wrangler conversions; to me almost none of them look right because most of them use the stock Wrangler doors which just don't lend themselves well to 4-door versions because they're too wide. Here's a 4-door Thar conversion that really looks right. Thar doors have much better proportions for a 4-door conversion than the wider Wrangler doors. Other Mahindra models, like the Commander and Marshal, have rear doors similar to the ones on this Thar, but they are shaped a bit differently so I think the rear doors on this one may be modified That doors with some Commander or Marshal door parts.

Here's a video of it in action, unfortunately who ever posted the video required that it be watched from within YouTube, so you can click on it below and watch it there:


I'm not a fan of the grille though...

It's got a fixed soft top like those in my earlier posts, with real glass windows and a flip-up hatch in the back.

It looks a little like a very early production model called the CL550, but the rear door shape is different - on the CL550 (and Marshal and Commander), the lower edge of the door is curved to match the wheel arch, but on the modified Thar above that segment is straight. Also on the rear door of the one below the embossed section is straight and on the one above it's jogged like the front door.

 

[givemethewillys]

Jscherb, that thar looks incredible!

 

[jscherb]

Jscherb, that thar looks incredible!

I liked the idea enough to do this concept image... it's an LJ modified into a 4-door with Mahindra doors. There's not quite enough room for the doors, the back door interferes with the rear fender flares, but there are a few ways that could be solved.

The hardtop is easy, it can be made in my Safari Cab molds with no modifications. It's a stock Safari Cab hardtop with slightly shortened side panels. Because the Safari Cab is modular and because the Safari Cab side panel molds are designed with dams to be able to make both TJ and LJ length side panels, all of the Safari Cab parts would be right out of the molds including the custom length side panels.

It should be possible to source a set of Mahindra doors and maybe the door jamb sheet metal from a scrapped Mahindra. Of course you'd have to go to India to find them, but I go there often.

I don't plan to build one of these, but it could be built.

 

[pith helmet]

This gives me butterflies in my tummy.

[/QUOTE]

 

[jscherb]

This was just reported on the Indian Team-BHP Forum:

Mahindra has partnered with Campervan Factory to launch affordable campervans in India.

Mahindra and IIT Madras' Advanced Manufacturing Technology Development Centre (AMTDC) plans to develop caravans based on the Bolero Camper double-cab. The International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW) will be taking care of water management and waste disposal, while Saint Gobain Research Centre will develop glazed windows.

The campervan will have a sleeping and dining space for four occupants, a mini-fridge, television, microwave and optional air-conditioning. It will also have running water with a shower and a bio-toilet which doesn't require a septic tank. Instead, the vehicle comes with a separate tank that is filled with bacteria which decomposes the waste into methane, carbon dioxide and water.

The Mahindra Bolero Camper-based caravan is aimed at tour operators and aggregators in the tourism industry.