While India has stunned the world with the Nano revolution, Caparo Vehicle Technologies, one of Lord Swraj Paul-owned Caparo Group's companies, is ready to start an Indian innings with Caparo T1, the ultra-fast supercar that has caught the fancy of the western world.
Caparo will assemble the car at its upcoming facility at Oragadom near Chennai, where Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) will be invested in manufacturing tubular parts for the automotive and aerospace industries, automotive braking systems, fasteners and composite materials.
The move represents a very big coup in India's automotive history, as never before has a high-performance car with complex composite materials and construction techniques been assembled in India.
Richard Butler, chief executive officer of Caparo Vehicle Products, said at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, that the company plans to assemble 12 ultra-exclusive cars at its facility in Chennai over the course of the car's product life cycle.
"Our total production run is limited to 100 units during the life cycle of the car. With these 12, we hope to address the domestic as well as Asian region needs," Butler said.
The car is currently on sale in Europe and 11 vehicles have been ordered so far. While 10 have been sold in Europe and Australia, one of these £2,00,000 (before duties) cars has found its way into the United States, and into the hands of a collector.
The car is designed by Ben Scott Geddes and engineered by Graham Halstead. The two are former engineers with McLaren, the company that is a constructor in Formula One and developed the McLaren F1 in the 1990s, a fast supercar that even today influences the design and construction of modern supercars.
The young engineers had designed the car and were looking for an engineering group to fund their design, before Caparo stepped in.
The Formula One-inspired T1 is powered by a 3,500cc V8, producing 575 bhp and is capable of accelerating from 0-100 kph in 2.5 seconds and achieve a top speed of 322 kph. This makes it a car that accelerates faster than the Bugatti Veyron, the world's fastest car in production.
Caparo's expertise in aerospace technology has blessed the car with a light, yet strong shell. Carbon fibre composites and an aluminium honeycomb moncoque have been used in its construction, giving it a power-to-weight ratio in excess of 1,000 bhp/tonne, a figure unheard of for cars on the road.
Caparo Vehicle Products will begin making carbon fibre, which is a complex process, at Chennai. Carbon fibre is a light yet expensive material and its production in India will mark a paradigm shift in vehicle construction technologies.
Caparo's next line of cars will be a small car that it plans to produce in several world markets, including India. Lord Swaraj Paul had said in a statement in October that the company plans to bring out the car in two year's time and it is currently being designed at Chennai.
The Caparo Group will not be manufacturing the car, but will franchise it to other companies.
It seems life turns a full circle at Caparo.
Aangad Paul, chief executive officer of Caparo Group sits next to Caparo T1. PTI Photo by Atul Yadav
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