Mahindra XUV500 DC Lounge : First Drive

Dilip Chhabria needs no introduction. Founder of DC Design and the brains behind some of the most wonderfully outlandish one-off cars India has ever seen, he has also been churning out what are called DC Lounge kits for everyday cars for a little while now. The DC Lounge concept is simple – take a regular (and slightly large) car, strip out the interiors and replace them with a set-up more lavish than even the most luxurious of luxury cars can offer. And this service is absolutely brilliant for those who want something opulent to sit in, but don’t want any sort of flash to be seen from the outside.

The DC Lounge’s weapon of choice has, in most cases been the Toyota Innova, but last year the firm also gave the same treatment to its butch SUV cousin, the Toyota Fortuner. But remember, we’re talking about a near 20-lakh-rupee  car. So if you wanted to ‘DC Lounge’ an SUV, but had a donor car budget equivalent to the Innova, you were pretty much out of luck. Until now that is. The good blokes at DC Design have just designed this super luxurious interiors kit for the Mahindra XUV5OO.

Once you hand over your XUV5OO to DC Design, the firm really goes to town on it. The original second row bench and the foldable third row are chucked out, and in their place go a pair of 24-inch captain seats which are fully electric and can recline to a maximum of 150 degrees – perfect to take a nap in on those long drives. These seats, clad in very tasteful brown leather match the rest of the interior trim treatment, and feature controls for the seat position as well as the interior lights in the armrests. The roof also features an aircraft style centre module which offers diffused ambient lighting as well as an individual set of reading lights for each of the rear passengers.

The backs of the front two seats feature a pair of 10.4-inch LCD televisions which can be hooked up to a variety of sources such as DVD players or even laptops. And if you want to use your laptop or have a meal, a pair of tables with sliding tops  and glass holders fold out from behind the driver and co-driver seats. And the customisation doesn’t end there. The same leather upholstery as well as wood panel trim is also available for the front of the cabin, to match the look and feel of the rear seats.

The best part of a customisation job like this is that you can enjoy the lap of luxury without showing it off to the world. However, if you were in the mood to show off and the let all those watching know that you aren’t being driven around in a regular Mahindra XUV5OO, you can always go for the optional DC body kit which includes a new sculpted bumper as well as elegant cladding on the doors and wheel arches. All we can say is, wow!