It?s often said that your car is the extension of your personality. While flashy reds and bright yellows are often the colours of choice for the young at heart, there are many who prefer classier greys, calmer blues or midnight blacks. Yet, colour is not the only way to make a statement through your car. There are quite a few brands out there (though hardly comparable to those available in the West) that offer a variety of models, each of which come with their own set of add-ons, frills and fancies. Nonetheless, chances are that Ghoshbabu next door already has the same Maruti Esteem that you?ve been planning to buy.

But while a lot of people are content with the current state of affairs, for some like Abdul, the meat man from Park Circus, the Kumar brothers of the city?s racing circuit and others of their ilk, such an appalling absence of variety and individuality is certainly not acceptable.

It is a matter of exclusivity after all. True, spinning around town in an expensive Mercedes SLK is one way of standing out, as the marque?s inflated price in India means that not many can afford it. But, what then is the solution for Tom, Dick and Hari?

Enter the world of customising where a car is tailor-made to reflect its owner?s inner self. It?s all about having your own way when it comes to the looks and styling of your vehicle. But customising also allows one to make internal changes along with external ones. Of course, it depends upon what you want and what you can afford to spend on the car. The easiest way to perk up your ride would be by adding accessories that are not featured as standard equipment, such as additional lights or a brand new music system. You could even try to paint the body in a colour that is not usually offered by the manufacturer.

Besides this, you could decorate the interior as well ? the fascia, the seats, the switchgear and the instrumentation can all be different. Aerodynamic aids such as spoilers and air dams can also be fitted to give the car a more sporty edge. If you want to go the whole hog, how about an office or even a home on wheels? You could purchase something along the lines of a Mercedes Transporter (the Tempo Traveller in India) and put in all the facilities you could think of: beds, toilet, shower, audio and video console and much more.

For an entirely different take, you could strip your boring old Ambassador down to the basics and build yourself an absolutely new sports or convertible body in sheet metal or fibre reinforced plastic (FRP). In fact, the car shown in the photograph started off as an Ambassador. You could lower the suspension, add new rims and tyres and even increase the track to complete the sporty look.

If you really mean business, try looking beneath the car?s body. Even an old car can be given increased power, better handling, improved road grip and brakes. Personally speaking, it?s a huge kick to see the driver of a modern car trying to overtake what seems to be an ancient Premier Padmini and then realising that the ?old? car is so much more than what it seems. Other than that, customising or boosting up an older car allows the driver to handle modern day speeds better. That said, however, customising is not just meant for older cars ? just watch The Fast and the Furious to see what I mean.

The most basic way to internally customise your car is to start with a ?top end? job such as twin carburetors, electronic ignition, modified cylinder head, exhaust headers and a low back pressure straight-through silencer box. At the same time, one should upgrade the brakes and sort out the suspension for better handling. Obviously, this is an area where money talks ? you could go for reprofiled camshafts, polished con rods and bigger pistons in enlarged bore cylinders. The suspension can be upgraded with revised geometry, stiffer springs and performance dampers. To handle the increased power and also to make the car look better, low profile tyres with a wider footprint (the area of tyre rubber actually in contact with the road at any given instant) are a must.

Customising is limited only by one?s imagination and of course, one?s wallet. It?s quite common for a car to have more money spent on it than what it originally cost. But what results at the end of the customising process is your very own exclusive car.

Customising is good and it can also be a lot of fun. One has to remember that the end product must look attractive to the eye. Without a proper sense of aesthetics and proportion, the whole project can go horribly wrong. So, if in doubt, turn to the experts for advice and workmanship. Nothing is worse than a botched job. Remember those wannabes who tried to convert Tata 206 pickups into saloons and estates in the hope of making them look like Mercs?

My first car

P. C. Sorcar, magician

The very first car that I bought with my own earnings was a Jonga jeep. These were made by Nissan for the Army, which used to sell them off after using them for a while. Mine cost about Rs 11,000, a whopping sum in those days, for I was barely in college, doing a few odd shows, and had to save up for a really long time to buy it.

The jeep was a major petrol guzzler but as far as I was concerned, I couldn’t be happier. I painted it a golden-yellow with bright red stripes, took off the hood and added a number of extra spotlights, horns as well as the piece de resistance — a loudspeaker. Every evening, about seven to eight of us would pile in and go to the Ballygunge Lakes, where we’d switch off the engine, put the car in neutral gear and sneak up on the unsuspecting courting couples. Then, we’d switch on all the spotlights and shout — ‘Baba jane’ (Does your father know)? It was a hoot to see them all run helter skelter — a couple of them actually dived into the lakes!

There were so many good times that I had in that jeep that it was really sad when I finally sold it about five years back. But I really had no choice. All its parts had been replaced by then and there were few traces of the original left. Now I have a Willys jeep and my wife a Tata Safari, but my first car will always remain the most special to me.

AS TOLD TO SREERADHA D. BASU