India's automotive industry has been making some interesting power moves of late. It's already delivered the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, given the world a fantastic new Formula 1 circuit in Delhi and now it's busted out its its very first supercar.
With the Avanti, DC Design aims at going the way of reknown Italian coachbuilders such as Bertone, Ghia and Pininfarina, which not only used to design and engineer their own cars, but also produced them in limited series.
Defined as the first Indian sportscar, the Avanti was designed by * Dilip Chhabria*, founder and chief of DC Design.
The structural basis of the Avanti is an aluminum tubular space frame with a mix of square, rectangular and round sections. The frame is coupled with fiberglass body panels.
The design is characterized by original proportions and an elaborated sufìrface treatment, with a low-slung silhouette, a tapered rear end framed by the large C-pillars elements and a front end with angular headlights that showcases some resemblances with the Ferrari 458 Italia.
According to the first information, the Avanti could be powered by a tuned Ford EcoBoost 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with VVT (variable valve timing), capable of 240 hp and 366 Nm and coupled with a six-speed manual gearbox.
Dilip Chhabria commented: “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.”
DC Avanti – Dimensions
Wheelbase – 2700 mm
Length – 4623 mm
Width – 1967 mm
Height – 1213 mm
Front Over hang – 993 mm
Rear Over hang – 930 mm
Ground clearance – 155 mm
Dry kerb weight – 1562 kg
The DC Avanti is set to be relatively affordable when it's released in 2013, with prices starting at around £36,000.
