Maruti Gypsy (Syclone). Photos are below the text.

Bob did this Gypsy in the mid 90’s, and adopted a completely different approach, as it was meant to be a more urban use vehicle. So Bob’s aim was to make it attractive and give it a sporty flavour.

So he opted to only install a removable hardtop panel over the front two seats. The rear seats were kept as original and a special canvas top was made for the back portion, but it was only fitted in the monsoons. Otherwise Syclone was meant to be an open top vehicle.

A custom made light bracket was fitted at the front and Bob also installed his trademark nerf bars. The rear bumper was replaced by a specially made tubular one with extended corners and instead of the original horizontal taillights in the bumper, vertical ones were integrated into the fenders. He also shifted the license plate on to the tailgate for a more balanced look.

According to Bob, the two highlights were the roll bar made of oval steel pipes and the striking custom paint job, which was done at the famed Barwani Motor Works, in Indore. Bob also fitted Weller Wheels that even today, are very rare and hard to find in India.

The interior got special attention, and Bob reshaped the front seats with more prominent bolstering and the headrests were also extended and reshaped. The seats and even door pads were upholstered to match the exterior colour scheme and as the ultimate custom made touch, this Gypsy’s name “Syclone”, was embroidered in the fabric of the seats, and even on the center hub of the 3 spoke leather steering wheel.

To match the sporty looks with performance, the cylinder head was shaved and polished, and mated with a made to order free flow exhaust system. This gave Syclone the “go” along with the ‘show”.