[canonball]

I wonder even if the boats are certified just like their road cars I am sure marine engineering regulators in india too may have a rigorous process of certifying like our VRDE so even the boats may not be legal/registered etc....the cars nothing to buy neither the the company because both were far far away from the real things/replica's..you are better of making a cat in your garage as some folks have done and the cars are fab...only issue not street legal :(

[motorheadinc]

Logged onto Team Bhp after a long (read really long) period today and am posting my first reply after perhaps more than an year now. The thing that people are still considering buying these "so called" Chinkara cars is beyond me. There is a full thread regarding how these vehicles are virtually a con act. What is even more disturbing is the fact that the people at Chinkara have diversified their business and are into marine and aviation too. Just have a look at their website. Welcome to Chinkara Motors

It astonishes me that despite conning so many people they are still in business and flourishing.

[Gooney]

Hey thanks for the website Motorheadinc. The Roadster S looks nice. After reading through the posts I do not really have any comments as such. Just a question - what is the point if RTOs do not recognize highway-ready hobby cars?
P:S- I have to admit though - thier logo is awesome! Wish it was a mainstream Indian OEM.

[GTO]

I see Chinkara Motors has updated its website. Question : I guess the (lousy) Chinkara can't even be registered in the 13 metros anymore? Fat chance of that 1.8 L petrol meeting BS-IV emission norms.

I hope they sell better products to the aviation & marine industries. After all, I can live with a shoddily built car breaking down on me. But whats to say when you're stuck in a sinking boat or powerless airplane!!

From their website:

The Chinkara Roadster S (Lotus Super 7 inspired) has been designed and produced with German technology. The unique feature is its ability to withstand the pitfalls of harsh Indian road conditions.

[manishalive]

I have visited this thread almost half a decade later. Infaxct today saw almost all of similar threads. One thing I could make out is Our GTO (mod on the forum) is a huge fan of 2 seater sparts cars (same like me) and wants to build his own one fine day (same like me).

Now as for the chinkara. My two bits on a dead c**.

1. R.T.O. is a killer and that is the reason one have to use a donor vehicle. In Chinkara case it was Herald. Why simple it is a Body on chassis design (easy to make a body) and would have been available for cheap those days. The same chassis is lightweight compared to other available ones of Jeep etc. If we need a space frame more engineering is required. By the way Mitshubishi pajero till some time back was still with body on frame design.

2. The said Herald chassis was redesigned / modified by a friend of the builder in Australia to suit the application (as read on one of the Automotive Magazine).

3. He is good at fiberglass body building. As for the windshield frame it was a direct take from a jeep (readily available) other wise to get the frame and glass made like original would have resulted in more excersie. More stock more the better for aftermarket replacement of parts. ( Now the window frame shown on their website is a lot different from then)

4. As for the suspension yes the front had Maruti 800 Bits, but that was all to be substituted by ones from Maruti Esteem on the later models. I don't know what happened of that.

5. How are they getting the donor vehicles? Cause

a.) Not enoughf heralds left for sacrifise.

b.) Available ones have sky rocketing Prices (imagine he selling the original herald bits on ebay to fund his builds)

6.) Price Vs. Quality (note I am not speaking of term Cost, which would have been much much lower for them).

[shortbread]

I think there is a juicy opportunity present here. If Chinkara can import kits from Caterham, just the importanat bits like chasis and suspension. Ford (who supplies Caterham) locally make the 1.2 and 1.6 engines. Rest of the car can be made by sourcing locally. This will be a far more accomplished car than what they have now.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Ford (who supplies Caterham) locally make the 1.2 and 1.6 engines. Rest of the car can be made by sourcing locally. This will be a far more accomplished car than what they have now.

In the shoddy state that it is currently sold in (was sold in?), the Chinkara cost well over 6 lakhs on the road. Importing parts from the UK would take the pricing to well over 10 lakhs. Who's buying?

Going by the company's approach to the car, its clear they only wanted to sell something that looks "cool". To hell with the mechanical bits under the skin. A well-deserved flop if I ever saw one. Give me a Tata Nano or an Alto K-10 over this contraption any which day.

[manishalive]

Originally Posted by GTO

In the shoddy state that it is currently sold in (was sold in?), the Chinkara cost well over 6 lakhs on the road. Importing parts from the UK would take the pricing to well over 10 lakhs. Who's buying?

Going by the company's approach to the car, its clear they only wanted to sell something that looks "cool". To hell with the mechanical bits under the skin. A well-deserved flop if I ever saw one. Give me a Tata Nano or an Alto K-10 over this contraption any which day.

And for that amout of money we can seriously mod a beat up zen live happy after that.