Gypsy Safari has been doing duties in various wildlife conservations and new Maruti Jimny Safari version will replace them
With a recent boom in adventure, travel and exploration lifestyle, there is a significant boost to tourism industry. Wildlife conservations across India are among the major draws for tourists. Last year, NTCA and MoEF&CC had instructed to replace all old serving safari vehicles with new Maruti Jimny Safari versions. And here they are.
Maruti Jimny Safari Version Goes Topless
Gypsy from Maruti Suzuki has been serving the Safari sector and wildlife conservations for a very long time. These are modified to suit the needs of Safari excursions and provide an exhilarating and open experience for tourists and photographers capturing the wilderness. Force Motors is operating in this league too and has launched Trax Cruiser Safari.
Last year, NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) and MoEF&CC (Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change) had instructed all wildlife wardens to phase out all old departmental vehicles and old safari vehicles employed by private operators in favour of energy-efficient and new emission standard compliant vehicles.
This move will shine light on the Government’s scrappage policy and the push for cleaner emissions. Currently most wildlife conservations across states use Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, which is known to be an absolute workhorse. NTCA is co-ordinating with Maruti Suzuki for Jimny procurement and has asked all the states to send in their modification requirements.
This could mean that different states might get differently modified Maruti Jimny Safari versions as per their requirements. Facebook user Harvijay Singh Bahia recently posted images of Maruti Jimny Safari version and he expressed his first impressions about this Jimny Safari. He mentioned how comfortable Jimny was over Safari tracks.
What are the changes?
He expressed his concerns regarding windscreen not being able to drop down for photography, something that Maruti Suzuki Gypsy Safari did. Major change when compared to standard Jimny is the lack of a roof. In its place, we can see two roll bars for occupant head protection. Jimny Safari version is based on base Zeta trim and gets steel wheels.
Other notable changes include a bull bar that extends across front wheel arches, through side steps, across rear wheel arches and forms a sturdy stand for occupants to climb into 3rd row seats. Speaking of, there are third row seats without headrests in a theatre style that is well above second row headrests.
As we mentioned before, different states seem to be getting different Maruti Jimny Safari versions based on modification requests. In the picture above, we can see another variant of Jimny Safari that gets a soft top, different seats, a foldable front windshield and is based on top-spec Alpha trim.
The 1.5L NA petrol engine on Jimny is likely to be kept stock with these applications. This is a silent engine, preferred for this application and packs more oomph than the 1.3L NA petrol engine of Gypsy and gets 4X4 as standard for tricky terrains.
