The Hindu Business Line : This one's for James Bond

For automobile designer Dilip Chhabria, creating the Aston Martin prototype for the forthcoming James Bond film might just be the breakthrough in the international market that he was looking for.

Ever caught yourself staring longingly at a sleek sports car and wondering why you have to drive what everyone else does? Well, you needn't wonder anymore. If you know Dilip Chhabria that dream car may not be very far away.

Two decades ago, Chhabria moved away from the throng to fashion a different set of wheels, first for himself and then for the rest of the world. Such is his reputation now that he has been invited to design the gizmo-packed Aston Martin DB-8 for none other than Agent 007 for the new James Bond movie.

A graduate in Transportation Design from the University of California, the Mumbai-based Chhabria creates the kind of machines that you only see in sci-fi flicks. What's more, he makes the task seem like a piece of cake.

After a short stint in General Motors where he worked with 1,500 engineers, Chhabria decided to come back to India where he could be his own boss and let his creative juices flow freely.

In those days the Indian roads were choc-a-bloc with Fiats, Ambassadors and a handful of Marutis. This should have been a depressing sight for someone who had just come back from working in the automobile capital of the world but Chhabria did not worry.

He felt that cars, like much of everything else, become mundane after a while. Being something of a human psychologist, he understood this basic human need for change and it was this variety that he sought to provide to those who wanted to break away from the ordinary.

He decided to plough full speed ahead and start his own firm. DC Designs was born in 1993, a small company that manufactured automobile accessories and which would later give him the capital to build his dream machine.

Says Chhabria, "DC Designs forced me to turn into what most small time independent entrepreneurs end up becoming — artist, engineer, marketer and a finance person. But none bothered me. It was my company and I loved it. I had just one ambition — to get the capital and build my dream car — the Aston Martin DB7."

Concept car

He started small. Building a concept car required cash, which he did not possess, so he settled for modifying cars for individual customers. Customisation was fun and creative but the key was in moving ahead.

The Indian automobile scene was changing rapidly and the industry was finally coming of age. Customers wanted something unique and exclusivity was what Chhabria offered. The kind of people he drew had money to burn — and it had to be that way since car re-designing is an expensive hobby and sometimes the cost can equal the original value of the car.

Over the past decade, Chhabria, chairman and lead designer at DC Designs, has redesigned over 1,500 cars, a record of sorts. Customers have ranged from Amitabh Bachchan and Bal Thackeray to dozens of other celebrities. He says, "I put myself in the customer's shoes and think: Would I drive such a car?" This usually works and most clients concur with his designs.

After having established his reputation in India, he has begun venturing abroad. In March 2002, he displayed his Infidel sports car at the Geneva Auto Show and most recently the DC Gaia. The Gaia, named after the Greek Goddess of creativity evoked an electrifying response from the auto barons.

Visitors were amazed that an Indian workshop could design and build something like it. Coupled with the brilliant looks and feel were the astoundingly low costs because developing a car at Chhabria's facility in Mumbai works out to a hundredth of what it would cost in Italy.

An instant success and many accolades later, Chhabria was contacted by British auto giant Aston Martin to build a prototype for the new — yet untitled — James Bond movie. The irony of an Indian company helping a British legend produce a sports car to battle the Porsche 911 is but evident for all to see.

Dream come true

The new Aston Martin whose designing and production in Mumbai was closely monitored by both Aston boss Ulrich Bez and design chief Henrik Fisker looks absolutely great and will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this March.

That the Aston Martin will be featured in the new Bond flick is no small thing and Chhabria is extremely excited, though unwilling to part with details on this front. "I am extremely proud of the fact that I am the first Indian car designer to get my car in a James Bond movie. It is an honour to design a car for a legendary character. I had never dreamt that I would reach this level of success in my career," he says.

Landing the Aston Martin job might just be the breakthrough in the international market that Chhabria was looking for. He is now all set to conquer Europe with his modern-day chariots. He wants to build prototypes, concept cars and limited run editions for consumers abroad and sell them at the cheapest possible rates.

The jet setter Aston Martin DB8 that was designed in Britain, unveiled in Detroit and made in India will hit the roads early 2005 soon after the James Bond movie hits the screen. Tipped to cost £60,000 (around Rs 45 lakh) the car is the most inexpensive Aston Martin to hit the roads till date, and will ensure that Aston overtakes Ferrari in the production stakes.

Following this was an offer from Abbas Mustan, famous Bollywood film-makers, to build a car for their next movie. The car is to be the sole star of this unique Bollywood film. And although he refuses to tell anything more about the car or the movie, he invites all to the premiere of the movie (as yet untitled) and the unveiling of the car, which will take place in April this year.

"It'll be something unique," is all that he says. But then, whatever Chhabria designs, is unique. In fact, today he is the only car designer in the world to have created 450 unique designs in 10 years, each car with a design never to be repeated again.

Self-confidence, fervour, skill and talent have helped him traverse the slippery highway of success with considerable ease.

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