[Dodge_Viper]

There are specific set of vehicles which are termed immortals. They were present since Jurassic age probably and will stay till the end of Kalyug. These timeless beauties are a sight to behold when you see them on roads. For me these were the "JEEP" and "GYPSY". Love them both. Die hard fan of both. Getting a new Jeep was out of the question since Mahindra no longer manufactured these. Circa 2000 when we got our first vehicle a humble Santro, Gypsy was still available off the showroom brand new. But imagine mentioning at home to buy such a vehicle. A barrage of chappals would come crashing down on you. "You" want such a vehicle, grow up, start earning and buy with your own money. Fair point. Some day, said to myself.

Then came the biggest news of my life in 2010/2011 when Mahindra launched its "JEEP" again. THAR. But given my fresher salary I was not able to afford anything above 4.5 lakhs. Forget the thought of having one primary vehicle and one secondary weekend fun vehicle. Thar was 7 lakhs on road. Obviously my first showroom visit was Mahindra to check out the Thar but paying 7 lakhs for such a horrible barebones vehicle was definitely out of scope. Still sat in the vehicle and said, some day. Gypsy was the same case. Out of budget. The purchase of either of them was put on hold and for indefinite period. All along these years, drooling over Thar and Gypsy threads on TeamBHP, the itch was still there. But I was not in a position to keep a second vehicle. Going through the used car route was the only option. Close friends knew my love for Thar, but probably didn't know the equal love for Gypsy. BHPian sierrakamat had got a Gypsy in the meantime. Drove it and decided please let me be the first to know when you decide to sell it. Then started the countless number of hours spent on OLX hunting for Gypsy and Thars. Ads used to get exchanged between me and sierrakamat almost every week. But still the decision making thing was lacking. Sierrakamat one day gave up and said, you are not going to buy anything don't waste my time. Depressed I left the search. But destiny came knocking in the form of one army restored Gypsy. It was beautifully done. Went to see it, test drove it and decided to go ahead. Finalized on the price and came a bummer, no RC. There was no point in taking risk with such restored vehicles without documents. Left it there and went on the hunt again. At the same time, sierrakamat messaged about a known Gypsy on sale. The Doctor owner was going for higher studies and was planning to sell it. It was the same Gypsy which was with us during one of the OTR session I had attended with sierrakamat. So I knew it very well. I did not give a second thought and went to see it. Drove it, and as sierrakamat had already approved it, paid the token then and there. Special thanks to sierrakamat!

And thus a long 20+ years of dream came true .

After payment, I had handed over the transfer papers to agent and kept her at sierrakamat's place. Was waiting for an auspicious day to get her home.

Blessed:


About the vehicle:
This particular model is 1.3 MPFI Gypsy King hardtop civilian version. Registration of May 2000, almost 21 years old. RC is valid till December 2025. Engine was in top condition. It obviously needed basic touch up things to get it in perfect shape. The previous owner had done quite a useful set of mods as below:

1)AC
2)Carbon Fibre rear leaf springs
3)Monroe Gas shocks
4)Full redone wiring with extra relays and fuses
5)Original Hella 7" headlamps with 110/90 All weather lights
6)Anti corrosion under body treatment
7)Aux fan with custom radiator
8)Brand new MGP rims
9)And the biggest of them, brand new Yokohama Geolanders A/T

The only thing needed was a basic service, some tin work and AC service. The brand new tyres saved 40k of expenses then and there.

Post delivery, took her to the garage and got the below work done:
1)Full service, changed all oils and filters
2)Got the hardtop repainted as the fibre top paint had peeled off at some places
3)Rear door hinge had bent, so fixed that as well
4)Change the entire seat upholstery, new foam and new covers. changed the door trim as well to match seat fabric
5)Carpeting done with heatlon
6)Cleaned the radiator
7)Got a family lock set installed, one key for all
8)Silencer had a hole which caused a free flow type drone. Previous owner enjoyed it, however I didn't want it. Replace the end can
9)Got the Ac fixed as well

Painted Fibre Top:


Changed the entire seat foam and covers:


Rear side facing seats changed as well:


Full carpeting done with heatlon:


Got these 7" HID spot beam lights from sierrakamat:


Rise and Shine :




Total damage to wallet was about 40k including all.

Customary Ritual:


As all the work was done, took her for the first long drive to my native Satara during Diwali.

Its fun at petrol pumps where the attendant expects me to handover the key to open fuel lid but, "are usko direct kholo no key" (Open it directly, no key)



Was on a constant lookout for any overheating issues, but luckily did not face anything.

Little one loves it too!


A head turner for sure:


First trip to Kaas Plateau:












There are still few things pending to do cosmetically. Planning to either get an offroad bumper or get the existing one painted.

There is one irritating earthing issue which needs to be fixed. It causes flickering of indicators and the fuel and temperature gauge shoots up to the max. Yet to take her off-road, although I have not bought her strictly for off-road use. I will be using for touring as well.

Future mods planned:
Offroad bumper
Snorkel (Wont go water wading but for show purposes, lol)

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ramnaresh_2000]

Congratulations on the Gypsy. It looks stunning. Your wait for 20 years was worth it, your Gypsy is surely a head turner. To be honest I had never seen a Gypsy in blue color. It looks really different and interesting.

I was also a huge fan of Gypsy and Thar, however, couldn't purchase both due to family pressure. Wishing you happy miles.

[swiftvxi06]

Congratulations on your Gypsy. Wish you loads of happy miles. Can you share the full pic of the dashboard, the AC vents installed looks like from earlier Swift and is a very neat integration. Was it done by MASS.

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

And thus a long 20+ years of dream came true .

Hearty congratulations @Dodge_Viper! It is truly a special feeling to witness our most cherished dreams come to life .

Here's a mini version of your Gypsy that you can park on your car's dashboard or on your desk. It's available for sale on the link below. Do check it out .

https://www.karzanddolls.com/product...5RhObEmTjQrDw-

Cheers!

[Dodge_Viper]

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

Congratulations on the Gypsy. It looks stunning. Your wait for 20 years was worth it, your Gypsy is surely a head turner. To be honest I had never seen a Gypsy in blue color. It looks really different and interesting.

I was also a huge fan of Gypsy and Thar, however, couldn't purchase both due to family pressure. Wishing you happy miles.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by swiftvxi06

Congratulations on your Gypsy. Wish you loads of happy miles. Can you share the full pic of the dashboard, the AC vents installed looks like from earlier Swift and is a very neat integration. Was it done by MASS.

Thank you! I am honestly not sure if the AC vents are from Swift. The previous owner had fitted them and it was done locally only.

Originally Posted by Turbojc

Hearty congratulations @Dodge_Viper! It is truly a special feeling to witness our most cherished dreams come to life .

Here's a mini version of your Gypsy that you can park on your car's dashboard or on your desk. It's available for sale on the link below. Do check it out .

Thank you! And the thing which I was hunting since long just came knocking. I will be ordering it right away!

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

There are specific set of vehicles which are termed immortals. They were present since Jurassic age probably and will stay till the end of Kalyug. These timeless beauties are a sight to behold when you see them on roads. For me these were the "JEEP" and "GYPSY". Love them both

Congratulations Dodge_Viper. Gypsy is indeed an emotion. I could relate to each word you've written in the opening para. I too got hands on a Gypsy after a long wait and was truly a dream come true moment. It was worth the wait. I'm now enjoying it big time, clocked around 10k kms since I bought it an year ago. Exploration, off road events, fun drive, casual weekend or evening drives, You name it and it has seen it all. The improvements that can/has to be made in a Gypsy are endless. It's an exciting vehicle to own and always fun galore with Gypsy in every single drive. One far fetched dream still remains - take it for a winter expedition to the Himalayas. God willing, some day if my back holds up

Wish you many many miles of fun, joy and adventure. There's a Gypsy in everyone - it's old marketing tagline says.

my Gypsy buying story
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5156139 (Automotive coincidences in India | Share yours here)

[RGK]

Congratulations Dodge_viper.

Let me recollect my story in the 90's when I got a Maruti Gypsy like this. We started to drive very eagerly but there is no pick up at all and did not go even after heavy acceleration., then it was known that the handbrake was put on. Released and a gentle press on the pedal, the animal flew.

Actually I did not sleep that night .

[Zooster]

Congrats Dodge_viper she is a stunner.. That Blue looks Ravishing..

I have a similar experience to share sometime soon. I too am another guy who can relate to waited 10+ years to make my dream come true and what i ended up with was way beyond my expectations.
Wishing you many happy miles ahead..

[TaurusSHO]

Congratulations! Our family used to own a white 1998 4-door converted MG410W, it was one of the first brand new cars we had ever purchased.
Recently, a family friend of ours in Bangalore had bought this pre-owned red 1991 MG410 and this was also the first time I've driven one and have instantly fallen in love. Driving this makes you realise how easy modern cars have become to drive.

[NavtejS]

Congratulations on your childhood dream!! My mom used to drive a dark blue ex army 1994 MG410 gypsy. Had a third door for ingress. Dont think it had an AC.
Always wanted to have one in white.

[sunnyjimny]

Glad to see someone following and fulfilling their long cherished dream. I am a big gypsy lover myself, thanks to my dad, but unfortunately never got a chance to fulfil that desire but things are about to change. Waiting for the Jimny launch (I hope it happens this year)

Btw, how easy/difficult is it to find BF GOODRICH tyres in India?

[jbpanda]

Your Gypsy looks stunning in that blue colour. Like many, I have always been a silent admirer of this vehicle since my childhood days and like you dreamt of owning one someday. Unfortunately, could not fulfil my dream and it is one of the regrets I have of not being able to go with my heart (instead of listening to my head) when it was announced (few years back) that bookings for the Gypsy would no longer be available. Due to lack of practicality of owning a bare bone Gypsy by replacing one of the two cars in Delhi NCR climate, I could not go ahead with it. Was temporarily happy to hear the news when it was announced that Army has once again placed orders for the Gypsy and I was hoping that it may also be made available to civilians, but unfortunately it was not to be. In hindsight, I do regret it but try to live my dreams by reading and drooling over such lovely posts like this one.

[Dodge_Viper]

Had been told not to wash Gypsy daily. Since a road trip was coming up decided to get her foam washed. Told the washing guy, not to spray too much water but still the water went in .



Did first ever trip in Gypsy to Velneshwar in Ratnagiri. 500kms round trip. Not much complaints from wifey and kiddo . Earthing issue still persists even after packing the battery terminal. While returning temperature gauge maxed out again. Was bit worried if it was really overheating or the gauge was acting up due to earthing. But no overheating issues were observed, so most probably its the earthing. Planning to change the ground cable by replacing it with new OEM cable. Battery is still holding up.

Few pics:







Overall FE 10/11 KMPL.

[abhikb]

The color looks pretty on the Gypsy and so does this beauty in the natural surroundings.

Jeeps and Gypsys are a childhood dream for many but few are able to take the leap to own one in their lifetime.

Many congratulations on buying your dream machine, wish you many more miles with this blue beauty.