Maharaja Cars to enter 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

  • Published August 3, 2012
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While the 1924 Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. from Jodhpur / Udaipur would be hard to beat for occasion and presence, what with His Highness Arvind Singhji Mewar himself being present at the concours, there are some other great gems which many would be able to feast their eyes on and take in


Pebble Beach

One of the most happening events in the classic car world would unfold in mid-August this year when at the 62nd edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, there would be a couple of classes catering to cars owned by Indian royalty. Split up into two classes of which one would cater to Rolls-Royce automobiles favoured by the Indian royals to another which would encompass many other great brands ordered and used by our colourful rajas and maharajas, this is sure to bring together a bit of Indian automotive heritage together after so many years.

While the 1924 Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. from Jodhpur / Udaipur would be hard to beat for occasion and presence, what with His Highness Arvind Singhji Mewar himself being present at the concours, there are some other great gems which many would be able to feast their eyes on and take in. Not since the original Delhi Durbars would we be seeing so many great cars with an Indian provenance together and that as such is a unique occasion.

Of the other two cars winging their way from India to California, the first is the magnificent ex-Maharaja of Baria’s 1930 Stutz Series M from the Diljeet Titus collection. Probably the only known Stutz in existence in India (probably the only one to have come to our shores!) this is a gloriously restored machine. Joining it at Pebble Beach would be another 1930s car, this being the French Delage D8 carrying sports tourer coachwork by Figoni. Ordered originally by the Maharaja Holkar of Indore, this is now owned by Dr Ravi Prakash of Bangalore.

Pebble Beach

Probably the greatest car owned by an Indian and a royal to boot, to this very day would be the Thrupp & Maberley cabriolet built on a 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II. Known as the ‘Star of India' with its saffron and chrome coachwork, this was ordered new by the Maharaja of Rajkot and used for official duties until it went out of the country some time in the 1960s. It is now known that it was bought by the present Yuvraj Saheb Mandhatasinh Jadeja of the very same royal family of Rajkot and this would also be at Pebble possibly with the Yuvraj at its controls.

As one can make out from the list of cars due at Pebble Beach from our former royals, one of the most intriguing and also very interesting is the 1930 Mercedes-Benz 27/140/200 PS Type SS four-seat sports tourer from none other than Mercedes-Benz Classic! Formerly the pride and joy of the Maharaja Bahadur of Kashmir, this car was subjected to a ground-up restoration by Mercedes-Benz Classic and should be one of the highlights in the Indian classes. Watch out for a full fledged report on the proceedings from Pebble Beach in our next issue.

Class E1 Maharaja Cars                                                        Original Owner                                                       Present Owner

1910    Brooke 'Swan' Car                                   Maharaja of Nabha                         Louwman Museum - Netherlands                                                                                                       

1919    Cygnet created by the Maharaja of Nabha   Maharaja of Nabha                         Louwman Museum - Netherlands                                                                                                       

1925    Hispano-Suiza H6B Kellner Cabriolet          Maharaja of Alwar                                The Keller Collection - USA  

1930    Bentley Speed Six H J Mulliner Saloon        Maharaja of Jaipur                                Cavallino Holdings - USA    

1930    Delage D8 Figoni Sports Tourer                 Maharaja Holkar of Indore                      Dr. Ravi Prakash - India   

1930    Mercedes-Benz 27/140/200PS Type SS Sport Four-Seater      Maharaja of Kashmir   Mercedes-Benz Classic - Germany     

1930    Stutz Series M LeBaron 4-Passenger Speedster Tonneau Cowl  Maharaja of Baria                Diljeet Titus - India           

1935    Duesenberg J Gurney Nutting Speedster        Maharaja Holkar of Indore                     The William Lyon Family - USA                                                                                                       

1935    Hispano-Suiza J12 de Villars Cabriolet           Maharaja of Rajkot                                    Robert M Lee Trust - USA  

Class E2 Maharaja Rolls-Royce Cars

1924    Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. Barker Tourer      Maharaja of Jodhpur / Udaipur          Arvind Singh Mewar, Maharana of Udaipur

1925    Rolls-Royce Phantom I Barker Sport Torpedo Tourer    Maharaja of Idar    The Hon. Sir Michael Kadoorie - Hong Kong                                                                            

1928    Rolls-Royce 17 EX Sports Phantom     Maharaja of Kashmir                                Ing. Alexander Schaufler - Austria                                                                                              

1937    Rolls-Royce Phantom III Thrupp & Marely Convertible     Maharaja of Reva                           William B Ruger - USA    

1937    Rolls-Royce Phantom III Barker Cabriolet        Maharaja of Keonjhar                                     Stephen Brauer - USA    

1937    Rolls-Royce Phantom III Thrupp & Maberly Sport  Nawab of Bhopal                  Keith Sherper & Kenneth Sherper - USA 

1934    Rolls-Royce Phantom II 'Star of India' Thrupp & Maberly Cabriolet          Yuvraj Saheb Mandhatasinh Jadeja of Rajkot    Yuvraj Saheb Mandhatasinh Jadeja of Rajkot - India                                                                         
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