‘India’s first Supercar’, apparently …

DC Design from has revealed first sight of their new supercar at the New Delhi Auto Expo.

Called the Avanti, which is a reference to the Studbaker Avanti from Tintin comics, the Indian supercar will initially be available with a Ford 4-cylinder turbo engine producing 265 bhp, then later followed by a Honda V6 making 400 bhp – modest figures indeed for a supercar.

Not helping matters either is a sprint time to 62 mph in just under seven seconds which doesn’t scream ‘Supercar’. The Avanti doesn’t help itself with a 1,560 kg vehicle weight, though the 6-speed dual-clutch transmission helps with performance.

Manufactured at DC Design’s Talegaon plant in Pune, the chassis is made of aluminium while the body panels are made of fiberglass (GRP). Engines will be prepared in the UK and then shipped to India. Despite our initial supercar scepticism, we’re reminded that the Avanti is intended to be an affordable supercar priced at 30 lakh rupees (£40,000). Once that notion sinks in, this actually doesn’t look so bad after all.

Looks-wise, the Avanti has a certain resemblance to the Ferrari 458 from some angles, though this may just be the red/black paint job of the car in the images. There are also hints of the Audi R8 in the stance of the car, but overall it seems to be a very nicely styled car. Aggressive, stylish and sporty for sure, though we’ve yet to see the rear end.

DC Design plans to produce 200 units per year, approximately one car every two days, with the hopes of gradually building up to 2000 units per year. DC Design is the brainchild of acclaimed car designer Dilip Chhabria and has won critical acclaim for some of its creations. Most famously DC Design created the first Aston Martin V8 Vantage prototype show car for the 2003 Detroit Motor Show, and a one-off Rolls Royce coupe which caused controversy around London.

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