From being extremely shy and introverted as a child, Dilip Chhabria grew up to become a legendary car designer. “Everything we do has to have the wow factor,” DC, as he is popularly known, told a packed hall of students and faculty.
According to a press release issued here on Saturday, in a ‘Fireside Chat’ with him, organised by The Think Tank of Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, Mr. Chhabria did not fight shy of revealing all – his story from early childhood to the present day. The host of the show, Suhas Kaushik, elicited even small details to the cheers from students.
In the two-hour freewheeling talk, Mr. Chhabria told the story of how he fashioned his life, despite twists and turns early on.
And, how he pursued his passion with dogged determination to become a car designer par excellence. Designing cars and making custom changes to cars is his passion, hobby and work, he said.
In a powerpoint presentation, Mr. Chhabria showed some of the models he had designed through the years. In the 22 years of his company’s existence, he has designed over 3,000 cars. “From making accessories to designing a whole car was an ever-present passion in me. So I started DC Design in 1993,” he said.
“My work spoke for itself, and I had a contract from Mahindra & Mahindra to start with and they locked me down for the first two years. Then we never looked back. I drove my own customised car and it sure was a head-turner. Success came early to me and I’ve enjoyed my journey.” His advice to the students: “All of you must have conviction in what you are doing. You have to be knowledgeable about what you are going to do. You have to extrapolate the future with the past and know what the outcome could be. You have to be learned in the profession. You cannot be superfluous.”
