Chinkara Motors, officially Chinkara Motors PVT Ltd, was a

Mumbai, Maharashtra Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12.5& ...

-based automotive manufacturer. Chinkara operated from 2003 to 2016. The company was headquartered in

Alibag Alibag, also known as Alibaug (Pronunciation: �libaːɡ, is a coastal city and a municipal council in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district and is south of the city of Mumbai. Alibag is part of the ...

, Maharashtra. They had a host of prominent customers, including Gautam Singhania. Chinkara created a unique fleet of sportscars called Parx Roadsters for Singhania.

History

Shama Bothe and her German husband Guido Bothe founded Chinkara Motors in order to build sport cars. The company faced some initial funding problems. It took more than two years to manufacture and present its first car. In 2003, at Mumbai Auto Show, company's first car was launched. The car is priced at Rs 6.7 lakh. They also presented the Chinkara roadster. In 2004, at an Auto Show, Chinkara Jeepster was launched. The car was priced at Rs 3.98 lakh and had a fibre glass body. In 2005, at Vaahan Yatra, India's first ever indigenous ATV, Roadster, was launched. Another sports car, Speedster, was also presented. In 2011, Chinkara Roadster costed around Rs 26 lakh and a had minimum waiting period of five and a half months. The company manages to sell 2-3 units a year. In May 2018, the State Consumer Commission ordered Chinkara to pay Rs 3.5 lakh to a former Army Captain for supplying him a defective speed boat.

Automotive

Chingara primarily manufactured a 2-seat

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

called the Chinkara Roadster 1.8S, and the Jeepster, a classic 1940s Jeep look-alike. The vehicles were developed at

near Mumbai, India. The name Chinkara comes from a local word for an Indian Gazelle.

Chinkara Roadster 1.8S

The Chinkara Roadster is derived from the Lotus 7. The car is put together out of parts from various Indian cars, including the

Maruti 800 The Maruti Suzuki 800 is a city car that was manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India from 1983 to 2014. The first generation (SS80) was based on the 1979 Suzuki Alto and had an 800 cc F8B engine, hence the moniker. Widely regarded as the ...

and the now defunct Standard Herald. While this allows the car to be reasonably advanced, it allows the use of

intermediate technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by its users, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally autonomou ...

to compete with a western equivalent that may be more an advanced. For example, news articles on the car say it uses

MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles. The name comes from American automotive engineer ...

s front and rear taken from a Maruti Alto. The Roadster is available in several levels of tuning. *Price: INR 740,000 (excluding taxes) *Engine: In-line, Isuzu 4 cylinder, 1.8 liter/1816 cc (Petrol), @ 5000 rpm, @ 3000 rpm *Transmission: Five-speed Manual *Brakes: Ventilated disc (front and rear) *Tyres: Front – 205/50 R16, Rear – 225/50 R15 Goodyear F1 tubeless *Performance: 6.7sec 0–100 km/h, 187 km/h, 13kmpl (all figures claimed) *Length: *Width: *Height: *Weight:

Jeepster

The Jeepster is an

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

vehicle similar to the classic Willys Jeep. With its body constructed of lightweight FRP, the Jeepster can be delivered with a diesel engine or a 1.8L Isuzu petrol.

Other automotive products

Chinkara Motors also produced the following automotive products: *Hammer – a sandrail fast attack vehicle for the Indian defence forces *Rockster –

All-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

*Beachster –

Dune buggy A dune buggy — also known as a beach buggy — is a recreational off-road vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes, beaches, off-road or desert recreation. The design is usually a topless vehicle with a rear ...

*Sailster –

Wind-powered land vehicle Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity g ...

Motor homes A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and campe ...

Marine products

The Marine division specialized in the manufacture of

Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass (in fibreglass), carbon (in carbon-fibre ...

multi-hull (

Catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s &

Trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...

s) watercraft. They produced both powered and

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

catamarans and powered trimarans Chinkara also builds the Wave Striker power catamaran and Predator powered trimaran

work boats Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal ...

Aviation Products

The Aviation division produced GFP gliders and powered gliders,

Gyrocopter An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-driven ...

s and

Microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

References

External links

*
the Business Standard Motoring page and search for Chinkara

The Chinkara roadster by BM

{{Lotus Seven Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of India companies based in Maharashtra Sports car manufacturers Lotus Seven replicas Indian brands 2003 establishments in Maharashtra 2016 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 2003 Indian companies disestablished in 2016 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2003 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2016