Nano gets a prestige makeover

Indian specialist customiser, DC Design, is working on a Suzuki Hayabusa-powered Nano that will cost $240,000 and hit 225km/h.  DC Design has taken a stock-standard four-door Nano and converting it into a souped-up two-door racer.

Looking like a Smart ForTwo on steriods, the car gets Mercedes SLS AMG-style gullwing doors, along with a light-weight carbon fibre body.  The minute 25kW 624cc engine has been ripped out, along with the rear seats, to fit the 147kW 1.3-litre Hayabusa four.

To match the high-powered motorcycle engine, the nifty Nano also gets a seven-speed sequential gearbox, cross-drilled ventilated F1-style brakes, wider tyres and re-engineered sports suspension.  To cope with the hot-rod performance, the standard suspension has been completely re-engineered.

Inside the bare-basic interior has been ditched in favour of a leather-lined cabin.  The car gets sports seats, a large screen to operate internet and satellite navigation systems and embedded lighting in the roof lining.

There are also high-powered xenon headlights and an articulated one-piece windscreen wiper.  Electro-chromatic lighting will allow owners to change the intensity and colour of interior lighting.

The head of DC Design, Dilip Chhabaria, says the company will build up to five hot Nanos a year for wealthy Indian clients. There are no plans for exports.  The chassis and car's floorpan will be largely the same.  "But apart from than that everything will be different," he says.

DC Design is one if India's largest auto accessory makers.  It also specialises in customising cars for India's well-heeled car enthusiasts.