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How I bought a Mahindra Classic in Goa & drove it to Delhi

29th September 2024, 13:09 by Ananth Iyer

As of now the Car is getting a cosmetic makeover at Mayapuri, Delhi. The colour scheme is going to be changed to Original Classic Green.

BHPian ak_DL9C recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi Chief, so I did get my Classic, it's a 1997 original (running the original XDP Peugot engine- in fact the sticker is still intact on the engine block with some visible signs of ageing). It had some 36,000 kms when I bought it and have put an additional 2000 odd km while driving it back from Goa-Belagavi-Indore-Delhi.

It is everything I thought it would be and more. There were some signs of rusting eating away at the body thankfully manageable rust and mostly around the tool box (If I remember GTO had pointed out that's the rust bucket area and rightly so).

However, despite being at a shore town (Goa) for some 27-odd years it has held remarkably well. The mechanic I traced down to make it road-worthy seems to have been servicing it all his life and gave me all the details about its history and ownership and also told me that this had a soft top with it, which the British gentleman who owned it had installed so ask the owner for it. And on his tip when I asked the current owner, he was taken aback by shock and meekly provided me the same.

The History of this 1997 Mahindra Classic CL340DP :-

Though on RC it shows two owners. But as I have been informed it was registered in the name of one local fellow in Goa, and had been used by two British men over its life. The last owner died in 2021 due to a cardiac arrest and then it came to another goan local who due to his age drove it very less and as he is coming of age he is slowly parting away his belongings (He had an MM540 and another classic that was in the midst of a retro conversion)
Mr. Pradeep in Goa has been servicing it through all the owners this car has had except for the last local fellow and he thought it was lost in time forever. However when I showed him the pictures his eyes sparkled up and started with all the stories about the car and what all he had done, etc.

Changes made to the Classic :-

It seems the car did originally have the Spoke rims however they were dumped for some reason some 10 odd years ago (possibly due to damage/ preference of the owner). However sadly the spoke rims are no more available on this car. It has also had its mag wheels changed
All of the instrument cluster is original, however it seems the 4 low light with the turtle sign broke off a few years ago and since there was no availability of a replacement another high temperature indicator was put in its place. So it appears the car has two high temperature warning lights.
Over the years its seems the windshield spray bottle and pump mechanism has been removed.

Other than this the car is bone stock original ( HUGE SHOUTOUT TO @GTO @BEHRAM.DHABAR @TRAMMWAY, your detailed posts on the forum helped me really sift through the mud and find a true classic. I seriously cannot thank you enough) And so true of Mr Dhabar isn't it? Guiding youngsters like me even today.

The costs

The diesel needle shakes so much - there is no accurate way of identifying true mileage and since the rubber seal of the original fuel cap had given way I had to resort to filling the tank less than full to avoid spillage. But rough estimate of diesel costs would be around 8.5 to 9k of diesel to bring it back to delhi.
Servicing costs came upto 21K, which though was mostly fluid changes, brake linings replaced, brake discs added, etc.
Now that I have brought it back, the estimate of rust removal, welding fixes and fresh painting comes somewhere in the vicinity of 50k. Plus spares if any
The gentleman who had posted the ad had demanded 4.5L and stated slightly negotiable. But perhaps he got a whiff of the excitement in me and Mr. Pradeep he wouldn’t budge from 4.4L.

And that’s what was the cost to acquire.

Queries from the Forum:

I think my brake booster cylinder is missing (Need advice on this - Upgrade/Stock)
Though the spoke rims seems like the most impossible thing to find, I have been advised by some that their ride quality isn’t the best and I shouldn’t waste my time and money behind it.
SPARES SPARES SPARES - where can I source them? I would love to get the original 4low indicator light or the spoke rims? Any leads and approximate costs? Since the current denter while removing the side indicators happened to damage them, I was lucky enough to source a pair from Kashmere Gate. So I think I’d be good if I can source and keep my spares ready just in case I lose out more in the future.
The bullbar - for some reason though the quality is at par with the original I have my suspicions that it isn’t the stock. The stock bullbar had a very nice smooth finish on the bends, while mine seems to have welds that can be easily noticed as not a very great job. Should i replace them or let it be ?

Here are a few pictures. The sad part is that the soft top cover has shrunk due to years of non usage, hoping it'll expand a bit out by heat. If not then would have to find a suitable alternative. Though I really hope I can repurpose the old soft top, it is of amazing quality.

Update - As of now the Car is getting a cosmetic makeover at Mayapuri, delhi. The colour scheme is going to be changed to Original Classic Green (I just love that colour, and since this is essentially a strip down of the previous paint, feels like too good an opportunity to miss out), the interior seats will require some upholstering as the the corners and years of use has developed cracks in the material. And excuse my language, but holy cow, the seats of the classic are really cushy and comfortable ??

Also sorry to have missed this out in the earlier post but I think the Classic is a decent highway runner as well ? Agreeably once I hit speeds of 100 the temperature needle started climbing, but that was only when I was maintaining that speed. I have read issues about overheating, so is this normal ? However on observing speeds of around 90kmph for a period of 25 hours with stretches where I pulled up to 100 the temperature gauge remained sharp at 80, or rather a bit below 80. So is this the overheating issue that was discussed on the forum? or this car one of the few odd ones that are actually better ?