Type 1 Toyota Fortuner Converted To Legender To Escape From 10 Year-Old Diesel Car Ban: SEIZED

Over the last years, people have started to facelift their old cars into the latest iterations of their existing models with the help of aftermarket body kits. This old-to-new conversion pandemic has helped owners of old cars to get a new car feel. However, it is an illegal way to enjoy a new car, and in places like Delhi, which have a rule to ban 10-year-old diesel vehicles, it has caused the authorities to seize such converted cars. Recently, a video of a Type 1 Toyota Fortuner converted into Legender getting seized became viral on the internet.

This video of a Toyota Fortuner Legender conversion getting seized by the RTO authorities has been shared on Instagram by Car Reels World on their page. In this video, we can note that the white-colored Toyota Fortuner Type 1 converted into a Legender was getting towed by a truck. The vehicle was lifted from the front, and its rear wheels were used to tow it away.

Is this actually a Type 1 Fortuner?

For those who may be wondering if this is actually a converted Type 1 Fortuner or a real Legender, the answer is that it is 100 percent a converted vehicle. We can say this with surety as the front of the vehicle looks like a Legender. However, the rear quarter panel exposes the truth. It still has the same boxy silhouette which was seen on the first generation of the Fortuner.

We can observe that the rear quarter panel has only been wrapped in black and not replaced with a new quarter panel, which a few aftermarket shops have started doing. Also, the alloy wheels seen on this vehicle are old as well, confirming that it is a conversion job and not a Legender, which costs above Rs 55 lakh.

Delhi ban on old cars

The main reason why this vehicle is being towed is the old car scrappage policy, which is implemented extremely strictly in Delhi. The government of Delhi, in order to lower down the pollution, had announced that all petrol vehicles older than 15 years and all diesel vehicles older than 10 years should be either sold to other states with an NOC (No Objection Certificate) or they should be scrapped.

So in most cases, these first-generation Fortuners, which are older than 10 years, are to be either sold out of the state or they have to be scrapped. For this reason, a number of people have found the cunning way of converting their old Fortuners into new. Now generally, the police officials who see these converted vehicles on the road are not aware about this trend; as a result, they let these vehicles go.

However, when such old-to-new conversion vehicles are stopped at checkpoints and their registration certificates are checked thoroughly, they get caught, as on the registration certificates, these vehicles are older than 10 years. For this reason, the authorities then seize these vehicles and send them to scrap yards.

Additionally, even if these vehicles are not caught, it has to be mentioned that altering the appearance of any vehicle is illegal in India as per the Motor Vehicles Act. So even if the vehicle is new and has been converted, it still will be looked at as an illegal vehicle.