[Sankar]

The Chinkara uses Pulsar (old type) round headlamps and Pulsar indicators at the front I noticed this in a mag which carrioed the roadtest of the car.

[motorheadinc]

Apologies for bringing to life this very old thread.
But I simply can't let fellow bhpians be cheated.

Originally Posted by GTO

Dudes,

Heres some updates from a very very reliable source.

1. Gautam Singhania is PISSED OFF with Chinkara for selling him a sub-standard car. This despite the fact that he had some kinda business arrangement with Chinkara (Vijay Mallya with San Storm, Raymonds on Chinkara type)

2. Do you know what chassis the Chinkara uses? The STANDARD HERALDS!!! Thats a freaking 4 decade old economy design. Can you just imagine the limitations it would have in terms of handling the power and going around corners!!

3. The front suspension is a stock Maruti 800's while the rear suspension is a modified one from all kinds of Indian cars.

4. Brand new Chinkaras have been surfacing in the market with missing parts...either from the suspension or the engine. Just heard about one where the oxygen sensors were not even installed, and some plugs/connections came off before delivery!!

5. The guy behind this Chinkara project has some exemplary experience in fiberglass motorboats BUT no experience at all with cars. Apparently the build quality is so pathetic that the car falls apart before you run the engine in.

6. The brake pedal on this supposedly Indian sportscar is more like the accelerator - You press it with all your might and the car still keeps moving

I am really disappointed coz this was one car I was really impressed with, at least on the outside. I like the looks and love the concept. But the Chinkara fails...Its poorly built, its dead slow and even a Zen will outhandle it in slow or fast corners alike.

GTO

GTO has put all the points in the most concise manner. Yet I see other T-Bhpians keeping false hopes on the cars.

I have had hands on experience with both chinkara cars and the people behind the company, guido and shama.

It all started in the 2006 auto expo where me and my partner were showcasing our advanced steering mechanism concept at the expo in the design and technology pavillion.(i m not in the picture)

our stall was just beside the xbp stall and in the same pavillion were the likes of NID, IIT-powai, DC design and many others.

The chinkara stall was just on the outside of the hall.

We had a brief talk with guido and then we went to have a look at his cars and were pretty impressed.

later on when we decided to go for FSAE and were looking for people to help us out.

We also went to his "workshop" in alibaug.

And then came the revealation.
The guy is a boat maker who can do some really good stuff with FRP.But thats about all.
He can do some really great job with the exteriors and which i really appreciate.
But everything else is just a jugaad.
naah i wont even call that a jugaad cause even a jugaad can run on road and ferry people and cargo.
These cars simply breakdown for the sole reason that nothing has been engineered into it.
when i had gone there all i could see were people and in terms of machines all i saw was a vertical drill. Even a trunk-Almirah making workshop requires more in terms of "machines".

So I would suggest all to keep away from these cars. If anyone needs the thrills you can go to chennai and coimbatore and get racing on tracks there.

cheers.

[manxs]

Hello,

I was browsing along to find a good roadster in India. We narrowed it down to the cat-7 and then found the chinkara.

Based on all your reviews Chinkara doesn't seem to be a very popular car, but the price point is such that you cant dismiss it.

Question: Can you buy a Chinkara, spend a lil money to put in better parts like the actual brakes brakes, suspension mods, chasis stabilizers and such? Any CHINKARA OWNERS/MODDERS want to help out?

FWIW: Chinkara 7L, Cat 18L + taxes + frt. even if I spend and additional 7L on the chinkara and can make it good, it is still a better deal than the cat.

[GTO]

FWIW: Chinkara 7L, Cat 18L + taxes + frt. even if I spend and additional 7L on the chinkara and can make it good, it is still a better deal than the cat.

The Chinkara provides a terrible foundation to start with. My garage pappu could probably build a better car. Why spend 7 lakhs on the Chinkara at all if you want to spruce one up? Build another from the ground up!

This thread would be a great place to begin.

[amit V8]

well can anyone post any pictures, none of the links are working.

[manxs]

thanks for the link. Already PMed riziali, hoping to make some headway there.

Originally Posted by GTO

The Chinkara provides a terrible foundation to start with. My garage pappu could probably build a better car. Why spend 7 lakhs on the Chinkara at all if you want to spruce one up? Build another from the ground up!

Well we are no experts in the car building/modding arena. I am *more* of a pappu than your garage pappu.. I need all the help I can get, thus the open discussion with you guys + willing to "waste" the 7L for a working framework

There are 2 goals with this project:
1) Build the car (always open to professional/hobby helpers)
2) The car is worth driving (similar to a cat-7, will be a lil flexible here)

[MileCruncher]

I had once seen a Cat-7 type modded car with esteem engine way back in 2002 in Bangalore at Ron Chinoy's place. Don't remember the details though but I don't think it was Chinkara. Having a desi version of caterham would be wonderful idea

[sidindica]

Does anybody still know where is the chinkara available in Delhi/ NCR

I would like to conduct a road test ASAP.

[normally_crazy]

I drove the Chinkara once for about 10 minutes. It was fun !

[canonball]

My friend runs Indias premier boating company and he told me even guido's boats are not accurate from a marine architecture point of view. They look ok I saw their catemaran lying on the kihim shore and it looked ok on closer inspection as someone rightly pointed the fiberglass is good but it seems all that the builder knows is how to lay fiberglass (basic workman artisan type stuff) but lacks engineering depth to create a completly engineered product. The caterman had many shabby titbits (windows, trim) which with some local machining could still be replicated accurately if imports are expensive. They just lack the eye for detail and seem half baked in their committment to this type of activity. Guido may make a great fiberglass layer/employee to an established boatmaker

I am not completely impressed with the chinkara and its asthetics, it looks like a cross between an ill proportioned beach buggy and a cat 7. It is a lousy looking car period!

[shortbread]

Manxs, why not use the best in the business. Caterham supplies completely knocked down kits as well as starter kits. with starter kits you can just specify what you want rather than the whole car, i.e. Chasis, engine, Suspension etc.. This is a very good and flexible platform to start with.
Perhaps once you have the chasis and essential suspension components you can easily use local resources for everything else. This way you have among the best chasis out there and put a lid on costs as well.
There is huge amount of info and advice available online about buiding a Caterham, and also plenty of new and used parts available cheap online, including e bay.
The biggest hurdle is that there is no local distributor for Caterham in India. The closest people you can rely on is Gulf sport in Dubai, [COLOR=#810081]www.gulf-sport.com[/COLOR]

I dont know what a Caterham chasis costs in Dubai, but must be cheaper that anywhere else due to the almost non existent Tax/Duties. I also have no idea what the cost overheads are for importing components (eg Chasis) into India. Perhaps other BHPians can help here. If you have close friends/relatives in the U.K they can help a lot. heres the link to the Caterham website
Caterham Cars - Designed for racing, built for living

Building a '7 Classic' has been on my 'To Do' list for sometime, and then to keep upgrading it. Due to regular shortage of funds and inherent laziness i've transferred it to the 'To do before I die' list.

[canonball]

RTO rules don't permit registration any self built cars period, so much so that regulations now also don't permit such modifications by using donor car which is registered, short of the long this will be a highly impractical exercise the guys who made good replicas in bangelore claim they will only use on track so no issues with RTO. But even if this is true I am not sure who will insure them or whether any insurance company will ever make a payout a contingency for which we buy policy? Even the mumbai guys who built the cars at my friends shivaji park workshop are falling in the donor category considered illegal by RTO! So some people may drive around the Chinkara/replica home made Lotus saying I beat the system come time of an accident/injury/fatatility or any other such eventality (India one can expect the unexpected) which no one can predict one is as they say #@?{£4 !

[shortbread]

Never knew this, thanks for the info canon..

[xingamazon]

Hi,

Got in touch with this thread only now. Can someone throw some light on this car in the current state.

Is this company and car still available? I was wondering I have not seen them in Chennai at all till date.

[GTO]

Xingamazon,

I wouldn't have any doubts on the company folding by now. I mean, they've really not sold any cars, have they? If at all the company exists, then it must be into other areas of business (boats etc.).