Kochi: For 26-year-old Bibin Chacko, cars have always been more than just a means of transport. What began as a childhood fascination with dismantling toy cars to understand how they worked has now evolved into a full-blown passion project - building a replica of a Lamborghini Huracán on his terrace.

Bibin, a native of Thiruvaniyoor, started working on the car during his BTech days at Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam. Every evening after college, he would head to his terrace and spend hours building the car of his dreams.

“Back then, I used to work part-time, delivering newspapers to nearby houses. With the ₹5,000 I earned each month, I’d buy parts for the car on Saturdays. I’d work until I ran out of parts, and when I ran short on money, I’d wait for my next month's salary,” Bibin said. His passion project has cost him around ₹1.4 lakh so far.

As a child, Bibin collected toy cars, dismantled them, and reassembled them out of curiosity. He participated in exhibitions and enjoyed creating things from scratch. “I loved drawing, painting, and building,” he said. “Once, I built a remote-controlled car and thought, why not try making a life-sized version of it?”

To build the replica, Bibin constructed a basic frame using steel rods and cardboard. He fitted the vehicle with tyres from a Maruti Alto, which meant he had to scale down the model from the original Huracán size. Most of the outer body is made of fibreglass, and the seat is shaped out of plywood. “I'm still saving up for the cushion,” he said.

Initially, Bibin installed an auto-rickshaw engine. “But it sounded exactly like an auto, and the pickup was poor. So I replaced it with a Maruti engine,” he said. “For the steering wheel, I bent and shaped rods by hand.” Though he doesn’t have permission to drive the vehicle on public roads, Bibin occasionally starts it and drives it around his front yard.

These days, Bibin works full-time at a private firm, which leaves him only the weekends to work on his project. But he refuses to back down. “Earlier, I had more time, but now with work, I can only build on weekends. Still, I’m planning to finish it this year.”

Bibin hopes to one day work for a luxury car manufacturing company. Until then, from his house in Thiruvaniyoor, he continues to build his dream, one part at a time.