Mahindra Thar - A Biker's Car?

We drive the new Mahindra Thar, a cult classic revamped for the modern age. But is it still the Thar that almost every petrolhead worth their salt adores?

- Karan Singh Bansatta

SOMETIMES it happens that a certain object brings about a halt in your journey, the destination of which you are so eager to reach. An object with a presence so utterly magnetic that you are willing to share with it a chunk of your time, every bit of which you hold so dear. In our case, it has happened both literally and figuratively. Literally in the thousands of kilometres that we have travelled, and figuratively as in the journey of xBhp? Well... right now.

xBhp is all about motorcycles but supercars have always caught our fancy and we have never missed a chance to experience one. But only supercars. The one we have with us is not a supercar in terms of the astronomical power figures and even higher bank balance figures they need. It is a supercar in spirit and that is simply because of the grandeur that it possesses. And the grandeur starts right from the name- Thar!

Rarely has an indigenous vehicle carved a niche of its own and boasted of following which can be referred to as cult. Ruling the landscapes from treacherous terrains to urban jungles, it has left a mark on the market and the aftermarket as well. It has been a lifestyle icon for quite a while now and the modularity of the platform ensured that the buyers could project some of their own personality through the might of the Thar.

The Thar that we know and adore so much only came out in 2010 but it is much more deep-rooted than that. The spiritual predecessor of the Thar, the very first one, can be traced back to 1949. Mahindra’s first off-roader as they began producing the Willys CJ3A Jeep. And since then, Mahindra has never looked back as they became the premier SUV and off-roading car manufacturer in India with a presence globally pronounced.