Team-BHP - View Single Post - The Nizam of Hyderabad's Collection of Cars and Carriages

wasif · 3rd October 2009, 14:23

Hi Guys.

This is one case when I still haven't been able to convince myself that those cars should be left as is or restored.

Both points of views here have merits of their own. Keeping them as is as proposed by DKG has its own carms obviously going by what I saw when I was in Hyderabad last.

Now others from out of Hyderabad may not understand why these cars are not being restored. Its something to do with the charms of Hyderabad Royalty that one wants to leave these cars as is.

I was wondering what is the actual mechanical state of these cars. Are they all intact with respect to the mechanical components ? Any idea when any of these edwardian cars were last driven. What is the mileage on the Napiers the Wolsley and the Fiat ? Any idea who actually used these cars and when were they taken off the roads.

One very interesting point about these cars is that they might be the only examples of such old cars that have never actually been regestered for road use in Independant India.Does anyone know of any other car that didnot get regestered in India post 47 ?

What I would suggest is to start with the three cars that are in a relatively better shape, that is the Packard, the Ford and the Buick. Get them mechanically sorted and mobile. The finishes on them I am not sure are original or not but look good enough to retain.

Some history on these cars would also be interesting as to who used the Packard and the Buick and what is the mileage showing on all three.

These three cars could be cosmetically spruced up and retained as moving exhibits participating in any events that come up in the future.

Now about the Edwardians let us first do as much research into preservation / restoration options as possible before they are opened up to be worked on.

Ideally it would be great to first source the correct tyres for each, get the rims fixed and basically get them rolling again.

Then one can start on mechanical work preserving whatever is possible like the wiring etc or going with period reproductions of what is not preservable. There are many restoration houses in the world who can be contacted for advice on this and who have the capabilites to take them up. I am not certain this job could be handled in India without loosing much of the cars authenticity.

Once these cars are up and running then attention could be focussed on cosmetics. Maybe one or two of them which are in a relatively better condition could be retained as is with just general cleaning performed.

The others could be restored as faithfully to the original as possible which would involve a lot of painstaking work and maybe modern materials but in the original patterns.

All told it will be a process that could take years to get right maybe a decade or so but can you imagine the end result ? What would be created this way would be a legacy for the future generations.

This is what comes to mind when I think of these cars.

3rd October 2009, 14:23	#132 (permalink)
wasif Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Abu Dhabi / South Pas Posts: 1,092	Hi Guys. This is one case when I still haven't been able to convince myself that those cars should be left as is or restored. Both points of views here have merits of their own. Keeping them as is as proposed by DKG has its own carms obviously going by what I saw when I was in Hyderabad last. Now others from out of Hyderabad may not understand why these cars are not being restored. Its something to do with the charms of Hyderabad Royalty that one wants to leave these cars as is. I was wondering what is the actual mechanical state of these cars. Are they all intact with respect to the mechanical components ? Any idea when any of these edwardian cars were last driven. What is the mileage on the Napiers the Wolsley and the Fiat ? Any idea who actually used these cars and when were they taken off the roads. One very interesting point about these cars is that they might be the only examples of such old cars that have never actually been regestered for road use in Independant India.Does anyone know of any other car that didnot get regestered in India post 47 ? What I would suggest is to start with the three cars that are in a relatively better shape, that is the Packard, the Ford and the Buick. Get them mechanically sorted and mobile. The finishes on them I am not sure are original or not but look good enough to retain. Some history on these cars would also be interesting as to who used the Packard and the Buick and what is the mileage showing on all three. These three cars could be cosmetically spruced up and retained as moving exhibits participating in any events that come up in the future. Now about the Edwardians let us first do as much research into preservation / restoration options as possible before they are opened up to be worked on. Ideally it would be great to first source the correct tyres for each, get the rims fixed and basically get them rolling again. Then one can start on mechanical work preserving whatever is possible like the wiring etc or going with period reproductions of what is not preservable. There are many restoration houses in the world who can be contacted for advice on this and who have the capabilites to take them up. I am not certain this job could be handled in India without loosing much of the cars authenticity. Once these cars are up and running then attention could be focussed on cosmetics. Maybe one or two of them which are in a relatively better condition could be retained as is with just general cleaning performed. The others could be restored as faithfully to the original as possible which would involve a lot of painstaking work and maybe modern materials but in the original patterns. All told it will be a process that could take years to get right maybe a decade or so but can you imagine the end result ? What would be created this way would be a legacy for the future generations. This is what comes to mind when I think of these cars.