They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but surely, we can all agree this design is an acquired taste. Indian coachbuilder DC2 wants us to believe there’s a second-generation Volvo XC90 hiding beneath this high-riding coupe fitted with gullwing doors and all-terrain tires. Without looking at the design of the dashboard, it's nearly impossible to tell the donor car is a Swedish luxury SUV since everything else has been massively modified.
The company carrying the same name as a variation of the third-generation Honda Integra is known for coming out with outlandish projects and this XC90 is no exception. There must be a market in India for strange designs, and while this isn't necessarily our cup of tea, we can appreciate the amount of work invested in rebodying the SUV. It's not just the panels that have been replaced as DC2 also changed the headlights and taillights.
Volvo XC90 by DC2
Those massive honeycombs of the front grille can also be found at the back, surrounding the largest exhaust finishers we’ve ever seen. There are two "vents" mounted at the base of the rear windshield, which is rendered useless by the blacked-out cabin. Speaking of which, the custom SUV has a four-seat interior with two individual rear seats in the same vein as the XC90 Excellence.
Transformed into a two-door oddity, the luxobarge appears to have fixed side windows with only a small section that can be opened, mirroring some race cars. One can't help but notice the side mirrors are mounted on the front fenders while the generous ground clearance suggests the idea behind the wild build was to create a posh off-roader.
With square wheel arches, a bulbous rear end, and a clamshell hood, this XC90 looks nothing like the SUVs that Volvo assembles in Torslanda. Dilip Chhabria, the founder of DC Design (rebranded as DC2), certainly has plenty of imagination as not even AI tools can come up with such an eccentric design. It's especially true considering the donor car is a sensible premium SUV.
If DC Design doesn't ring a bell, it was behind India’s first sports car, the DC Avanti. Named after the Studebaker Avanti, the coupe had a Renault-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged engine bumped to 310 horsepower for a special edition unveiled in 2015. The mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive machine used a six-speed manual gearbox or an optional automated manual.
