Modified Nano to be sold at Lamborghini's price

An Indian company is set to produce an enhanced version of the world's cheapest car, Tata Nano, only with a price tag of a Lamborghini Gallardo.

Mumbai-based DC Designs have code named their upcoming product as the DG490, which will go on sale in May for at least 133,000 pounds. Tata Nano costs just 1,400 pounds.

DG490 is expected to be the world's dinkiest supercar: a snub-nosed hatchback with gull wing doors that will do 140 mph.

Whereas the Nano u2014 top speed 65 mph u2014 gets by with a two cylinder 624cc, 33-horsepower engine and can sit five adults with ease, the back seats of the DG490 have been ripped out to accommodate a liquid cooled powerplant.

Other modifications include a seven-speed Tiptronic gearbox, a super-light carbon fibre body and cross-drilled ventilated brakes.

A completely re-engineered suspension system is being developed to counter the DG490's extreme power- to-weight ratio, to try to ensure that the hot rod stays on the road.
u00a0
While DC Designs admits that it is a niche product, it insists that it will attract buyers.

"If we didn't think we could sell it, we wouldn't build it. That would be like pouring money down the drain," The Times quotedu00a0 Dilip Chhabaria, the head of the specialist car refitting company, as saying.

DC Designs, which has developed prototype cars for Ford and General Motors, has sold about 700 cars in the past 16 years, most to ultra-rich Indians.

Clients have included Shah Rukh Khan, the Brad Pitt of Bollywood, and Anil Kapoor, who starred in Slumdog Millionaire.

Above all, however, the project is intended to showcase India's growing stature as a serious player in the auto industry.

"We're piggybacking on the huge global interest in the Nano to showcase engineering skills that are truly world class," Chhabaria said.