Fully covered and fitted with a hatchback door, Ganesh Ramalingam's jeep doesn't fail to catch the eye of jeep-lovers. One among a few CJ 500Ds in Chennai, the appeal of this rare Mahindra machine has been enchanced by a dash of creativity. \
Teaming up with a friend, Ganesh has given the CJ 500D a camouflage design. The paint gives this civilian jeep the illusion of a military one. This has its benefits. Taking Ganesh for an Army man, parking lot attendants routinely refuse to issue him a ticket.
Ganesh, who runs a tiles company called Green Clay, subjects the jeep to a punishing schedule of tile deliveries during the week. “This machine can bear mammoth loads.
Even when loaded with a consignment weighing 400 kg, it does not groan.”
This jeep has the muscle of a tractor — literally. To make the CJ 500D, Mahindra mated the CJ4A to the B275, a tractor engine with impressive pulling power. Its ruggedness helped organisations that regularly transport men and material over long distances to do so economically. The 101-inch wheelbase guaranteed a smooth journey.
Before it came Ganesh's way, this CJ500D served the Meston College of Education at Royapettah. Since it was mainly used to ferry office staff, the four-wheel shaft was redundant and therefore disconnected. Being an off-roading nut, Ganesh had this reinstalled.
