Anand Mahindra shares advertisement of CJ 3B Jeep from 1960 on Twitter

Mahindra Thar is currently the most affordable 4×4 SUV one can buy in India. There are other options like Force Gurkha, Toyota Fortuner, Jeep Wrangler available in the Indian market. Even Mahindra Thar which is considered the most affordable option has a starting price of Rs 13.17 lakh, ex-showroom. Over the years, cost of cars have gone up due to addition of more technology, safety equipment and rise in input cost. Chairman of Mahindra Group recently shared image of an old print advertisement which shows the price of a Willys CJ 3B Jeep. According to the image, this was a print advertisement that was published in Times of India back in 1960.

A good friend, whose family has been distributing our vehicles for decades fished this out from their archives. Aaah the good old days…when prices headed in the right direction! pic.twitter.com/V69sMaM98X

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 6, 2022

The advertisement actually shows the price of Willys jeep. As per the advertisement, the ex-showroom Bombay price of a brand new Cj 3G Jeep was Rs 12,421 only. The advertisement was actually announcing a reduction in price of the Jeep. The manufacturer had reduced Rs 200 on the cost of Jeep and the amount mentioned in the advertisement was after reduction.

Also read: Buying a pre-owned Mahindra Thar is better than buying a new one: 5 reasons

Anand Mahindra’s post on Twitter said, “A good friend, whose family has been distributing our vehicles for decades fished this out from their archives. Aaah the good old days…when prices headed in the right direction!”. The picture was attached with this caption. Willys are quite rare to find these days and even if you manage to find one, you might have to spent some where between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh depending up on the condition and your bargaining skills. When you consider the cost of used Jeep these days, the cost of a brand new one in 1960 may look quite tempting.

Just like many tweets from Anand Mahindra in the past, this one has also gone viral and many of his followers have been asking to sell the SUVs at the same price as in 1960. Mr. Mahindra responded to many of these responses in his usual witty manner. Some of them even shared pictures of CJ 3B that they still have in their garage.

Mahindra launched the all-new Thar SUV in the market in 2020. It is a completely new SUV when compared to the older generation. It offers a lot more in terms of features. Thar now offers features like touchscreen infotainment system, roof mounted speakers that are drizzle resistant, company fitted hard top, front facing rear seats, multi-function steering wheel, cruise control and so on.

In comparison to the older generation Thar, the build quality of the all-new Thar has also improved a lot. It had scored 4 star rating at Global NCAP crash test. The car is also offered with soft top and convertible soft top options. Thar has grown in size and offers more space than before. Mahindra offers Thar with two engine options. There is a 2.0 litre mStallion turbo petrol engine and a 2.2 litre mHawk turbocharged diesel engine.  The petrol engine generates 150 Bhp and 320 Nm of peak torque. The diesel version generates 130 Bhp and 320 Nm of torque. Both petrol and diesel are available with manual and automatic transmission and 4×4 is offered as standard.

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