Cover Story

Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu
Local Car Whiz Dazzles the World

Imran H. Khan

One has to give credit to Leepu for achieving something that hardly anyone in the world has -- building two cars in seven weeks, a feat which even shocked Bernie Fineman.

Star file photos

It is not every day that a Bangladeshi has a chance to be “discovered” but one name that was showcased on Discovery Channel was Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu. Leepu had been working in automotive body design and building technology since 1988, when he spent seven years in California as a car mechanic. He came back to Bangladesh in 1998 and spent most of his time making new cars out of the bodies of old ones, probably his own adaptation of Pimp My Ride, a popular western car show.

Leepu works without the aid of advanced equipment or computers and in order to test his skills, Discovery Channel proposed that he build two unique cars within a timeframe. The proposed deadline was set at eight weeks. The whole process was to be documented and aired on the Discovery Channel. With only a few garage tools at his disposal and of course his skill, Leepu got to work and the end results were two beautiful sports cars, customised in his own vision. One of them, the M26 is suitably named after March 26, our Independence Day. It has the chassis of a 1984 Toyota Sprinter on the inside and has a collage of sleek, smooth and artistic power unleashed on the outside. It took just 28 days to make. The M26 is equipped with a plane Toyota engine and produces 84 Brake horsepower (Bhp). The engine was provided by Bernie Fineman, a veteran in the auto trade for nearly half-a-century and who has worked with Rolls Royce and Jaguar. The most amazing part of the feat was that Leepu accomplished the near Herculean just task within seven weeks. Leepu starred in Bangla Bangers exclusively on the Discovery Channel in September 2006.

Nevertheless, one has to give credit to Leepu for achieving something that hardly anyone in the world has -- building two cars in seven weeks, a feat which even shocked Bernie Fineman.

Photo: BBC Online

Leepu's fascination towards cars came about when he was a child and went to a car exhibition in Saudi Arabia. The maverick instantly fell in love with a Ferrari. When he grew up to realise that the price tag did not agree with his wallet, he told himself that he would some design himself a car just like a Ferrari. Unable to get the car out of his head, and unable to afford one, he learnt the fine arts of automobile designs by himself. He would also look out for cars on television, as it was nearly impossible to find car magazines at that time. He would eagerly wait for movies and serials such as Knight Rider, just to study the shape and designs of the vehicles. In 1989, he made the Leemo-bil, his own version of his dream car the Lamborghini. He then went to create some look-a-likes of Ferraris. Car lovers in Bangladesh soon got interested in his designs and whenever someone wanted unique bodyworks to go over their dusty old car frame, everyone knew where to go to.

The car whiz has dazzled the world with his keen sense of shape and structure, not to mention his imagination. Leepu's main source of inspiration has been from nature itself, from flowers, animals, birds, fish and the likes. It will be interesting to see where this young man's imagination takes him.

Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2006