Car-crazed Navi Mumbai youth makes his own set of wheels

The car gives an average of 6 kilometres per litre and has a top speed of 180 kmph. "But I hardly cross 80, as I follow the rules," says Prem Thakur, seen here in the driver's seat, with his parents and younger brother. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

A 19-year-old spent around Rs 3 lakh and four months on creating his dream machine himself. He also collected funds for it by using the earnings from driving his father's rickshaw. Now the Kharghar resident is the centre of attraction wherever he drives in the car.

Prem Kailash Thakur, a resident of Suprabat Society, Sector 12 in Kharghar, is a FYBCom student from Satyagraha College. He is the son of Kailash Thakur, an auto-rickshaw driver.

The dream
It all started in May 2016, when Prem decided to modify his second hand Accent car that he had bought from at just Rs 50,000. He started to work on it in the compound of his building. "The engine is of an Accent car and the suspension is of a unicorn motorcycle. I bought parts for the car from CST road in Kurla and Shil-Phata and Taloja," said Prem, who then built a shed outside his building compound to work on the car.

YouTube videos
Prem, who is crazy about sports cars, then watched videos on YouTube to learn how to create the car. "There are different videos that show how a car is made. I got the idea and started getting parts for it," added Prem.

"My parents gave me one lakh each. The 50,000, I collected by saving the earnings from driving our auto-rickshaw during nights. My father works in the day. I used to drive at nights and earned almost Rs 1,000 to 2,000 depending on the flow of customers," said Prem.

Prem had become the focus of attention during the Ganesh festival and Navratri when he used to drive around different pandals in Kharghar for darshan. "I used to drive only in Kharghar, as the car would not be allowed outside the city limits, and I don't like to break the rules. Police officials who saw it appreciated my talent," said Prem, who has a huge fan following. Whenever he stops at a junction, a crowd gathers to see him with the modified car and click pictures with it and him.

Supported him
Sandhya, Prem's mother said she was happy that he created a car at such a young age. "Since childhood he was crazy about making things. His school teachers would appreciate his projects." Kailash Thakur said he never stopped his son. "I always supported him. In ‘Three Idiots,' the message is that we should inspire our kids to do what they are interested in. Today, I am proud to ride in a car made by my son," said Thakur.