On a bright Friday morning a week ago, I received a mail from the good guys at automobili ardent- an awesome Instagram page dedicated to supercars of India. It was regarding the confirmation for me getting a chance to see the concept of India’s first hypercar, the Vazirani Shul. And frankly speaking, I couldn’t get over the fact that I was invited!

A few moments later, I found myself at the gate of the industrial property which housed the Vazirani automotive studio. After wandering about helplessly, my grandfather and I finally found the “top secret studio”. I still couldn’t recover from the shock that I was physically present there! A paper with the word “CLOSED” printed on it was the first thing I saw on the massive tinted glass doors. Having noticed a kid with his grandfather peeking through the doors, a guy walked up to us, and opened the door. He asked my name and having confirmed that I was on the list, he shook me warmly by the hand and welcomed me inside. I was neither greeted by the smell of burning tyres, nor the sight of sparks from a welding machine. A clean, silent, well-lit studio greeted me with a car enveloped in a neat cover flashing the Vazirani logo on it sitting adjacent to a wall embedded with design sketches of it. In one corner was a room where I noticed four people chatting. The guy asked me to wait there till the others arrived. Having entered that room, the 1:18 scale models of a Koenigsegg CCX and a Cadillac CTS and hardcopies of “The Car Design Yearbook 2” and “The Car Design Yearbook 3” caught my eye. Having introduced myself to the other motoring enthusiasts, we started discussing about how Top Gear was better than The Grand Tour, which Top Gear episode was your favourite and how The Stig crashed the Koenigsegg CCX in one episode.

As our unceasing talk went on, I noticed the guy who invited me in coming down from the top floor with a chair, followed by another man. As he descended, I realised who he was. He was the man himself, Mr. Chunky Vazirani! As he entered the room and sat right beside me, I had an adrenaline rush which I cannot explain in words. He started asking about each of us and had a hearty laugh when he got to know that 5 out of the 7 people present there were transportation design students. He spoke to us on how he was initially going to go for some other career but then decided to design the Shul instead as cars had a special place in his heart. He also added why we need young talented innovators who perform at their full potential to make India a large market, not just for cars but any other industry. After a while, the person who had taken this initiative, a founding member of Automobili Ardent, Aniruddha Karanjekar stepped in and we exited the room to unveil the car. As Chunky sir and a guy unveiled the car, my eyeballs were rolling in their sockets and my mouth was filled with drool(luckily it was closed;) As I walked up to the car, I could feel the sleepless nights spent to make it. I felt like I was being introduced to lord Shiva; calm and cool to look at, but extremely aggressive when you want it to be. My jaw dropped so hard that I thought I broke a tooth. 

With cameras as side mirrors, the Shul is surely designed for the near future. This electric hypercar was first unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 12th July, 2018. It is a hybrid, with a micro-turbine and 4 electric motors powering it, producing a proposed 1000hp, enough to blow your head to smithereens if you put it out of the window. But don’t you worry, because the Brembo brakes in it will stop this spaceship before you could say, “Oh no! We’re going too fast and my head just exploded!” Having said that, this piece of art in motion would be just fine to give the Italian horses and bulls a run for their money. Yup, those calipers are as real as the concept and don’t you miss those drool worthy carbon fibre wheels. From the flawless curves to the ‘V’ shaped carvings in the carbon fibre, the detailing is so fine, that it would make Leonardo da Vinci cry.

Notice the ‘V’s in between the lights
Its creator, Mr. Chunky Vazirani has studied in ArtCenter College of design in California. And having worked with Land Rover in the past, this man sure knows how to design a car! “The main idea behind the Shul concept was to have a design which is aerodynamically stable and have parts which play a vital role in the performance as well as get a good number of heads turned. Like the Trishul shaped ducts at the side to help cool the turbine, and so on. The specs cannot be revealed as the team may consider changing some design and engineering nooks of the car. For example, we have not confirmed how many battery packs to install, because more batteries mean more weight which results in decreased performance. This design itself has been tested with CAD a lot of times to get it right!” He says. This turbine exhaust makes the car look stunning while keeping the turbine cool. If you have a large pocket full of money and are planning to buy this world first, then you may have to wait till 2021. But thank god (and Vazirani sir), the production version would be much similar to this futuristic looking concept.

The production version will look similar to the concept
“We are now working on how to fit the turbine in the car and the interior.” Chunky sir explains. The Vazirani Shul has been designed in California and the UK with major inputs from Michelin tyres, the GranTurismo game and other designers. It has secured funding from a few investors. “We currently have a small team and are continuously going through resumes sent by aspiring young engineers and designers to scale up our team.” Vazirani sir says. Even though the design and idea of the Shul are from India, the production version would be made elsewhere. “We prefer to remain in the niche sector and work on cars like these rather than make SUVs worth millions!” the 28-year old jokes. 

Vazirani Automotive would also provide their expertise to other brands, like Rimac and Mahindra-owned Pininfarina. My visit at the studio ended with me converted to an ‘electric’head from a petrolhead, loads of answered questions, a mind filled with automotive information and a thought: With both Vazirani Automotive and Mahindra-Pininfarina pursuing electric hypercar goals, only time will tell how India will hold its head high in the hypercar league, and impact other aspiring and existing hypercar creators.

Link to the original post - https://medium.com/@atharva.vargante/my-vazirani-automotive-visit