The new Imperator, conceptualised by design guru Dilip Chhabria, promises some exciting action, says Shapur Kotwal
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No one can accuse car designer Dilip Chhabria (DC) of habitually opting for ‘safe’ designs. Continuously pushing, pulling and stretching the edge of the envelope, and delving in new shapes and forms, is more his style. So, like the work of any great artist or creator, his ideas are radical and often decades ahead of mass acceptability — or even mass accessibility.
The DC Imperator, however, has a more accessible appeal once you get your head around it. DC says he wanted to design the most extreme and sporty SUV possible, or the first ‘SSUV’ — Super Sports Utility Vehicle. As a result, the Imperator, the Roman title given to a victorious Caesar, is an amalgam of ideas — Paris Dakar Raid car meets F1 car meets BMW X6, with breathtakingly massive 28-in wheels.
Seeing the Imperator for the first time, in flesh and blood — or in metal and steel, as it were — is a truly unique experience. You initially gape at the car in shock, words failing you. Then the size of the thing smacks you in the face. At five metres, the Imperator’s towering presence is tall enough to dwarf a Hummer. The four massive wheels and their very technical rims, flung out to each end of the design, represent the four pillars on which the design of the car rests.
DC calls the effect ‘cloth draped over four wheels’. That and the tube-like central cabin of the car, with the mid-mounted Audi V12 diesel motor placed behind it, are what the Imperator is designed around. And the Audi connection doesn’t end there.
DC admits to having Audi in mind when creating this monster. The name Imperator has been used by Auto Union in the past, the tail-lights are pretty similar to Audi-like LED lights and, if you look at the rear of Auto Union’s famous Type C Grand Prix car of the ’30s, you’ll see the tapering tail and outrider wheels there too. The rear of the car is the best bit, blending rectangular shapes with the massive curves of the wheel arch brilliantly. The square centre exhaust, the surrounding oversized black diffuser, the sweep of the roof all work together in harmony. Hats off, maestro!
Also very attractive are the chrome surrounds for the doors, the way in which the waistline of the car rises up to meet the rear and the use of cameras for rearview mirrors. DC calls this an off-roader but, like it is with any show car, a bit of poetic licence has been used here. The ground clearance seems only good enough for rough tracks and the F1 car-inspired nose of the Imperator doesn’t work as well as the rest of the car.
If you’re wondering whether this car will make it to the tarmac, you should know that DC actually has an Imperator on order for a client in Thailand. So look out for the car on the streets of Bangkok next time you’re there. And make sure you don’t miss the jaws hitting the pavement.
Pix courtesy: DC Designs
