Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India

[jscherb]

The MM540/MM550 is still in military service in some countries; these are a couple of Nepal Army MM's I came across in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019.

Mahindra has done a number of military-specific models beyond the MM540, including armored vehicles and ambulances. I'll post photos of some of those later in the thread.

 

[jscherb]

The Wagonette was an early long wheelbase 4-door version of the MM540.

That wasn't the first time Mahindra used the Wagonette name, earlier they did the "101 Wagonette", which was more or less a stretched CJ3b with a 4-door closed body.

 

[njtacoma]

They still produced a version of the FC-170 and several variants until the early 2000’s as I recall. I wanted to import one , but never looked into it. Several van bodies and the traditional cab chassis models

 

[jscherb]

They still produced a version of the FC-170 and several variants until the early 2000’s as I recall. I wanted to import one , but never looked into it. Several van bodies and the traditional cab chassis models

That's true, the FC was made well into the 90's. I've got lots of photos of FC's to post as well as some FC brochures - trayback trucks, busses, ambulances, etc. Stay tuned...

 

[billiebob]

Saw this, a CJ2 with a CJ3B windshield, kind of a simple custom touch.
Best if you are short.

 

[jscherb]

After the Wagonette, Mahindra refined the design with a higher roofline. Most of these are called the Commander, and they came in 5-door and 3-door models (counting the rear barn door). These are Mahindra publicity photos.

There was also a version called the Marshal and I've seen lots of Marshals and Commanders in India but I've never been able to figure out what distinguishes the two models.

This basic body style was very popular and a number of other later models were based on the same basic idea.

 

[billiebob]

reminds me of the first Liberty concept, the Dakar

 

[tyler.armijo]

reminds me of the first Liberty concept, the Dakar

View attachment 642077

Why couldn’t the Liberty have actually looked like that! Way cooler than what we actually ended up with...


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[jscherb]

I like the Dakar a lot, but why why couldn't they do a barn door in the rear? It's got a side-swing tailgate/swing-up liftgate combo .

There's no technical reason they couldn't do a barn door.

The Mahindra Commander/Marshal has a barn door, and this one even has a slider window in the barn door:

 

[tyler.armijo]

I like the Dakar a lot, but why why couldn't they do a barn door in the rear? It's got a side-swing tailgate/swing-up liftgate combo .

There's no technical reason they couldn't do a barn door.

The Mahindra Commander/Marshal has a barn door, and this one even has a slider window in the barn door:

Like you said, give it a barn door and mount the spare back there and it would’ve been perfect! They would’ve sold like hot cakes in my opinion


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[billiebob]

I must say, 50 years later I prefer the single door.
Way quieter and way better at sealing out dust, cheaper to make too.



To me, this is a barn door. And functional on a full size like the Suburban or van.


based on designs hundreds of years old

 

[jscherb]

Grille swaps/overlays are popular in India too...

And of course the factory grille overlay on the Maxx and other models...

Even in India they're all ugly .

 

[pith helmet]

What is it with the evil-eye grill? Also, I couldn’t imagine covering any part of my weak headlights. Enjoying this new thread.

 

[Zeep]

Fugly grills all over the world!

 

[utherjorge]

So, can anyone see all of Scherb's pics? They all come up as broken links