Mahindra coming to the US

[Mark]

http://www.mahindrana.com/

Some of the vehicles look pretty interesting.

[Mack The Knife]

Mark,

Even if you make the mistake of buying one of these pimp mobiles (Scorpio and its spin-offs), don't sell the Samurai.



Mack The Knife

[dev]

If they were pimp mobiles then 57% of Indians must be pimps .
As a Mahindra user for the last eight years I would say that they are good hardy cars and are really economical to drive and use anywhere.

Regards,

Dev

[nagarifle]

i second that Dev, using one(Bolero) for last 2 years to go places where others dare not go, not had a complaint and well worth the money on my kind of roads.

[Tai Ahom]

True, also a Bolero user. Best SUV in our region.

Bhaskar

[Mack The Knife]

and use anywhere.

using one(Bolero) for last 2 years to go places where others dare not go

[mundaire]

Just to keep the double-entendre chain going... Mahindras do offer the most bang for the buck

[Mark]

Rusty don't worry, the sammy is a part of the family having taught all 3 of my kids how to drive a manual transmission! Next in the cards is whenever the current 1.3L engine finally dies is to repower with a diesel, should be good for another 120K + miles!

[Olly]

My Scorpio has last me about 5 years till date.... no problems and with little fodder (11 kmpl) it runs around like a wild bull...

[kragiesardar]

Landcruiser fanatic myself, 80, 60 and rebuilding a 40 whch is why I havent been on online. May buy one of these in the US though after seeing how they are abused and still keep going in India. My son saw a Mahindra with more chickens than carried by a 18 wheeler in the states- "hey dad, thats going to the butter chicken factory"

[Sakobav]

Will look cool on streets of NYC They probably will start selling in midwest or southwest first need to check on dealership
Best

[timmy]

Mark, I agree: the thought of a 30 mpg pickup with clean burning turbo diesel technology is certainly something that grabbed my attention. For quite some time, I've been looking at Indian "Listeroid" stationary diesels that could burn veg oil, to be used for a generator plant when we are able to move back to that one small step before Paradise, New Mexico. Such a plant would allow us to settle on cheap property that is "off grid."

It was working from this background that I became convinced of the ability of Indian industry to make a modern, fuel efficient diesel. It will not be imported into the USA if they ever make it, but I'd find one of those Tata Nanos with the turbo diesel that I've read about very interesting.

But reading thru the link you've posted, even though it is a bit sparse on the technical details, has perked my interest for something like this. Also, my older son, who runs a business, might find this sort of truck ideal for his needs, especially because it has a long bed.

Thanks for sharing this!

(Note: not trying to stir up anything here, as I prefer driving Hondas, but should these pickups prove to exhibit sufficient build and engineering quality, I would give one of these preferential consideration over a Toyota or Nissan small pickup.)

[Sakobav]

Mahindra should target the good old simple pick up truck market like the Willys jeep of yester years
Auto Ego | 1964 Willys Jeep
Appreciation for a Simple Pickup
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/autom ... lys&st=cse

[timmy]

RE the Jeep Pickup:

An interesting article. I can imagine that this fellow finds his pickup interesting. However, my recollection of such things is less than glowing.

My own personal experience with Jeep products has been owning a 1942 Willys (and by the way, don't say "Will-eez," say "Will-iss." I believe the name is Welsh and the fellow's last name was Willys: in other words, the jeep wasn't made by a guy named William!) war surplus Jeep, a 1961 Utility Wagon (same body style as this truck, but a station wagon), and a 1967 Jeep Wagoneer.

The problem with these pickups and the related utility wagons is that the bodies on them were very very primitive and cheap, even when they were first introduced in 1946/1947. Because there were a lot of them laying about and available cheaply, they were often bought for very little money by car enthusiasts, which is how I got my utility wagon. As young guys into hotrodding and such, these trucks and utility wagons were well known for having the doors pop open at inopportune times, sometimes tragically spilling the passengers. The frames and springs were not significantly upgraded from the war time jeep, and the metallurgy was poor, resulting in cracks. They twisted a lot, which didn't help the cracking of frame rails and would twist the cab, causing the doors to unlatch and come open.

The axles were not very stout, either, except that I do recall some of the pickups having those odd split Timken style heavy duty rear ends.

The engine used in this pickup was a relatively new overhead cam 6, which was a real oddity. It was developed by Kaiser (who owned jeep at this time) and was somewhat odd in design. Overhead cams were a performance design in those days, and having that long chain in a work type engine made many wonder. The engine did seem to be a pretty good one, tho, and anything would have been a huge improvement over the earlier flathead 226 cubic inch Continental 6 cylinder that Kaiser used in its cars from the 50s and in jeep trucks and utility wagons up to 1962. I rebuilt a number of these engines. They were often used in industrial applications like fork lift trucks, service which they handled fairly well. But in automobiles, where acceleration and deceleration loads were much stronger, they weren't a very good engine at all. Even in fork lifts, they were cheap: The Chrysler flathead industrial 6 was a much better engine.

Now these things have a very old time look to them. They were stylishly out of date when they were new and their quality of construction was questionable. Compared to the coachwork on my 1954 Ford pickup, for example, they were little more than junk. They used Ross steering gears, which was a worm and stud arrangement. When I got my first, the 1942 Jeep, my Dad warned me not to wrap my thumb around the steering wheel. You could hit a rock and the wheel would whip back, and your thumb could be easily broken by the steering wheel spoke. You learned to keep your thumb lined up with the rest of your fingers all the time. Also, the Ross steering wore out quickly.

There is a time when I can appreciate "primitive." I like my old Ford pickup, and I find my 1956 Harley interesting, too. But both of these are a long way from being suitable for modern urban or suburban driving -- take it from someone who owns them.


In connection with this, I'm reminded of when we moved down here to Texas. For our married lives, my Wife and I heated the houses we lived in with wood heat, except for a short stint of living in New Jersey. So when we moved down here to Texas, it was quite nice to simply turn the thermostat up or down. No more buying chainsaws and going into the woods, no more splitting and stacking wood, no more hauling out ashes or trying to get a fire going in a freezing house when we'd been away for a couple of days, no more spiders and insects crawling out of the wood to infest the house, no more cleaning out the chimney flue to avoid a chimney fire, and no more smoke dirtying the walls and windows.

Our house has a fireplace and I got a set of gas logs and installed them. Our younger daughter's in laws came to visit and said: "Oh! Don't you want the smell of a real wood fire?"

It took all of my patience and self control to just say "No!" and not add the "And I'm not going to dig a hole in the back yard for a toilet, either!"

[joydeepm]

Well , seems some guys here are loaded enough to be able to afford the land cruiser or the range rover so they can pooh pooh the scorpio .
In 2007 , I had the choice to buy a corolla, a civic or a scorpio . I chose the latter much to everyone's displeasure .
It is an LXI CRDE version which I did up with upholstry , a pioneer system , parking sensors etc .

I have driven it to Gangotri and back from Delhi , On the Binsar road , about 1200 kms across kumaon and garhwal another time , numerous trips to jaipur , tonk , Pataudi etc . and I am glad to report it has NEVER let me down . Driving it is a pleasure and yes I have also driven the merc and the audi SUVs . While certainly not in that class , it certainly does offer bang for the buck - without going bang in the middle of the road .
I have actually seen the Honda CRV fall APART on a road which my baby forded with ease .

Love it . If I have the money , I shall go for a land Rover - otherwise , its the scorp for me .