Maharaja Cars to enter 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

Published August 3, 2012
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7 min read

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

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.

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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