"YOSSARIAN" - My Maruti Gypsy King MG413W MPFI played a big role in all my overlanding adventures on 4-wheels, taking me across the length & breadth of India in the 15 years between 2005 & 2020. How did it all begin?
I have always had a fascination for Wildlife and the Indian jungle ever since my Parents took me on a Trip to a Tiger Sanctuary when I was all of 6 years old! It was the beginning of love affair that continues to this day! By the time I was 13, i had already devoured all of Jim Corbett's books on Maneating Tigers and Indian jungles and had graduated to reading Kenneth Anderson! When I was in college, I was part of a Trekking Group which got invited to participate in a Tiger Census exercise conducted by the State Forest Department. This was a good way to access the Jungles we loved and we became enthusiastic participants for one month every year! During the rest of the year, I started focussing on Jungles in the Western Ghats for my Weekend Camping trips. It was in this 1998-2005 phase, that i first started seriously looking to acquire a Maruti Gypsy - an impractical daily driver, but the most logical choice for "Jungle Ghooming"!
I was no stranger to the Maruti Gypsy! As a school-going army kid, my daily commute to & from primary school was a luxuriously done up Hard Top Army Gypsy (SJ410). 10 years later, as a volunteer on various Wildlife Census projects, I saw the Gypsy at work in its natural environment which it was built for and grew to appreciate its rugged construction and silent operation of its Petrol engine as compared to the noisy clatter of diesels that chased away all the wildlife! The common belief in India at the time was that the Gypsy is not produced/available for civilians and you can only buy one second hand - Not true BTW! But that is what I believed too! I must have checked out 2 dozen Gypsies advertised for sale on various newspapers - one time even going as far as Dhule to check out a prospective purchase. But all the Gypsies I found were old SJ410s with the 1000cc engine and the few SJ413s I did find were all in bad shape!
Few people know, that I first bought a second-hand MG413 Gypsy King (carb) for a brief while. This one was owned by an Infosys employee who bought one brand new in 2002 and did it up as his daily city driver - Thick 235 tires, 12 speakers(!!), 2x Giant Subwoofers and 2x amplifiers - it was a Mall-basher not a Jungle Queen! He had moved to UK on work and the Gypsy hadnt moved for 2 years! His dad was glad to sell it off and I got a 2 year old Gypsy King for just 1.35 Lakhs! However it was a complete disappointment. With those tires, it wasnt meant for offroading. I broke the alloy wheels on my first jungle trip to Phansad WLS just 2 weeks later! Its suspension was tuned for the Highway but Worse, it had an after market "Toyo" power steering installed that had a life of its own and made it dangerously unstable! And the electrical system was a complete mess! "Dhanno" (Thats what the owner named it) was NOT my ride! So i was actually relieved when the original owner called from Edinburgh 2 months later, pleading that I sell it back to him! I got my money back,and then began searching afresh! But He also told me how he had purchased the Gypsy brand new in 2002. I would do just that! But a visit to 3 different Maruti Suzuki showrooms got me the same answer - Gypsy is not in production and is only made on special order for the Army.
In June 2004, I went on what was to be the first of many "Himalayan Odyssey" to Ladakh - Me and a buddy "RK" on 2 Royal Enfield AVL350 motorbikes. On Day 4 of that particular trip, we were refuelling at a petrol pump in a place called Tandi - the Last petrol pump for 375 miles. We had filled our Bike tanks but also 2 jerry cans with fuel. A fancily done up Maruti Gypsy MG413 King pulled up while we were refuelling and we both admired how it was built up. It was done up in Rally Style with a Roll Cage, Rally cabin, free flow exhausts and so on. 2 guys stepped out and lit smokes - at the Petrol Station!! They looked over in our direction and noticed our 2 Royal Enfield motorcycles heavily loaded with Camping Gear. The more attractive guy of the 2, with the big biceps & nice arse walks over, gives our bikes a thorough admiring look, takes a drag from his cigarette and pointing at the registration plate asks RK, "MH-12 number! Pune? Rodshakers?" he asks referring to the RE club of Pune.
RK doesn't respond and somewhat annoyed at the question, points at me as if to say "Not me! Talk to this Queen!" :)
He then turns to me. "So You know S****n Chavhan?" referring to a leading member of the aforementioned club. I nod in affirmation.
He then asks "Yeah? You know him? Do you like him?!"
Hearing this both RK and Me let out an involuntary chuckle that soon changed to a loud guffaw! Imagine meeting a complete stranger on the road in the middle of the Himalayas and He asks you inappropriate questions about someone from your club! 😂 That was how I met Puneet (not his real name). Puneet worked for Maruti in a similar capacity as the man he had just dissed did for RE! A week later, we ran into Puneet again in Leh City and got together for a drink! In between bouts of shameless flirting, Puneet told me that the Gypsy WAS certainly available for purchase brand new. The rumor about it not being in production was driven by people anxious to sell their Gypsies which they had bought as impulse purchases. He gave me his number and asked me to put him in touch with the Dealer guy in my city when I returned. I did just that!
I went to the dealer and got the usual "Gypsy not in Production saar" line. I called Puneet then & there, and gave the Phone to the sales person. A very sobering phone conversation later, the sales guy admitted he was wrong! The Soft Top Gypsy was ₹425,000, Hard Top for ₹445,000. Delivery would take 4-8 months depending on Color adding that White color could become available within one month. Apparently, the Maruti Company made 60 units in one lot, White being the most popular color. The car was to be my "Jungle Ghooming" vehicle so white would not work*. The other options were Red, Grey and a very ugly shade of Metallic Green. I couldnt make up my mind wrt Color. Six months later I called the dealer for an update who promised to call me back. Instead I received a call from Puneet who asked me what my favorite color was. I was in the middle of a code-review meeting and taken aback by the question! I said Blue and he disconnected the call! The next week i got a call from the Dealer saying that my Vehicle will be delivered within a month. But what color? The Dealer said that I had chosen the color! But I hadnt! Puneet's phone was not reachable either - he must be on another road trip! So a month later, on a Thursday in May 2005, I took a cab to the Dealer Showroom! I was nervous not really knowing what color it was - the bet was it would be White. Instead I saw my Gypsy, in a very unique shade of Blue, parked in the Premises surrounded by a crowd of onlookers! After our call the previous month, Puneet had pulled a Gypsy out from the production lot before it could be painted and had it custom painted in a color they usually offered on the Maruti Van. Mine was the most unique Gypsy and one of only 2 in that color at the time. The other Gypsy in that color was made for a Punjabi film producer! I named him YOSSARIAN - after the protagonist of my favorite book "Catch-22". It was love at first sight!
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| YOSSARIAN in his element in the Powalgarh Jungle |
I also noticed that Gypsy brochures were put up in the main lobby at the Dealer's that day! Mine was the first Gypsy to be sold by that Dealer in 12 years. And as I later learnt, they sold 12 Gypsies in 2005! The sales guy told me that a couple of guys who had come in to buy WagonR walked out booking the Gypsy after seeing the brochure in the lobby! That is the Gypsy magic! People will buy if you offer it!
The Maruti Gypsy, much like the Suzuki Samurai on which it is inspired, has a tendency to easily topple! That is what many folks warned me when they heard I was considering trading in my Suzuki 800 hatchback to buy a Gypsy. RK and others told me it was just propaganda by American carmakers to push Suzuki out of the US market. I had grown up seeing Army Gypsies doing their thing - it could not be true! Gypsy had to be safe!
Just 2 days after collecting the Gypsy, RK & I decided to go on a quick Jungle Ghooming trip to Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary. YOSSI was Soft Top then and we took the Top off as soon as we entered the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. It was exhilariating! I was over the moon! Mid way at a place called Khandala, there is a sharp descending left U-turn as the road descends down the Western Ghats to sea level. If you have ever done this route, you will know the exact spot I am referring to. As I was negotiating the turn at a mere 25-30 kph, the Gypsy went up on 2 wheels with its Left side in the air for a brief moment before thankfully plonking down again on 4 wheels. We had a providential escape! So yes fellas - the Gypsy - especially with the stock 185/R16 nylon tires - can topple even at low speeds! Lesson learnt! You cannot drive a Gypsy the way we drove our Suzuki 800 hatchback!
Apparently, the 185/R16 nylon tire was stock on the Army Gypsy. The civilian Gypsy was sold with 205/16R Radials. I assumed i would get mine delivered with the 205s. But it seems that when my vehicle was pulled out from a production lot it retained whatever tires it had at that point. No complaints really. 205s certainly rode better on the roads but the 185/16R was lighter on the steering and much better in offroad conditions than the H/T 205s. The 185s would stay on till December 2008. Swapped out the ageing 185/16R with Yokohoma Geolandar AT 215/85/R16 on returning from Ladakh 2008. The Yokos were a huge upgrade and improved ride quality both on road and off-road. The steering was much harder though we got quickly used to it! The Gyp was overall more "planted" with the Yoko 215s - honestly this should have been the stock tire! For the next year, I went out Jungle Ghooming every single weekend in the Gypsy exploring Forests in the Western Ghats. My bike Dougie must have been jealous being dethroned to city-driver status. Ladakh 2006 - my last group ride - was on the bike however since that had been previously planned.
The Gypsy was acquired purely for Jungle use and the thought of Car Camping or using it for long cross country trips had never crossed my mind! I hadn't even heard of the Overlanding term in 2006! That transition to over-landing and conversion into a Jungle camper cum daily driver happened by accident which I have covered in a separate post! Over the next 15 years, YOSSARIAN and me crossed the country many times over and had many, many adventures. But by 2020, it was clear that I would have to leave India against my will! The Gypsy would have to go too! :( I called up a friend from our offroad club in the middle of the COVID lockdown asking him what I should quote. He bought it on the spot! Cash Down! Just like that, YOSSARIAN was Gone! The Camping Box and gear were taken out and donated to another friend. It now resides in his 2005 vintage Mahindra Bolero done up for overlanding.
Post Script: An interesting incident occurred in the 6 month interval while I was waiting for my Gypsy delivery. A month after I put down my 50K deposit, I got a call from a sales guy at Tata Motors who said he knew I had booked a Gypsy and they had something that might be better suited. I had not mentioned the Gypsy purchase to anyone in the Bike club, Off-Roading group or even my Parents! The only person who knew was RK and he was not the kind to blab! I honestly thought it was a prank call. But he called again asking me if i could come down to one of their Commercial Vehicle Showrooms located on the Highway close to where I was staying at the time. So that weekend I went down! The Sales guy welcomed me warmly and treated me to Tea and Samosa telling me he had read my old blog on Touring and Ladakh and praised my Wildlife photos. It was clear he had read the whole blog and knew everything about me! Kudos for his research and initiative. He told me Tata was coming out with a new product designed for people like me but he wouldnt show me any pictures or anything! In my mind, i was imagining a Gypsy type clone on the Tata Sierra platform.
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| Tata 207 Dual-Cab on which the GoTruck was based |
Finally after over an hour, he took me to the parking lot where I saw it for the first time! What he showed me was a Heavily modified Tata 207 commercial pickup truck with an Airconditioned Dual Cab, front and rear Lockers, 4WD with dual levers, Custom Bumpers front and rear, Lifted atleast 3" and equipped with Giant offroad spec tyres and a beefed up suspension! It was HOTTT! I wish I had kept the pictures I had taken then! He drove to an empty ground closeby and let me drive it. I was mighty impressed with the product. The engine was NOT the DI engine in the commercial 207 but a new modern engine that was to be introduced on the Safari and the GoTruck - thats what they were calling this! And here is the kicker - They were ready to sell for just ₹5,25,000 with delivery within 2 months! In return, I had to share promotion pics and test results from my next Ladakh trip. I drove straight from that Dealer's place to meet RK. This certainly sounded promising. But there was one big problem - the Go 4x4 was too big to fit in my parking lot - i would have to park it on the Road! It was not as easy to drive within the city as the Gypsy which was more car like. So this thing didn't proceed further. Hats off to that sales guy though! His drive to sell was admirable though I still don't know how he managed to find out that i had put down a deposit for a brand new Gypsy!
Imagine! Would the story have turned out differently if i had cancelled the Gypsy that day and bought the GoTruck instead? I wonder....!
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