Mahindra Roxor. How come I haven't heard of this before today?
 

Well this ad popped up on my Facebook and I thought it was a gimmick at first. Mahrinda has been assembling these basically old Willys Jeeps in the US for US sale as a side by side UTV for most of the year. I need to go down and check them out as there are 3 for sale at our local dealer. Anyway, what peaked my attention was the 2.5 turbo diesel and 5 speed manual. Even in this Jeep 4x4 form, Mahindra is saying 32-34 MPG (that's obviously not an EPA test cycle). So for $15,000 what a great base for an ecomod kit car or swap into something like a dead Prius body. I would be you could recover $5000 or more selling off the body, front axle, transfer case, roll cage, etc. or these should start showing up rolled and wrecked for even less than $10,000.

I actually like it for what it is, a heavy duty, efficient side by side with beautiful looks. For my state it would be easy to get it licensed and registered for on-road use everywhere but the interstates, and even the interstates would be possible "rebuilding" an old junkyard jeep using this with basically a VIN swap.

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My nephew worked at the plant* for the summer. Got the grand tour a few weeks ago. It's getting awesome reviews. It's about as basic as you can get, and as such, is quite unique in the market. I'll have to ask him where the MPG number came from.

* "plant" - warehouse by normal automotive standards, but parts do come in one end of the building, and Roxors drive out the other.

62hp, top speed limited to 45mph, not street legal. But still interesting! I wonder how long it will be until Fiat/Chrysler sues them.

Like Hersbird said, they can be somewhat street legal in some places. I know Utah and Idaho allow UTVs to be driven on some roads if certain requirements are met.

My UTV experience is limited, maybe 100-150 miles of driving or riding in a Kawasaki Teryx4 750cc, but I wasn't very impressed. If you have a desert track you can bomb around, that would be fun, but doing so on 2-way trails with blind corners would be irresponsible (yet it's still done...). I think the Roxor would be much better suited to the mountain trails in my area. I wonder if there are any plans to add 2 more seats to the cargo area.

The motor is the same as used in many tractors with a 105hp rating. There are already 2 companies in the US selling a flash that boosts them to that hp rating and removes the speed limiter making them 65-70mph capable.

Ironically Mahindra got its start building knockdowns shipped over from the US and now the US is assembling the knockdowns shipped over from India.

Actually it would be cool if you could just buy the unassembled crate for a few thousand less.

I do like them. Used old YJ Jeep is going to be cheaper, though, and street legal. Square headlights means cheap Jeep. Same leaf-spring suspension, though.

Mahindra has a really old license for building Jeeps, obtained from Willys-Overland. Been building them continuously since. Current version in India marketed as the Thar.

Florida will probably title it for road use.

Cheaper but used and it won't get 32 mpg. Completely rebuilding a YJ including a new diesel conversion will cost much more than $15000. I actually looked at my local craigslist and the least expensive jeep, willy's, CG, YJ, TJ, etc. was $1750 and it didn't run. If anything, you buy that $1750 Jeep AND the $15000 Roxor and rebuild the Jeep with the Roxor. Heck the Roxor is sitting on a $1400 wheel and tire package.
I also went and looked at what a Thar, the Indian version, sells for in India and they are even gouging at $15000. The Indian version is a new design and has quite a few upgrades for under $13,000. The Roxor is the old version that sold for more like $10,000 with doors and a windshield in India.
For $20,000 (what a loaded up Roxor goes for) there is a Daybreak Thar with 37" tires, hard to, and more.
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