Indian Supercar anyone? That’s exactly what came out from the DC design this Auto Expo. The sleek looking car named Avanti was unveiled at the 11th Auto Expo by none other than Bollywood celebrity Amitabh Bachchan yesterday. For those drooling over the prospects of owning this car,yes, it is so very possible. All you have to do is shell out Rs 30 lakh and the Indian DC Avanti Supercar is all yours.
DC Design is India’s reputed design firm noted for their concept cars and prototypes and is headed by Dilip Chhabria. Going back to the DC Avanti, the supercar is named after the Studbaker Avanti that appeared in Tintin comics. The Avanti also competes for the title of being the most affordable supercar in the planet.
DC Avanti sports a Ford Ecoboost turbocharged 4-cylinder engine pumping out 265bhp and 270 Ib-ft torque for now. But later the car would get a 400 bhp turbo V6 Honda engine under the hood. Now with that kinda power, the car might be a supercar material. The Avanti weighs around 1560 kgs but that does not make the car go any slower than the other supercars available around. The numbers speak for the car and with just 6 seconds to reach the hundred mark, this car is certainly quick. Did we also mention that Avanti can reach a top speed of more than 250 kmph but is limited electronically. The engine is paired with a 6-speed dual clutch transmission system. The car rides on 19” alloys. The engine and its ancillaries are all Euro 4 & 5 compliant. It could also be taken further to the incoming Euro 6 legislation with a slight change in the engine mapping characteristics.
The car apart from being the world’s cheapest supercar also holds another rare distinction to itself. The car is the first car from DC Design to be mass produced. Yes, you read it right, Mass produced and the production will start by 2013. The final assembly would be done at DC Design’s all new production facility coming up at Talegaon near Pune.
During the unveiling ceremony of DC Avanti, Mr Dilip Chhabria said, “We are extremely ecstatic to present the DC Avanti today and it is a manifestation of not just the burgeoning interest in high end sports cars but also as a calling card for our own capabilities which have now progressed from mere styling in the early days to full prototyping and bespoke one-off manufacturing. Every country which has written its name in the pantheon of automobile manufacturing has invariably distinguished itself with sports cars by its own nationals and I thought that India rightly needs to be in this exclusive club.”
He also added “We intend to produce 300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and if all goes well we could ramp up production to go into four figures per annum. Till now DC Design was noted for its design and customization but then we added complete engineering and prototyping to our roster of services and working for the world’s biggest names helped us understand and add to our expertise”. He further stated, “The Avanti is an ongoing culmination of all that we have learnt and we intend to give a sports car to a select new emerging breed of car buyers who value good taste without compromising on performance and who don’t need to spend a fortune on making the adrenaline flow”.
The DC Avanti will feature a light weight but very strong space frame chassis using a mix of square, rectangular and round sections to get the best strength and rigidity across the dynamic spectrum. Since this is a supercar, we can expect the suspension to be good as well. Agile, quick and ultra-responsive, the Avanti promises performance and visual erotica at a cost to quality proposition that will be second to none. Hydraulically assisted rack and pinion steering gear will be standard fitment. The Avanti will be equipped with many safety features like ABS (anti-lock braking system), SRS air bag technology.
The Avanti’s low slung silhouette is pure excitement with a combination of pleasingly complex concave and convex surfaces to deliver great form. Avanti will be available at the DC dealerships across five metros in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad). An additional four outlets would also be opened in the course of 2012. Bookings will open soon, immediately after Auto Expo 2012, on a first-come-first-served-basis with deliveries scheduled from the last quarter of calendar 2013. Have you booked your Avanti already?
