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Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 Well said ! The Armada plastic fairings appeared to be all like after-thoughts on the bodyshell and on that old CJ 4A chassis. While new, these remained intact, but pity those old ones where the fairings either fell off in part or were shattered or had fissures and cracks or else even if intact had faded in colour from black to shades of grey or greyish white. And in its later years, by the late 1990's many Armadas were bought by our defence forces. Those in the Army were painted in the olive green shade. |
I remember that my old school used to have an Armada, and so did my college. Both these vehicles had the front bumper replaced from the MM540, and one was later stripped of the grille altogether and made into a Marshal lookalike for re-registration purposes. The plastics rattled like hell and the less remained the better, the driver 'Josettan' used to say.
Armada was surprisingly common among missionaries, churches, convents etc, especially for ones based in "high-range" areas etc, due to their ability to reach places only Jeeps could reach, in much better comfort than the old Willys Wagons or crude Jeep CJ4 Wagons that used to do the job. I used to admire the custom, plush "Koyas" seats some of these vehicles had. Here's a CJ4 Wagon in case you haven't seen one. ISRO and several other government departments used own a ton of these full metal bodied brutes.
Anyone remember Koyas seats? They deserve a post on their own. You used to see ads in papers that said that the Amby/Fiat on sale had Koyas seats. Koyas was a reputed upholstery firm in Coimbatore, well known for their custom, supremely comfy Bucket seats for Ambys' Fiats, and Jeeps.
The firm is still operating, and still making seats..
The Armada grille was fitted right above the old 540 7 slat grille. The headlamps came off the Omni, but the entire rear end was new. The tail lamps weren't off-the shelf, and the rear end finally got a proper bumper. The styling was also much more proportional compared to the Wagonette, and still looks good on the Bolero. In fact, the shortened bumpers on the new sub 4m Bolero don't look as good. If you get your hands on an old Armada, a Commander 750DP hard top, or a Marshal, it is possible to transplant a lot of the aggregates from a new Bolero and make it look brand spanking new.
Here are pics of an MM540 Wagonette an Armada and a Commander 750DP HT, just for comparison.
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The 2112 cc, 65 bhp, Peugeot XD90 engine, with the 4-speed Kia BA-10 gearbox used in the earlier Mahindras since the early 1980's (incl the 540 DP) was a very tough workhorse and a very welcome change for regular Mahindra users, from the rattling MD 2350, 38 bhp, International tractor engine, with its antique Willys, three speed gearbox (first gear was non-synchromesh), that propelled the first generation, diesel Mahindras.
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Whenever I used to visit my Dad's homestead in Thodupuzha, Idukki in the 80s thru the early 90s, the thing I looked forward to the most was the Jeep Taxi ride from the Bus Stop to home. The line of gleaming old Jeeps, most of them Ex-Military (some of the drivers as well) was a sight for sore eyes. You can still see Jeep Taxis in Wayanad and Malappuram, but they're usually monochromatic greys, while the Idukki Jeeps came in all bright hues, and polished, gleaming black, with bright aluminium painted wheels. Drivers loved them more than their own children, and every part was painted, silver painted or chromed.
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As a kid attending my uncles's wedding, the most exciting thing for me was the large number of Jeep taxis hired, and I remember that by the time we reached the wedding venue, all of us cousins were nearly deaf from the racket from the Intl' diesel.
Hard to believe that this tractor mill still lives on in the Mahindra ROXOR, and used to be in the Scorpio M2DICR and Thar M2DICR as late as 2020 till BSVI killed it. Ironically, it outlived both the 'modern' Peugeot mills that had replaced it, and even went back home to the US, where modders extracted upto 100 bhp out of it. Guess you can teach an old dog some new tricks.
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The engine noise was though quite high, in fact NVH levels were on the higher side, but the gem of an engine could cruise all day long at 70-80 kmph for days together, during long journeys.
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I remember that the Grand got rave reviews in Car & Bike International, and IAJ for its highway manners compared to the Armada. The Grand's XD3P+BA10 added a whole new dimension to the Armada by giving it borderline cruising ability.
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The dash plastics and interior door upholstery looked very cheap though.
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Koyas to the rescue!!!
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Instrumentation on the meter console was spartan. Due to the BS II norms getting into plce, M&M had to abandon the engine. But I believe they developed the 2.6 L Scorpio (1st generation) engine with the help of AVL Austria from the XD3P engine, readying for the Scorpio's 2003 launch.
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I read somewhere here that the 2.6 Turbo in the Scorpio was a derivative of the XD3P, converted to DI and turbocharged for better low end and mileage. I remember that it ran rings around Tata's 483DL in performance, but coudn't match its refinement.
Due credit to
Team Roxor forum for these gorgeous schematics.