Macho Mahindra Scorpio Pik-up makes a statement

I liked this Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up Adventure at first sight. That chunky bull bar bumper, the throbbing snorkel, those shiny G-Max 16-inch wheels with fat rubber, the bull bar, roll bar, tow bar and the rest certainly make a statement.

Built in India to survive Armageddon, it has a proven pedigree too and it’s big and long at 5.1 metres long and riding a 210mm high ground clearance. Pik-Up’s load bay is immense – long, wide and deep and ready to gobble up anything up to its impressive 1250kg payload. Adventure has a light cabin that offers several bits and bobs to set it apart – a carbonfibre-look centre stack surrounding a snazzy MP3 compatible CD radio hi-fi complete with a USB port to break up all that hardwearing plastic.

On the safety front, Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up boasts dual airbags, ABS and crumple zone architecture to look after you if you crash it, while the multifunction steering wheel is rake adjustable. Add power windows and myriad storage spaces along with a cavernous area behind the seats for larger personal items and even a reasonable suitcase and you have a pretty hospitable and climate controlled cabin.

Powered by Mahindra’s quite reasonable 89kW and 290Nm MHawk 2.2-litre turbodiesel, it gets along just fine – our test kit proved a handy 13.8-second 0-100km/h pull – not breakneck fast, but it certainly is good enough for a bakkie. This vehicle however really comes into its own out on the open road where it cruises comparatively silently and smoothly, pulls well and is actually quite a pleasure to drive with that MHawk gurgling gently down its tall snorkel.

Our rear-driven Mahindra Scorpio Pik Up (there is a 4×4 version and a double cab if those tickle your fancy) further benefits an Eaton Mechanical Locking Differential that allows automatic full axle lock as required for optimum traction and while its 5-speed manual benefits a well-picked set of ratios, it is a tad stubborn versus some modern bakkies. Pik-Up however impressed in its frugal consumption, allowing us to challenge the claimed 8.8l/100km on a perhaps more open road mix of driving.

So what makes this rugged Indian bakkie special enough to consider over the many mainstream and other oriental bakkies out there? Well that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? And it comes with an answer at tiny fraction of its million-buck looks. What would you expect to pay for this fully equipped bakkie? Well considering that some top bakkies are now merrily sailing toward the R700K barrier, you’d probably reckon closer to five hundred grand. Well you’d still be wrong at R300K because a fully packed Mahindra like this will cost you R242 995 and that’s before you claimed the VAT you are entitled to back on a single-cab bakkie. So in real terms this bakkie will set you back just over two hundred grand – R213 154 to be precise. And in our book that’s a bloody well bargain that proves that first impressions are most always right!

This road test was first published in Bakkie and Car Magazine by Michele Lupini. Get your copy on shelf now.