Chinkara 1.8S - Rubberneckin

Like what you see? Want to be seen in one of these? Go get a crash-course in celebrity-hood first

Story: Jayesh Jagasia Photography: Kunal Khadse

One of the first things you learn when you visit Guido Bothe's workshop-home-farm-zoo on the outskirts of Alibaug is that a few beanbags thrown into the loading bay of a 1984 Nissan pick-up make for a supremely comfortable lounge space. Let me explain. I am lazing away in the Nissan's cavernous bay, beanbags enthusiastically taking the shape of my sprawling body, austerely handling the 'heavy' treatment being meted out to them without as much as a squeak.

Guido is following us in one of his jazziest creations. Looking at me, he has undoubtedly (perhaps inadvertently) conjured up the image of a many-times-magnified Garfield soaking up the sun in the bay of his rugged workhorse. Looking at him, I am wondering why there's no lasagne being served out here. Er...

But I digress. We are profiling one of Guido's jazziest creations yet. It makes heads turn. And how! My adequately cushioned vantage point is perfectly suited for the occasion. Guido's blazing red Chinkara seems to have an almost magical effect on school children fighting by the side of the road (over twenty-five paisa candies). As the car passes by, waving its magic wand on them, the kids erupt in peals of excited laughter. Fingers are pointed and guffaws savoured; the lads are bound by a common thread of mirth that knows no boundaries. And no twenty-five paisa candies. Further ahead, a flock of villagers turn around animatedly as they hear the roar of the 1.8l Isuzu engine unleashing a hundred and sixteen horses.

The sight of evaporating wrinkles from half-a-dozen odd faces breaking into impromptu smiles is a sight that can be matched in its poetic beauty only to a Porsche 911 powersliding through the ice in Iceland. We are yet to come across the piece de resistance - a lively band of chattering village aunties walking by the side of the road. Nauvari saris, merry laughter that can be heard a few hundred metres away, idle talk and lots of mindless gossip (presumably). The Chinkara whooshes by in a blaze of red. Laughter, cheers, claps. And whistles. Yep, I heard that right. And so did you. At its very worst, the Chinkara can make everyone smile broadly. At its best, it can make aunties whistle. If you need any more proof of the Chinkara's 'standout' quotient, I suggest you see a shrink at the earliest.

Source: Car India April 2006.