The Force Gurkha may have had a silly commercial name, but it had the off-roading prowess of a Mercedes G Wagen.
This was partly because it was based on the G Wagen platform and partly because it was designed to take on the Indian roads – the untapped test bed for lunar buggies.
Back in January of 2012, Prasan Firodia, managing director of Force Motors announced that he has plans to revive the Gurkha moniker that was killed off some three years ago. Now, the boys at OnCars.in have managed to snap a test mule of the 2013 Force Gurkha near Pune.
Despite heavy camouflage, we can see that nothing much has changed in the design of the Gurkha. It is still the same boxy design with a snorkel air intake pipe sprouting upwards from the hood. The test mule wears round headlamps and bonnet-mounted indicators. One could also notice the Force One style 5-spoke alloy wheels and the sporty roof rails. The tail mounted spare wheel gives it a very rugged look.
The OnCars chaps predict that the next generation Force Gurkha will get the same engine as the Force One - 2.2-litre FMTech engine with 142PS of power and 321Nm of torque.
We could also see the Gurkha borrowing its tech from the Force One. Force Motors is developing an ABS and Airbag system for the Force One. Perhaps, the Gurkha could benefit from these life saving technologies.
We don’t expect the Gurkha to be based on an all-new platform. We expect the same Tubular chassis borrowed from Mercedes G Wagen. Where the G Wagen would set you back by 1.25 crores, the next gen Gurkha will be modestly priced at around 8 lakhs.
Stay tuned for more developments on the 2013 Force Gurkha.
[Source: OnCars.in]
