Customized Mahindra Thar from Pro Color Body Shop is clean, mean & MUSCULAR

The Mahindra Thar is perhaps the off-roading vehicle that is modified the most by its owners. Over the years, we’ve seen our share of crazy Thar mods but this latest one by Cochin-based Pro Color Body Shop may just be the best customised Thar we’ve seen for a while.

Cochin’s Pro Color Body Shop is known for its brilliant customization jobs and have earlier transformed the Force Motors Gurkha into a replica Mercedes G-Wagen. This time in the case of the Thar, the custom shop went above and beyond to transform the Mahindra SUV into a unique offering with parts usually seen on the JK Series Jeep Wrangler.

The donor Thar in question had only done around 600 kilometres on the road before the owner handed it over to Pro Color Body Shop. Once the design was finalized by the team, they tackled the problem of how to fit the Wrangler parts onto the Thar, considering the Jeep is a lot larger in size compared to the Thar.

The custom house did not want to to make too many structural changes to the Thar and not change the size of the SUV by much either. They created drawings showing the precise shapes and designs and then dummies were made from hard board until the team finally were satisfied that they had everything right.

To ensure that everything was happening as per plan, the Pro Color team put down a few rules to follow. These included not using gas cutters on metal panels. The team instead used pneumatic and rotary cutters. All welding and panel joints were only done using MIG welding. All shaping and sheet bending were done using hydraulic presses and sheet benders. No part was to be shaped by hand or with the application of heat. The team also avoided using filler and putty as much as possible as they didn’t want to sculpt using the materials. Finally, at all times, the parts were measured and fitment quality was checked. The team also ensured that rust proofing of parts was done for all parts instantly.

The Thar’s hardtop roof was fabricated using 18 gauge steel which was cut and shaped as per the protocols set before. The structure used double-layer sheets outside and with foam sandwiched between the sheets. This construction ensures proper protection for those inside along with protection from external elements like the weather and noise.

The windshield was another custom job that matches the front end and the hard top. The windshield sits flush instead of using conventional moulding. The front end uses the angry bird style grille for the Wrangler JK Series along with a bespoke bonnet and front bumper.

The wheel arches and fenders are imported units for the JK series wrangler and required the fabrication of recessed mounting brackets for both sets of wheel arches. At the rear, there is a custom barn door style rear door which has been reinforced to carry the spare wheel. The barn door setup allows easy access to the seats at the rear which are bespoke buckets.

The entire project took nine months to complete but the final product looks breathtakingly beautiful and the body looks near flawless with the custom red firecracker and black paint job which used marine grade primer for better rust protection. The body is done up in the bright red paint while the accessories and the hardtop, the latter of which is the scheme used for the interiors.

Pro Color Body Shop is a Cochin-based automotive customization shop that is run by experienced professionals from the automotive body shop and specializes in accident repairs and insurance claims. All the technicians in the shop are highly skilled and have have been trained Audi, Porsche, BMW, Toyota and many others. The Pro Body Shop is located near the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kudanoor, Cochin.