Old v new Endeavour
Words: Sirish Chandran
Photography: Gaurav S Thombre
Ouseph is rather impressed with the new Endeavour but it’s always good to get a bit of perspective. The white Endeavour on these pages has been in my family for the past three years, clocking over 75,000km. It’s a beast that was first pressed into service to cart farm, construction equipment and fodder for the bulls, up to our farm when
approach roads had yet to be laid out. Then we found out that, in rural India, nobody messes with a white Endeavour with the flag on the dash. Turns out its size means nobody messes with you in urban India as well.
My father-in-law still uses it to drive between construction sites and workshops and even now it is loaded with toolboxes and construction equipment that is too heavy for us to swap into the backup cars. This thing has had a
hard life but has never missed a beat. And the driver is never allowed to go over 100kmph so uncomfortable questions are rarely asked of the brakes and leaf springs.
I’m doing 100kmph now and I think our driver is brave man. This just does not handle. Its size, the ladder-frame chassis, the balloon tyres, the brakes, everything goes into shut down mode at the mere hint of a corner. You gas it gently out of a U-turn and the rear tyre squeals and chirrups. The steering has too many turns lock to lock and too little precision. The engine displaces a mighty three litres but it makes more noise than contributing to actual turn of speed. Even the ride is very unsettled. Which makes the new Endeavour feel light years ahead.
I mean, apart from the badging, there is absolutely nothing to link the two. Our photo editor Gaurav thinks the old Endeavour still looks the business (I don’t, but beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder) but that aside the new
one is way, way better than you would expect. It rides surprisingly well, with very well judged rebound damping. The interiors are incredibly better. Thanks to coil springs and the Watts linkage on the rear suspension, it now goes round corners rather than heading straight for the drop. The auto box has one extra cog and shifts with more vigour. I mean in every single respect the new Endeavour is not one but two generations ahead.
