Mahindra’s Roadster Concept: The Funster
Jaws have dropped and car fanatics fainted by the dozens. Mahindra has just unveiled the wildest concept at the India Auto Expo 2020 in New Delhi. Perhaps it is not even a concept, just a way to mess with our heads. But I want one.
It is called the Funster, but what is it? It is an EV so that is clear. It has two doors and no roof so it’s a sports car, but it has four seats and sits high and wide like an SUV. It looks like a drop-top, EV SUV with six headlights and a car-wide brake-light/indicators set into the edge of the spoiler. It may be a roadster, but it looks more SUV, but not.
The Funster has dual motors mounted one per axle, giving 233kW. 0 – 100km/h takes less than 5 seconds and the top speed is 200km/h. The 59.2kWh battery gives it a range of 520 kilometres.
The windscreen is a low lip, brace-less curve of glass that will hopefully catapult bugs over your head. A giant display above the airliner-style steering wheel gives you infotainment, speed, battery state and nav in large, friendly numerals and letters, while the gear-shift looks futuristic enough to drag race the International Space Station.
The fake grille has lights that change colour in an unknowable pattern. The fog lights look like Morse code breakdancing. The tires are so low-profile you won’t know if you have flat and the rims are futuristic blender blades.
There is speculation that the Funster’s design language will translate into the next version of the XUV500. Let’s hope it does, but for goodness sake, please keep the roof.
The Funster is a wild departure from the normally staid conservatism that has made the range of Mahindra cars so popular in South Africa and the world. We know concept cars rarely survive the rigours of production and marketing unscathed, but if Mahindra is looking for a place to park the Funster, I can happily empty my driveway in a flash.
