He also began an automobile design institute in Pune in 2010.Raj rebuilds his dead father's car and names it Tarzan, but the car comes to life in a miraculous way.
#DC CAR IN TARZAN THE WONDER CAR MOVIE#
In 2004, Chhabria designed the eponymous vehicle for the movie ‘Tarzan: The Wonder car’. In 2003, Chhabria hit another high when DC Design developed the prototype of the stunning Aston Martin V8 Vantage, which was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show. While he did motorcycle modifications in the initial years, by the 2000s, Chabbria had started focusing almost exclusively on high-end clients like Bollywood stars, and their cars, vanity vans and vanity buses. Veteran auto journalist, author and historian Adil Darukhanawala describes his cars as “striking rather than evergreen”. “While the vehicles looked exotic, it was debatable if they could match industrially manufactured cars,” Karkera points out. That kind of technology is used only now,” says Kyffin D’Abreo, an automobile enthusiast.Įven as name and fame for ‘DC Design’ followed, there were those who questioned the basis of it. “By the late ’90s, he could show you 3D models of what your car would look like after modification. With contacts abroad, Chhabria was able to source technology and machines, and built for himself a state-of-the-art workshop in Andheri. Says Karkera, “In the ’90s, imported cars were not easily available and people did not have many brands to choose from.” Nitin Dossa, Executive Chairman, Western India Automobile Association, points out that this was also the time “F-1 racing was becoming popular in India”. In a market starved for choice, the buyers lined up.
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In the 1990s, he modified the humble pastel shades of the Fiat, Ambassador and Maruti to flamboyant ones, introducing matte finish. The replacement market was flooded with demand for the horn priced at Rs 40, with manufacturing cost no more than Rs 8. He tasted success first with designing the horn of Premier Padmini cars in the shape of a bell. He briefly worked for General Motors, but felt he could not grow much there and decided to return to India. His father ran an electronics business, and after graduation in Commerce, Chhabria headed for the US to study transportation design at the Automative Design Arts Center, California. Karthik could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.Ĭhhabria decided early on that his passion was cars. In 2015, he approached a consumer court against Chabbria. One of the first buyers to complain was Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik who had made an advance payment for the car.
![dc car in tarzan the wonder car dc car in tarzan the wonder car](https://img.indianauto.com/2020/03/30/Gruom402/modified-winger-interior-1-ca1b.jpg)
He knew his craft enough but not enough to do business.” Says another, “Chhabria had borrowed a lot of money and was punching way above his weight. He did not get proper engineering consultants.” He did not, for example, realise that getting the car parts and having all parts match the others so that the sum total was more than the parts was important.
![dc car in tarzan the wonder car dc car in tarzan the wonder car](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eaOPWbePpiw/hqdefault.jpg)
It was ingrained in his psyche that ‘I should make my own car’. Even the Porsche - that is the benchmark for sports cars - sells more SUVs in India.”Īdds an insider, “The problem in Chhabria’s case was that he was a one-man gang. Says Girish Karkera, Consulting Editor with an automobile magazine, “In the Indian market, a sports car is not that widely accepted. The average on-the-road price of a sports car in India is upwards of Rs 1 crore. “If you are going to sell a sports car for Rs 35 lakh, you are going to cut corners,” said one auto industry insider. “Looks like a Lamborghini but without its performance,” was the general verdict. The reviews of the car were hardly encouraging. However, was “a dream without the foundation to succeed”, says a person who has known Chhabria since the 1990s. The coupe was named after the Studebaker Avanti (Avanti in Italian means forward or onwards) in Tintin & the Land of the Black Gold, and Chabbria acknowledged the dream project as one of the biggest risks of his life. However, many in Chhabria’s inner circle say the signs that the “bubble would burst” had been around as far back as 2015, when he unveiled DC Avanti, dubbed as India’s ‘first sports car’.