Refit artists fuel city’s growing passion for mean machines
CAR CRAZY Car redesigning reaches levels of art in Delhi with workshops churning out models that look as fancy as the real ones at one-tenth the cost
NEW DELHI: The roar of the engine becomes frightening as a man in a soiled vest holds down the accelerator of a ‘Dodge Charger’ in the dusty lanes of Mahipalpur off NH-8. Its macho grills and giant front glisten in the sun, often inviting peeks from locals.
After months of labour, it is now nearly ready to hit the road, fast and furious. “It’s a handmade Dodge. It’s like what Vin Diesel drove in Fast and Furious. The car even sounds the same,” says Jagjit Singh, designer of the car.
Return him a curious look and he understands, “This car was a Ford Mondeo. Dodge has not even been launched in India. But we got a request from a client who wanted to drive a similar car. So I watched the movie, did research for a few days and redesigned his old car in our workshop,” said Singh who is the owner of Fine Auto Electric Works in Prithviraj Market near Khan Market. He is making another ‘Dodge’ and is flooded with requests from car lovers to change their old Maruti 800 into a convertible sports car.
Amid Capital’s crazy affinity towards all things new, the trend of car restoration and modification is growing. Cosmetic embellishments, fancy lights, and bizarre decals may make you cringe but cars now go under the knife in neighbourhood workshops, and the results may just bowl you over.
Law student, Pankaj Sharma, saw a Mini Cooper on the road one day. A closer look made him skip a heartbeat. He smiled and realised the fastest he could live his dream of owning a similar car was by remodelling his father’s old Maruti Swift. “That’s what it was — a lookalike. And it looked beautiful. I am doing my research and looking for the right designer,” he said.
Car redesigning has reached the levels of art in the city with regular workshops churning out models that look as fancy as the real ones at one-tenth the cost. Jagjit Singh, for instance, changed Maruti 800 into a red convertible three years ago. “I would go to college on a scooter. But I wanted to design something that a youngster could drive in style and thus made a two-seater convertible that looks like Mercedes SLK and costs `3 lakh,” he said.
Ideally, it takes three months to redesign a car. The client has to simply bring his old car and make the payment in advance. “I get many NRI clients who want to drive the same cars when they return to their village. I also have more clients from other cities. Car lovers in the Capital call me a lot but most of them do not want
to shell out money. They do not understand it’s a work of passion and continuous labour. In return, they get to drive their dream cars which are also affordable,” he said. The engine and chassis are not tampered with and these cars are as safe as the original, he assures. The registration of cars is also not changed as of now as experts say it’s a grey area with no clear rules on modification.
At another workshop in Inderpuri, next to Patel Nagar, a Honda Accord is being sculpted into a convertible. Bhalinder Singh, with his father and brother, has redesigned a Hyundai i10 into a ‘Beetle’, Honda Accord into a ‘Bentley’, a Sonata into a limousine and customised cars for the differently-abled. They together redesign at least 15 cars per year and have clients in 50
cities, says Bhalinder. “More people go abroad these days. They watch foreign films. So they are fascinated with fancy cars,” said Bhalinder who runs Limousine Auto Care.
The trio assures they can create any car out of any car. “It’s also cheap. A real Beetle would cost `25 lakh. A used one will be for `15 lakh. But modifying a hatchback into one will cost just `3-4 lakh,” Bhalinder said. “About 40% of our clients are from Punjab, Haryana and South India,” he added.
From adding mud flaps to a Rolls Royce in a village in Rohtak (on demand from the owner) to designing luxury caravans, Singh say their business is all about fulfilling dreams. Businessman Gunjot Singh agrees. He was bored of his five-year-old Honda City. So he spent `3 lakh and changed it into a matte red convertible that has been catching enough eyeballs since it hit the road last month. “I was nervous when my car was being dismantled. But when I saw its new avatar, I couldn’t say anything but wow,” said 27-year-old Gunjot.