
What are the most common 4x4 vehicles that we see built into bush tourers? Toyota HiLux and LandCruiser, Ford Ranger, Nissan Patrol, Isuzu D-Max and MU-X, to name a few. How about a Mahindra Scorpio?
“A Mahindra what?!” I hear you say.
The Mahindra Scorpio is a rugged little 4x4 wagon built with all the ingredients you need in a touring vehicle. A 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine with a healthy torque peak of 400Nm, a dual-range transfer case, no frill electronics and a nicely equipped and good-size cabin. Plus, it is one of the cheapest 4x4s of this type you can buy today, making it a solid base for a bush-ready build.

This was also the thinking of Daniel Snare who, as a cinematographer, scored an early taste of the Mahindra 4x4 before it was launched in Australia, and that was enough to convince him to give it a try
“I was lucky enough to test drive one before release,” Daniel told us, and it wasn’t just a quick lap around the block with a dealer. “It was driving a media vehicle from Brisbane to Victoria and off-road in the Victorian High Country with Roothy for a vehicle-release video.” Not a bad road test by anyone’s measure and certainly a great way to get a feel for a potential new vehicle.
Dan put his name down for the new Mahindra and when the Scorpio was finally released in Australia, he got one of the first ones in the country. It wasn’t a decision taken lightly as Dan needs a competent and reliable vehicle for his work that can take him to all corners of the country chasing the perfect backdrop for photography.

Sourcing gear
A challenge for anyone taking on a build on a new-to-market vehicle is a lack of aftermarket products.
However, Dan sought out a small network of suppliers, some of which already specialise in Mahindra vehicles, specifically the Pik-Up model. One such company is 4WD Industries/Ryebuck Engineering in the Upper Hunter town of Rutherford. Ryebuck has been doing bar work, accessories and tuning for Mahindra Pik-Up vehicles for years, making it popular with farmers in the area, as well as those looking for an alternative to the popular 4x4 utes.
Ryebuck jumped on board with Dan’s build on the then-new Scorpio with some of its most evident work on the vehicle being the steel bull bar and stainless steel intake snorkel. The bull bar hides a Runva 13XP winch and a pair of Lazer Lamps Sentinel driving lights.

A Lazer Lamps Triple-R 24 Elite light bar mounted on the Front Runner roof platform provides further illumination to help spotting and avoiding the ’roos on Dan’s outback trips and around the Hunter Valley.
Not so evident is Ryebuck’s installation of a Tough Dog suspension kit that gives the Scorpio a 40mm lift in ride height thanks to new coils and shocks that are better suited to controlling the often heavily loaded wagon on rough tracks. Also better for bush work are the Maxxis RAZR 265/60R18 all-terrain tyres mounted to the factory Mahindra alloy wheels.
Small package
The Scorpio is certainly at the smaller end of the 4x4 wagon range and it has an unusual seating configuration with three rows of two seats to accommodate six passengers.
The third-row seat is tiny and very limited in its use and thankfully for Dan, he doesn’t need it, so it was quickly ditched. This freed up more space for all his gear… of which there is plenty when he is shooting films in remote locations.
With the third-row seat out of the way Ryebuck was able to configure and install an auxiliary 12-volt system that sits in the well under the floor.

It is based around a Cangoee Power 110Ah lithium battery that has its own inbuilt DC-DC charger. It is managed with a Victron shunt and solar power is fed down from a panel mounted on the Front Runner rack via a Victron controller. The system is designed to be able to provide Dan with all the power needed to keep his cameras, computers, lights and drone charged when out and about, as well as the needs of family camping.
On top of the rear floor is a drawer fridge and a storage drawer, with Dan saying he had to go with the drawer fridge due to the limited space in the back. Easing the storage space problem is Dan’s camper trailer, which provides his family accommodation.

Doing the job
While the space inside the Scorpio has been a compromise, but by no means a deal-breaker, Dan says that the vehicle is living up to his requirements.
“It’s the perfect camera car for filming lifestyle and travel content as well as for family trips towing our camper trailer to both on- and off-road destinations,” he told us.
He says some of his favourite destinations that the Scorpio has taken him so far are to K’gari (Fraser Island), Argadells in the Flinders Ranges and the Simpson Desert, and he has plans for further adventures.

To help make the Mahindra better suited to those long outback trips Dan is working with Ryebuck on a long-range fuel tank solution to boost the vehicle’s relatively tiny 57-litre standard tank capacity.
Dan’s Scorpio build shows that by daring to be different and taking on a vehicle that is not always at the top of people’s shopping list, he’s been able to create a compact, rugged and reliable 4x4 wagon that is up to the task taking him on all of his adventures, at a faction of the cost of most other wagons.
The money saved on the Scorpio’s purchase price went a long way towards kitting it out and the results speak for themselves.

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