 If your life is stuck in a rut, here’s something that will help you get out of it — literally and figuratively. In front of me is a narrow jungle trail, strewn with rocks and gravel. It is the kind of surface you wouldn't take your soft-roader on, let alone your humble sedan. But here I am, not-so-gingerly powering the new Mahindra Thar on the trail, mixing equal doses of throttle and steering input with a hum on my lips. And I have not even engaged the four-wheel drive! This is the vehicle that you need to get the outdoors closer to you, to go beyond your boring everyday existence.
If it looks familiar, well, it is. What you see is the MM540’s classic lines — the tapering bonnet, the rounded fenders and the drop-down windshield (which is there for effect, but doesn’t move an inch). But it’s a good thing because there aren’t too many people around who would think that the 540 wasn’t a looker even today.
Dig deeper and you will realise that the Thar isn’t just a re-badged MM540; far from it. The now-strengthened chassis has been borrowed from the old Bolero VLX that has been tweaked to take on the MM540 body, which is now built out of military gauge sheet metal. And to hold the powertrain in its place.
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