My quest started with finding a convertible car that’s functional, good looking, performant - at the same time doesn’t hurt the pocket too much. Unfortunate that this market is not at all developed in India. The indigenously developed models like “San Storm: seems to have been discontinued - manufacturers seem to be in a state of confusion, whether to target high end consumer - i.e. low volume, high margin discretionary/luxury market like in developed countries or go for high volume/low margin cost conscious Indian consumers. Unfortunately their choice seem to have been to do the safe thing by going with something that is practical - what the common man could afford. This unfortunately means the models introduced were completely missing the point and hence became instant failures - rather than trying to truly innovate in this segment - try to bring affordable yet sporty looking convertible, they seem to have blamed the demand and went into a shell.
The only viable alternative I see today is to buy a foreign model convertible car at a premium price (be it Mini Cooper, Mustang, Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Jaguar, Maserati, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Bugatti). These are way out of my budget. Besides, call me a patriot, but from a principle stand point, I’m against buying things that are not at least made for Indian consumer from the ground up - even if I were to find something affordable price wise. DC Avanti seems to be doing interesting things in this space but they seem to be playing to their strength and going for the premium market - their existing customer base that wants to have "what no one already have", at whatever the cost may be - premium custom mods and unique design and what not. They seem to be pricing it out of common man's reasonable discretionary budget…
I then started looking at Jeep as another alternative, rekindling my childhood fantasies about owning one. While this is a reasonable option, the open jeeps (the Mahindras/MM-540/550 and the Willys) are notoriously unfriendly as a daily driver - city pollution makes open jeeps not practical, soft tops are not effective for A/C. Hard top, PS, PW, Stereo etc., are all possible but comes as extra and aftermarket fittings with various maintenance woes. They certainly are wonderful for off-roading or other such rough terrain applications - in a way, these days city roads are becoming like that, lol. This is subjective opinion, of course. I see plenty of folks using old Jeeps inside city - even for family needs.
The new Mahindra Thar 2015 seems to be addressing most of these concerns - it is more of a city friendly drive that can also satisfy offloading curiosity. Thar still fails as my ideal drive - fitting passengers in the rear seat is extremely uncomfortable - my requirement is to comfortably fit two adults in the front seats and 2 kids / occasional adults in the rear - and able to have a comfortable ride for medium long drives, say few hours.
Ideally, I would like Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited type setup. I hear Jeep is entering Indian market. Perhaps, they would introduce this very model but not sure whether price wise it will be reasonable - may be it will be.
In the mean time, from existing indian models - Mahindra jeep Armanda seems to come close but the ones that are available in the secondary market are very old and beaten up. Perhaps there are good ones out there but they often lack creature comfort like power steering, power window, A/C etc. These models have been replaced by the undisputed category leader - Bolero. Armada to Wrangler type mods have been done before. I want to try something that’s not been attempted commonly - why not?
So wrangler Unlimited concept inspired Bolero mod is my current passion. This would require significant amount of modification. I’ve extensively combed through the internet (including team-bhp, of course!) and researched all the mod photos I could find. None has done a true wrangler mod starting from Bolero. Most of these are armada/commander mod. Not putting down some of the excellent mods out there but saying that I’ve not come across any particular project that modified the non tapering broad front bonnet of the bolero to look like Wrangler Jeep. there have been attempts to make it look like Hummer H1/H2, Mercedes jeep etc. I also want to come up with convertible inspired elements in my design.
This will be my passion for the next set of months! To this end, I’ve bought a 2005 Bolero - sketched/scoped out the project - narrowed down the body shop in Bangalore, and got the project off the ground. More to follow - watch this space
I’ve always been amazed by the depth and passion of TeamBHP community. Wherever I see a team-bhp sticker on a car, I’ve longed for a time when I can be part of this community in a meaningful way. Would love for a chance to consult and contribute back to this awesome community - as I go through this quest and beyond!