Jaguar XK120/140/150 in India

[John Elmgreen]

I am writing a book that will include a section on Jaguar XK120 / 140 /150 cars in India. I have details of all such cars sold new in India but very little information on the cars that survive there, although I see from others that there are about 20 XKs known to be in India. I would welcome information about all such cars, particularly identified by chassis number where possible. - John Elmgreen (Sydney, Australia).

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by John Elmgreen

I am writing a book that will include a section on Jaguar XK120 / 140 /150 cars in India. I have details of all such cars sold new in India but very little information on the cars that survive there, although I see from others that there are about 20 XKs known to be in India. I would welcome information about all such cars, particularly identified by chassis number where possible. - John Elmgreen (Sydney, Australia).

Welcome aboard. Interesting choice there. What is the book largely on? Jaguars or Indian cars?

Spend some time in this section and use the search function, you should find quite a few cars. Here are some from my side. No chassis numbers unfortunately.

A superb early 120, BMU 1259. Was with Ramesh Thakker in Pune, recently sold.







Electric blue 120 in Delhi. Car is well known in Delhi circles, someone from Delhi could give us more details on it soon.




MFA 7913, also in Dehi. The regn dates to Bombay, circa 1985. The Nawab of Pataudi also had a similar looking car, perhaps this is the same car?


DIC 9829 was spotted in Calcutta in 2004, and WBB 9668 in Bangalore, 2007. (140s perhaps?)



I got this junked 120 photo from Xoticars on the forum. Perhaps he can shed more light on this. I heard of 2 cars of similar disrepair being restored in Bombay, perhaps this is one of them.


The royal family of Gondal in Gujarat has 2 XK 150 S's in their collection. Here is one of them.

Long time no see - Drop head gorgeous - Business Standard Motoring

Do keep us posted on the progress of the book.
Cheers

[awini]

the blue delhi car is an alloy body, if i remember right its the first right hand drive car, apart from these there is another alloy in jaipur, still with the royal family, a single owner 120 on the outskirts of delhi lying in a field, with an austin healey 100?, and a LHD 120 in bombay, in primer for many years.

[DKG]

Wow...the XK to me is the ultimate sports car. For me no other car romanticises the spirit of open air motoring as beautifully as an XK

It exudes extreme style and grace. Apart from Packard this is the only other vintage I still drool over, ah perhaps a vintage Bentley too

Sadly there's isn't a single XK in Hyderabad. John perhaps if you could list chassis details, as we have tried doing for the Rollers, we can help identify the cars for you

You'll be surprised how resourceful our friends here are. They traced the Duesies that came to Hyderabad with pictures and details in what seemed like a jiffy

[DKG]

Originally Posted by awini

the blue delhi car is an alloy body, if i remember right its the first right hand drive car, apart from these there is another alloy in jaipur, still with the royal family, a single owner 120 on the outskirts of delhi lying in a field, with an austin healey 100?, and a LHD 120 in bombay, in primer for many years.

Awini I was once told there's an alloy XK in Dhanbad too.

PS Does anyone have pictures of a lovely XK with Pataudi (sold??)

[Julian UK]

Welcome John, its quite fun here!
I was asked to restore an early XK120 alloy body LH (I think) drive car by the Imperial Hotel family in New Delhi in 2003 but we were leaving India then.
The owner of the white car in Delhi is a friend of mine, I will ask him to provide its details.
I'll pm you John.




I rewired a XK 150 S and renewed the whole brake system, servo, wheel cylinders, pipes the lot, here 2 years ago but it was a rust bucket....as many are.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by Julian UK

Welcome John, its quite fun here!
I was asked to restore an early XK120 alloy body car by the Imperial Hotel family in New Delhi in 2003 but we were leaving India then, would that have been DLB 3534 anybody?

Ahhh..The Imperial, still my favourite hotel in Delhi!! The car is in semi-restored condition Julian (At least was when I saw it last) but don't remember the number. It was Black in colour right? Can get some pics of it next week!

[Julian UK]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Ahhh..The Imperial, still my favourite hotel in Delhi!! The car is in semi-restored condition Julian (At least was when I saw it last) but don't remember the number. It was Black in colour right? Can get some pics of it next week!

I think the Imperial Hotel car was LH drive (hence I edited the post) but it was metallic light blue when I saw it. I once saw its cylinder head being lapped flat on a sheet of plate glass with grinding paste by a young mechanic in Delhi, I always wondered what happened to it....It needed a lot of work. I told them it was a lovely valueable car and they ought to send it to UK to be done.
Imperial Hotel was also my favourite, the lovely conservatory restaurant out the back over looking the lawns, lovely cast iron furniture and plants, very pleasant indeed.

[awini]

Originally Posted by DKG

Awini I was once told there's an alloy XK in Dhanbad too.

PS Does anyone have pictures of a lovely XK with Pataudi (sold??)

the black xk 140 in karls, pics is the ex bhopal/pataudi car which was white when in delhi,
julien, the blue xk is the imperial hotel car, its a 1948 model, i think the chassis number is in the thirties, im told its the first RHD xk 120.as a child,i remember seeing it in daily use till about the late seventies, as we used to live on the same street as the impirial family,and yes it was a lovely light blue mettalic, the same shade as my father's MK VII, i wish they hadnt repainted it. it was absolutely original down to paint!!

[vid6639]

Karl, Is Ramesh Thakkar a builder in Pune?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Karl, Is Ramesh Thakkar a builder in Pune?

Actually Im told there are 2 Ramesh Thakkers in Pune, both builders One is under the name Hermes, the other under the name Metro.

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Actually Im told there are 2 Ramesh Thakkers in Pune, both builders One is under the name Hermes, the other under the name Metro.

And this jag would belong to?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by vid6639

And this jag would belong to?

The silver 120 used to belong to Metro Thakker. He doesnt have it any more I believe.

[Chhayanat]

Originally Posted by DKG

Awini I was once told there's an alloy XK in Dhanbad too.
PS Does anyone have pictures of a lovely XK with Pataudi (sold??)

The XK120 in Dhanbad was obtained for the second owner by my grandfather. The first owner was the director of a British firm in Calcutta. It was often kept in my grandfather's showroom in the 1960s, and I remember trying to start it: reaching the pedals while peering over the steering wheels was'nt easy for a ten year old. I remember the owner telling me how he crossed 100 mph on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway but was forced to reduce speed by the panic-stricken recitation by his passenger of each mile per hour over 100: "Ek sau ek, ek sau do, ek sau teen...." It was almost the same colour as the Imperial Hotel car, perhaps more on the powder blue side and a shade lighter, and right hand drive.

Speaking of the Imperial Hotel car, I lived off and on near Ferozeshah Road but never saw the Jaguar. There used to be a bright yellow sports car parked in their compound but I could'nt identify it. My father was a college friend in Dehradun of one of the Imperial Hotel people, Rajdev Singh, and I recall him saying that this gentleman was fond of automobiles, subscribing to the motor magazines of the thirties: Autocar and The Motor. Somehow, it never occurred to me cross the road and meet Rajdev Singh, though there was ample opportunity to do so. My loss, I suppose.

The Pataudi XK140 belonged to his mother who was the younger daughter of the Nawab of Bhopal. I saw it once or twice on Dupleix Road when she lived there. It was ivory.

In Lucknow, there was an XK120 with the Raja of Bhinga (it was a light 1grey-green, somewhat like the shade the Tatas produced in the Indica). Another XK140(?) belonged to the Samthar family. I have forgotten the colour.

[awini]

Originally Posted by Chhayanat

Speaking of the Imperial Hotel car, I lived off and on near Ferozeshah Road but never saw the Jaguar. There used to be a bright yellow sports car parked in their compound but I could'nt identify it. My father was a college friend in Dehradun of one of the Imperial Hotel people, Rajdev Singh, and I recall him saying that this gentleman was fond of automobiles, subscribing to the motor magazines of the thirties: Autocar and The Motor. Somehow, it never occurred to me cross the road and meet Rajdev Singh, though there was ample opportunity to do so. My loss, I suppose.

i have seen the car parked in their porch many times, and also in use, because it used to be pointed out to me by my father, we used to stay a few houses away, and could it be that the yellow car you saw was our karmann-ghia?