DELHI MOTOR SHOW: DC Avanti

DC Design is an Indian firm best known for wild customising jobs on everything from Tata Nanos to Rolls-Royces, but it wowed the Delhi motor show by unveiling India's first-ever supercar – the DC Avanti.

It's allegedly not just a pie-in-the-sky concept as the company claims it aims to follow in the footsteps of Italian carrozzerias like Bertone, Pininfarina and Ghia by producing a limited production run of Avantis that will be made available to the general public from 2013.

DC Design founder 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."

DC Design has ambitious plans to produce 300 Avantis in 2013-14, and says it will ramp up annual production to four figures if there's sufficient demand.

Powered by a mid-mounted 2.0-litre turbocharged Ford EcoBoost engine with 180kW and 366Nm, the coupe is claimed to be capable of a sub-7.0 second 0-100km/h sprint and a top whack of 250km/h. Drive is channelled to the wheels by a six-speed manual gearbox or a Powershift dual-clutch sequential that's also sourced from the Ford parts bin.

Stopping power should be up to the mark, courtesy of large 330mm ventilated disc brakes with grippy AP Racing callipers.

Built around a spaceframe chassis, the Avanti is suspended by unequal-length wishbones all around working in conjunction with coilover shock absorbers. Its makers quote a dry kerb weight of 1562kg, which isn't superlight, but nor is it excessively lardy.

As for the styling, there's clearly more than a hint of Audi R8, Ferrari 458 and Bertone Mantide thrown in, and while the Avanti isn't exactly pretty, it certainly is distinctive.

Weighing strongly in the Avanti's favour is a modest price of 30 lakh rupees ($55,500), which will enable it to substantially undercut any other sports car currently on the Indian market.

DC Design says it will also provide buyers with a range of trim and customising options.

Specifications – DC Avanti

Engine 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power 180kW at 5500rpm
Torque 366Nm at 3500rpm
Transmission 6-speed dual-clutch
Chassis Tubular space frame; Jig built and TIG welded
Suspension Unequal length double wishbones with Coil cover shock absorbers
Steering Rack and pinion
Brakes 330mm ventilated discs (Front and Rear) AP racing calipers
Wheels 8x19 front; 11x19 rear
Length 4623mm
Width 1967mm
Height 1213mm
Wheelbase 2700mm
Kerb weight (dry) 1562kg

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