[vinay kamath]

Rajiv's cars at different times:

[SnakemanJohny]

Originally Posted by FourWheelDrift

While he may have had the RR Vogue and the MB, as sadeepmdas and the article suggest; neither are the vehicle in my memory.

I'm inclined to agree with 1100D. It was probably a TLC FJ40.

Found this link. One of the images lower down has a partial view of the vehicle with him and Sonia.

Source : WELCOME TO REMEMBERING RAJIV GANDHI.COM

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

P.S. A lot of Indian sites (including t-bhp) refer to RG driving around in a Jonga. The FJ40 resembles the Jonga superficially and I think most people mistook RG's for one.

Well, Rajiv Gandhi may have had Range Rovers and TLCs, but the vehicle you remember, and the one most used by him, was an American JEEP RHD & SWB, bulletproofed and tailormade for him. Had your pic been a little bigger, including the grill area, it would have been clear.

Most people in India had poor knowledge of cars made abroad at that time, and since the vehicle in question was dimensionally similar to the Jonga (a common army vehicle at that time), erred in calling it thus.

This Jeep would be airlifted to places RG would visit. Though he loved to drive it himself, he often complained that armour-plating had made it heavier and slower.

The confusion with the Jonga was so widespread, that I had to change the colour of my Jonga, which coincidentally, was a metallic maroon, to stop the unwanted attention it was getting. Alas, RG was assassinated soon after !

[COUGAR]

Rajeev had a MM440 and a Force Matador.

However, Simi Garewal makes repeated references to Rajeev's JONGA jeep in the biography she made on his life. it was apparently restored by him personally.

Maneka Gandhi also refers to the Jonga in her book.

[FourWheelDrift]

Thanks SnakemanJohny.

In retrospect, putting together what Tutu-ji and you said, and also matching up my pic with the one on the left hand side in Renegade's post, it probably was a RHD Jeep and not a TLC.

It's sad to see the dilapidated condition of the vehicle in my original post, in Renegade's post. Clearly the 2 images are of the same vehicle.

Unless an enthusiast got hold of it, it looks like this Jeep has been scrapped.

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

[SnakemanJohny]

I know, 'Cougar'-saab, everyone used to refer to it as a Jonga, and I used to watch it on DD News and wonder why. It was clearly a Jeep, as you see in 'FourWheelDrift's photo where RG is with Sonia Gee : a) Jonga's bonnet starts from the base of the windscreen, so b) there is no fresh-air intake grill, ventilators being under the windscreen, and c) Jonga's wipers are at the top -- though this could be modified easily, as could the hard-top with stepney carrier on top.

Indeed, 'renegade's first photo seems identical to RG's Jeep, but a) by the rust on the bottom of the left door, it does not look thick enough to be bullet-proof, and b)the tires look small (15" wheels or less), and c)definitely MM540 while RG's was definitely American. This looks like some fan's copy, more so because the original would not be in such a condition -- some collector would have preserved it, or SG would have seen to it as it was RG's constant companion towards the last few years.

Though I am not able to dig up or provide proof, I had read a whole article about this Jeep when it was most visible towards the late nineteen eighties, emphasising that it was not a Jonga, with all details.

[SnakemanJohny]

Strange how that once very famous vehicle has almost disappeared from history ! Though references can be found in news items of those times, there are no images available !

An India Today link :
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/r.../1/329868.html

Another :http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/r.../1/348409.html mentions that "As Rajiv began his Amethi tour in his custom built, chocolate-coloured, bullet-proof Jeep..."

[vinay kamath]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6GGQs1lgM4

watch Rajiv Gandhi drive his Range Rover DDB 319 to Parliament himself from 36:36 to 37:17 in this video ! the maroon one will also be found in archives soon!

for a moment at 18:43, he gets off a Cadillac Limo at the White House too

[ajmat]

I understand that the Range Rover and a w126 Merc 500SEL were gifted from the Late King Hussein of Jordan

[vinay kamath]

VIDEO OF RAJIV'S FAMOUS MAROON JEEP REGISTERED "DHE 9596" !!

view the same from 39:40 to 40:10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6GGQs1lgM4

[SnakemanJohny]

At last, somebody has dug out 'the ghost' ! Thank you very much, 'vinay kamath', it is also visible from 21:30 to 21:50

[TSIboy]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post. Came across this one on Instagram, it’s going to be restored according to the current owner. I see a lot of people saying this Land Rover was once owned by Rajiv Gandhi. Does anyone know if it’s true/add in more information.






Very nice reg. number but that distasteful RR badge just triggers me!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by TSIboy

Not sure if this is the right thread to post. Came across this one on Instagram, it’s going to be restored according to the current owner. I see a lot of people saying this Land Rover was once owned by Rajiv Gandhi. Does anyone know if it’s true/add in more information.

Very nice reg. number but that distasteful RR badge just triggers me!

He was gifted a Range Rover and a Mercedes W126 from King Hussein of Jordan. As per protocol, these cars should have been allocated to the respective govt dept as per protocol.