The bug has bitten ad-maker Prahlad Kakkar, again. And to think it all started with the sensual Lisa Ray. By Girish Karkera. He learnt to drive in an old Vauxhall converted into a Dune Buggy- his first car which he still owns. He is easily turned on by good-looking cars. And dreams of owning a big SUV some day. Still, Prahlad Kakkar, the brain behind many a successful ad campaign like those for Pepsi and Britannia among the recent ones, says that he’s not much of an auto buff. Hard to believe. We think he’s probably trying to mislead us so that we pack up soon and he can reach office in time to meet his clients. Tough luck mate! The long locks of hair trying desperately to hide under that trademark hat, the thick beard and that mischievous glint in his eyes, make sure that this ace ad guy doesn’t go unnoticed. And he’s made himself all the more obvious, now that he’s got a DC-designed Daewoo Matiz that he got converted into an open-top ‘buggy’. “It’s not exactly how I had planned it to be,” said Prahlad as he removed the wraps off the bug. “I wanted it to be more like an open-top convertible with a canvas roof. I took the car to Dilip Chhabria Design, and found that I had let my imagination run a bit too wild.” Prahlad Kakkar with his DC-designed Daewoo Matiz Well, here’s what Prahlad had in mind. He wanted to cut open the entire top portion of the car, except the windscreen, of course, along the waistline. But that, as he later found out, would dangerously weaken the Matiz’s monocoque chassis. So, instead it was decided to have two removable roof planks with the shell left almost untouched. For safety sake, it was strengthened, nevertheless, with a couple of metal bars. Four doors were reduced to two, helping keep the car’s weight intact. Cut the story, what about Lisa Ray? Oh, right. Here goes. Do you remember the new Matiz ad starring Lisa and model Sanjay Suri, where both reach the showroom for a test drive and fall in love with the car as well as with each other? One of the scenes required a top shot of Miss Ray sprawling on the front passenger seat. There’s no doubt that the Matiz has quite a roomy interior with loads of headroom, but to get the laid-back Lisa in full splendor needed the camera to be placed much higher. So, Prahlad simply cut out a panel of the car’s roof, and presto! The results are there to see. Daewoo was quite impressed with Prahlad’s ad. Can’t say the same about his genius of an idea of giving the Matiz a sun-roof. So with the company not quite ready to take it back, Prahlad decided to revive his bug affair. “A car is addressed as female. And like women, curves in the right places do make an impact,” notes Prahlad with a cheeky smile. “The Matiz is a good-looking car. And now she looks even better. “I especially like the way the spare tyre has been placed. Gives her a good ‘backside’. Don’t you think so?”Absolutely. But what about practicality? “Maybe an open-top car is not a very practical option. But then it’s not supposed to be,” insists Prahlad. After doing 52 road tests to judge a vehicle’s value for money, that’s a bit difficult to take