The Hindustan Trekker: Ex-owner shares anecdotes from its glory days

I don't really what magic was there on the suspension, but the ride was really really plush even at max load and bad roads.

BHPian Matrix_Maya recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi.

Sorry for bumping up this ancient thread. I could not resist myself. Mea Culpa !

I went through this thread and observed that many participants are not really familiar with the glory of the Trekker.

My family used to own a fleet of Trekkers and later M&M Commanders in the early 90's. These vehicles used to run on the non existent roads of Bihar ferrying people!
I would like say Trekkers were most preferred vehicle of owners as well the passengers.

Let me expand:

Space: Endless space. 4 In the front+ driver, 5 in the middle row and 3*2: 6 in the back seats. 16  passengers could sit comfortably in this miracle of vehicle. Occasionally, a few worthy creatures used to hang around the back door and middle seats and roof taking the number to 20+.

Its nearest rival, the Mahindra Commander used to max out at around 12.

Comfort: I don't really what magic was there on the suspension, but the ride was really really plush even at max load and bad roads. In fact, higher the load, better the ride. Forget Commanders, even the likes of the Bolero, Scorpio and Tata Sumo were far behind in ride quality. No roll and bump at all. On good stretches my driver used to cruise at 60-70 kph without any worry. You can drink tea ( A popular way to find out ride quality in those good old days !) without spilling in a moving Trekker. The same was unthinkable in Commanders.

3. Maintenance: It was HM after all. Parts shared with Amby and easily available. Any road side Mechanic could trouble shoot it.

4. FE: A decent FE for such a bulk ! Again slightly better than the Commander.

Now the sad parts:

• Build Quality: Build quality was decent but Commanders were much more sturdier and abuse friendly. So once Commanders arrived on scene they took over the market.
• Fragile Suspension: Ride was comfortable but suspension were prone to breakdown. I won't blame HM for this but rather the greed of owners and road condition. Anyway, the frequent breakdowns were one of the reasons owners migrated towards Commanders in later years.
• Decline of HM: Nothing much to say here.

All in one It was an excellent vehicle with a lot of fond personal memories. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of that era as of now. I will try to arrange them some day !!

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