DC reveals Avanti at Delhi auto show

Say namaste to the first Indian-designed sports car in the history of TIME.

It's called the DC Avanti, it's just been unveiled at the Delhi motor show and it's a comfortable signpost that India's appetite for cars has just got a bit more discerning.

It's cheap(ish), too; the pricetag's expected to hover around 30 lakh rupees (£36,000-odd in Church of England).

Which isn't at all bad considering how spritely it promises to be. Initially, it'll get a blown Ford 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which makes 261bhp. A 394bhp Honda V6 version will join the fray later, both of which will be attached to a six-speed dual clutch transmission.

The, err, idiosyncratically styled shell's got a lot of aluminum in it so weight's kept down to a relatively buoyant 1560kg. This means the (claimed) 0-62mph time's less than seven seconds, which, admitedly, stretches the definition of supercar a bit, but it's still fast for the money.

So, who the hell is DC? They're an Indian tuning house better known for adding big plastic nappies and bling-a-ding rims to everything from Rolls-Royce Phantoms and Porsche Cayennes to Tata Nanos. Then charging punters inordinate amounts of money (its tinkered Nano costs £141,000. ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTY ONE GRAND).

The manufacturer wants to build 200 cars a year at first, but plans to churn out up to 2000 cars a year longer term.

Would you drive India's first sporty/superyishcar, TopGear.comniverse?