Maruti Gypsy

The Maruti Gypsy is a four-wheel-drive vehicle based on the long wheelbase Suzuki Jimny SJ40/410 series. It is primarily an off-road vehicle, or a vehicle for rough unprepared roads. It is sold in New Zealand as the Suzuki Farm Worker.

It is manufactured in India by Maruti Suzuki. It was introduced in the Indian market in December 1985 with the 970 cc F10A Suzuki engine and while sales were never very high it became very popular with law enforcement. It was codenamed MG410, which stood for "Maruti Gypsy 4-cylinder 1.0-litre engine". Initially, it was only available as a soft-top; but a bolt on hardtop was later introduced to the public after the aftermarket hardtops became popular. It instantly replaced Premier Padmini as the quintessential Indian rally car due to its performance, reliability, tunability and the go-anywhere capability. The carburetted F10A engine made 45 bhp (34 kW; 46 PS) and was mated to a four-speed gearbox. The 4WD transfer case had two speeds. It had a freewheeling mechanism on the front axles made by Aisin to unlock the front axles from the hub when 4WD is not used; It reduced rolling resistance, thereby improving fuel efficiency. However, many owners of the Gypsy who constantly complained about the poor fuel consumption never knew about this novel feature.

The two major complaints of the vehicle in the civilian market were poor fuel consumption and poor ride quality especially in the rear seats. The suspension was indeed harsh with live axles and leaf springs all around. It features almost no creature comforts, like power-windows and power-assisted steering.

In July 1993, Maruti introduced the "widetrack Gypsy" codenamed "MG410W" replacing the MG410. Both front and rear track of the wheels are increased by 90mm (from 1,210 mm (47.6 in) to 1,300 mm (51.2 in) for front wheels and from 1,220 mm (48.0 in) to 1,310 mm (51.6 in) for rear wheels) and these Gypsys are instantly recognizable by the pronounced painted fender flares. This is to mitigate an international allegation that Suzuki SUVs are very susceptible to rollover. Maruti eliminated the Aisin freewheeling hub on this model since it was sparingly used by MG410 owners. In April 1995, a catalytic converter was fitted to the Gypsys sold in the metro cities to comply with newly introduced emission standards.

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