Tom Geiger Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Interesting. And you knew it was bound to happen. Indian car manufacturer Mahindra has been building Jeeps for the homeland since the 1940s. They have set up shop here in the US and are producing a small Jeep for sale here. I saw a commercial for one this evening and couldn't believe what I was seeing. So I looked on the Internet and found that it's true... Prices start in the $15000 range... https://jalopnik.com/the-mahindra-roxor-is-a-tiny-offroad-jeep-to-conquer-am-1823460351 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 What is the percentage of JEEP DNA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Quite a bit really. Mahindra is an authorized Licensee of the Jeep Name. As Tom mentions, since the late 1940's. They have never let it lapse, and have been building them ever since. These new ones are NOT street legal. Off Road only. I still want one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 https://www.mahindraautomotivena.com/roxor From this text, it looks like they will have more than off-road stuff, soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Took them long enough- they've been planning this for almost a decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: What is the percentage of JEEP DNA? There's a lot of CJ suspension and drivetrain parts that seem to swap right onto them. The engine is a Mahindra diesel and it has a 5 speed manual but most of everything else is based on blueprints for the Willys and Kaiser eras/Pre-AMC CJ's. If I had a farm, ranch, or just a bunch of land and would need a small, side-by-side type vehicle, I would buy one. There seems to be quite a bit of interest in these from other Jeep owners that don't have their heads in dark and stinky places as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Joe Handley said: There's a lot of CJ suspension and drivetrain parts that seem to swap right onto them. The engine is a Mahindra diesel and it has a 5 speed manual but most of everything else is based on blueprints for the Willys and Kaiser eras/Pre-AMC CJ's. If I had a farm, ranch, or just a bunch of land and would need a small, side-by-side type vehicle, I would buy one. There seems to be quite a bit of interest in these from other Jeep owners that don't have their heads in dark and stinky places as well! I'd definitely buy one if that's the case. Arizona allows ATVs on the roads (if they have the proper equipment...lights, etc.), so I'd tend to think one could use one of these for actual transportation even if it's not EPA/DOT compliant. Hmmmmm.... Apparently there's lots more Jeep DNA in the Indian Jeep than there is Indian DNA in...oh, never mind. Edited October 20, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 50 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said: I'd definitely buy one if that's the case. Arizona allows ATVs on the roads (if they have the proper equipment...lights, etc.), so I'd tend to think one could use one of these for actual transportation even if it's not EPA/DOT compliant. Hmmmmm.... Apparently there's lots more Jeep DNA in the Indian Jeep than there is Indian DNA in...oh, never mind. Trust me, I've looked at that already, fellow XJ owner David Tracey at Jalopnik has looked heavily into these and their own US division staff in Michigan have experimented with putting vintage Dana bolt on parts on in place of their Mahindra made counterparts and the Dana parts bolted right on. IIRC, the D44 R&P that allow for shorter gearing (I think 4:56-1) is a direct swap for the factory Mahindra R&P. There have been some people I've read that feel that if you need/want something like this, just buy a real, early CJ and use that. Fortunetly, I'm among the larger number of Jeep owners that are of the opinion that with one of these little Mahindra Roxors, you're taking a brand new little rig out and abusing it, not a survivor or restored CJ, especially if that resto money came out of your pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 I think it was Motor Trend or Auto Week magazine had an article on this very car in the last month. In the article the author drove one in a river crossing and back and was very impressed with its performance especially since it is a 2 wheel drive only. Other than its general appearance it shares nothing with the Wrangler as the author points out. The rig has been a very big seller in India, but with a limited top speed I think the idea for the US is to offer something along the lines of the popular side by sides that people use off road now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 I find it interesting. We will be seeing more vehicles from different countries. China has been anxious to sell vehicles here. In fact we have had Chinese engines in Chevys already, and I did see Chinese made small utility vehicles that weren't street legal for sale here. We forget that the VW Foxes came from Brazil and a bunch of US labeled cars were produced in Mexico. We were so focused on watching out for cars from China, nobody seemed to notice when Ford sent us Transit Connect vans from Turkey. The current version is made in Spain. And I believe VW manufactures cars in Eastern Europe.. I think Poland. Yes, it's an international game now. Won't be long before we see these... and of course Chrysler is not happy: https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/fiat-chrysler-seeks-block-mahindra-jeep-look-alike-us To Mahindra's credit, they are shipping knocked down kits to the USA and doing final assembly in Detroit. They have invested $600 million into their facility and will employ 670 workers. Detroit needs that about now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 The Buick Envision is imported from China currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 57 minutes ago, espo said: I think it was Motor Trend or Auto Week magazine had an article on this very car in the last month. In the article the author drove one in a river crossing and back and was very impressed with its performance especially since it is a 2 wheel drive only. Other than its general appearance it shares nothing with the Wrangler as the author points out. The rig has been a very big seller in India, but with a limited top speed I think the idea for the US is to offer something along the lines of the popular side by sides that people use off road now. The Roxor is only availabe with 4wd, but it is a mechanically shifted, part time set up that you can out into 2wd, but also has 4low for when you really need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarfan Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 I would love to have one. Mahindra has been licensed to build them since 1946 so it is basically a WWII jeep that has had 70 years of updates. It has the utility of a CJ-3 but with a modern diesel and enough electronics that it will start and run every day regardless of the weather. They are being sold as a competitor to all the side by side ATVs rather than new Jeeps. They aren't street legal, but in some states it is likely you could license one if you wanted to. My in-laws have been looking at RZR and Polaris ATVs for their farm and I'm trying to talk them into a Mahindra instead because it is a lot better for what they need. Jalopnik has done a few articles on them. https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-the-mahindra-roxor-compares-to-a-1948-willys-1826771078 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 5 hours ago, Joe Handley said: The Roxor is only availabe with 4wd, but it is a mechanically shifted, part time set up that you can out into 2wd, but also has 4low for when you really need it. I was only sharing what the writer put forward in his article. That is really all the more I know about this vehicle. The writer mentioned the fact that the vehicle his was driving was rear wheel drive only and that's all I know on that subject. The Roxor you mention as being a 4 wheel drive makes sense to me but I really don't know . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 I saw one at the local Jeep fair (Fenajeep, a independent event happens once a year in the city of Brusque, and is basically a celebration of the Willys/Ford Jeep, and also a bit of other 4X4 vehicles). I think Mahindra is doing some research on the possibility of selling their car here. It is a lot more Jeep than what Chrysler manufactures today, if you ask me. I didn't like the diesel engine, as I'm not a fan of this engine type. Even tough, it's a very cool little car. The orphans of the real Jeep got all exited. Last CJ Jeep rolled out of the Ford plant in the late '70s. Guys already found out the Ford gasoline engine (2300cc cross flow, cam in head, carburated four cylinder) used on the last Jeeps, and it's transmission are a direct bolt on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedd60 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) And it's a diesel ... maybe multi-fuel diesel. I like diesels. I cannot understand why we cannot build or sell vehicles like this or the Elio in the US. Small cheap simple cars, easy to repair and maintain. We haven't had anything like that since VW stopped building aircooled cars. Edited October 20, 2018 by tedd60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 2 hours ago, espo said: I was only sharing what the writer put forward in his article. That is really all the more I know about this vehicle. The writer mentioned the fact that the vehicle his was driving was rear wheel drive only and that's all I know on that subject. The Roxor you mention as being a 4 wheel drive makes sense to me but I really don't know . He could have been running it in 2wd, it's seems like it's Jeep enough to go more places in 2wd than many vehicles will in 4wd 2 hours ago, tedd60 said: And it's a diesel ... maybe multi-fuel diesel. I like diesels. I cannot understand why we cannot build or sell vehicles like this or the Elio in the US. Small cheap simple cars, easy to repair and maintain. We haven't had anything like that since VW stopped building aircooled cars. It's the safety and emissions regulations, then insurance. Even if DC allowed stuff like this to be used in a limited way on the roads, the insurance industry and safety advocates would lose their minds over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTallDad Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 21 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: What is the percentage of JEEP DNA? 1/1024 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Probity more suited for off road than the Yuppie pub crawlers "Jeep" makes today. Far more interesting to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) On 10/20/2018 at 6:46 PM, BigTallDad said: 1/1024 I think it's higher than that in this case. Those "Cherokee" cheekbones don't lie, ya' know? Edited October 22, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 56 minutes ago, Craig Irwin said: Probity more suited for off road than the Yuppie pub crawlers "Jeep" makes today. Far more interesting to me. I'd take a Roxor over a Wrangler, only new Jeep I have much interest in owning is the Trailhawk version of the KL Cherokee. The JK and JL Wranglers and Grand Cherokee are just too big and unfortunately the Renegade and Compass are too small for me to be comfortable and really could use a small, Roots type blower on the 2.4l for the Trailhawk versions of those to give them a bit more low end grunt.....the 3.2l available for the KL should have plenty to do the work boostless, although the 3.6l would be my preference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) Even it were street legal, the Roxtor is way too basic for me in 2018. I'm happy w/ my Grand Cherokee w/ the 3.6, but I do like the new Wrangler a lot also. Edited October 21, 2018 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 If it was street legal I can see a Roxtor being a fun little vehicle to own just for play. I've held onto my 1991 Geo Tracker because nobody has ever produced anything like it. For instance if Kia did a 2 door convertible Soul or Nissan did the same with the Juke, I'd be all over one as a daily driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Zipper Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I would be interested in a vehicle like this , based on the growing reputation Mahindra has building tractors and other equipment . One of the things that caught my eye right away and reminded me of what my dad told me about Jeeps- the Jeeps that Ford build during WWII had 9 slot grills-Willys had 7 slots and this buggy is sporting a 5 slot grill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bartrop Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 So, more Jeep DNA than any current Chrysler product? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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