India’s First International Concours D’Elegance - Pictures & Report

[DKG]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The Delhi car was exhibited as a 630 with K engine, as opposed to the 680K name it is usually referred to as

.

BTW I had a chat with Ranjit about his car. He rather animatedly showed me a book which states that 6 cars, 2 in 1927 and 4 in 1928 were built for competition, referred to as 680K. He believes this is one of them. However he did say Mercedes Museum was unable to confirm anything!



What is confusing is that there seems to be no record of the numbers of these cars and if they were meant for racing why a tourer body?

I think more research is in order before one can confirm this is indeed one of 6 specials made.

Further I think its inappropriate to mention the car as a 630 K or 680 K. I think its just Mercedes K, like the S, SS, SSK and SSKL. I could be mistaken though.

The Delage...just might be the original colour scheme.

Could be. But personally I didn't think it highlighted the car's sporty appearance. Something more sober should have made it look more sophisticated. Check out the black Corsica Daimler Double Six that won Pebble Beach sometime back, it looked awesome. Similar front fenders. I think when a body itself lends to drama you really don't need to have the colour draw too much attention. Just my personal opinion. I know there are atleast three original shades for my Packard which would look horrid on the car. It looks best only in the ivory and maroon shades.

The Lancia was superb no doubt, but I simply couldn't understand the presence of those truck wheels. Can anyone shed more light on this?

The Bharatpur bus Rolls Royce had a similar set of wheels originally. I guess when cars were ordered for India and the user specified harsh terrain these military spec rims were installed? Its a typical armour car rim?

[DKG]

The legendary muscle car of yesteryear. Wish it was displayed top down, would have accentuated the appeal









I made the mistake of not chatting up with the elderly gentleman sitting by this Lagonda, assuming it was Mr. R.N. Seth himself. It would have been lovely to engage him in some old stories. Hope I get a chance to meet him again.






A lovely Lagonda from the Sanghi stables. BTW there is yet another car more radical than this with motorcycle mudguards and a boat tail like rear. I had seen that Lagonda with a Parsi gentleman in Hyderabad in the seventies. Does anyone know where that car went? It looked far more LeMan racer than this one for sure!!!

















Most European cars were so elegantly designed that rarely did the design require the use of white wall tyres to accentuate the appearance. I simply fail to understand why owners are putting on these tyres. The cars look absurd. Again just my opinion



A rather stylish Daimler.

[suren181]

Gentlemen could I please make a suggestion that each and every snap posted is watermarked clearly, for as I was reading through I had realised that it was no easy task to be privy to all these beauties, even difficult to take snaps. If this ain't done NOW am sure you'd find these pics floating all over the net with no due credit given wherever required.

Might seem OT but needed to make this post. Could the photographers request the Mods to do the needful to protect their interests?

[DKG]

Originally Posted by suren181

Gentlemen could I please make a suggestion that each and every snap posted is watermarked clearly, for as I was reading through I had realised that it was no easy task to be privy to all these beauties, even difficult to take snaps. If this ain't done NOW am sure you'd find these pics floating all over the net with no due credit given wherever required.

Might seem OT but needed to make this post. Could the photographers request the Mods to do the needful to protect their interests?

Suren point well taken but my interest in vintage cars is not for any personal credit. I really don't care if no one gives me any credit. I have no issues if these pictures are copied a million times and used anywhere. I am just happy that India's fabulous heritage is being showcased and I would want all to enjoy and even use the pictures as posters should they desire to. Have fun.

[DKG]

It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Momen again after many years. His splendid Rolls coupe was on display. The other car in his garage the 4 dr Gurney Nutting RR 25/30 GRO59 posted in the RR thread remains in my opinion the most beautiful convertible sedan I have seen till date.His stunning Bentley (also posted in the Bentley thread) which I have yet to see in person must be equally ravishing. All three of his cars are in gorgeous condition and I must congratulate him.











Maharani Gayatri Devi's beautiful Bentley. I didn't like the shade of Blue used. A paler pastel blue with ash would have rendered the car stunning. Electric blue looks good only on racing Bugattis and boattailed Auburns

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent was admiring the car at the same time I was and I asked him if such a colour combination came on cars in that time. To which he replied in the most exquisite of the Queens English accent that he believed it did, however, he agreed with me that a paler blue would have looked better









At lunch I happened to be sitting beside Mr. Momen and we asked each other what car appealed the most. Honestly it was a tough question. We agreed its not easy to answer. There was too much beauty all around. To say one car is the best is absurd. They were all mostly spectacular. He felt the Daimler tourer was very "pyaari". I had to confess my heart had flipped seeing the following stunner

The last of the fabulous Phantom II Continental by Rolls Royce, this Gurney Nutting coupe is my favourite from the show. If I was asked to pick one car and walk away, this would be it. I simply fell in love with its presence, stance, proportions, and overall grandeur. My kinda car! Very in your face presence and yet deeply elegant.

The owner Amir is a delightful person and we had a long long chat about the car, and what a treasure it was. She not surprisingly won second place in the pre war classics

















A lovely 1935 Packard 120 Convertible Coupe from the stable of Maharajah of Gondal. Once again the car was erroneously displayed as a 1936 model. The bumpers were different in 1936.

[DKG]

I must say this maroon Buick had the finest paintjob of all the cars on display. The finish was outstanding and the overall look of the car came closest to something straight out of the showroom. Beautiful restoration.







This Bentley won a prize for best resurrection.











I think this is the last of the cars to leave the Darbhanga stable. Sold recently. I was offered this car at a time when I didn't have the money. It was subsequently sold for quite a lot more!!



I remember when I saw this gorgeous Packard in the Umaid Bhavan Palace garage in Jodhpur the person showing me the car started it for me and in idle I could barly hear the engine! Lovely machine















The following car is very rare and a gorgeous one. It won the prize in the Post war Classics section

[DKG]

I really liked this Wraith a lot. A LOT !! It was spectacular. The design, the quality and attention to detail by Rolls Royce, lovely lovely car. It almost felt like bone china!!

It did have a very fine paintjob so the credit does go to its owner for maintaining such a lovely car so well





















This car won the prize in the exotics class.

[DKG]

More shots of the prize winning exotic. The car was originally meant for the Maharajah of Udaipur who was handicapped and required hand operated controls to enable him to drive.

A humble request to owners of non Springfield USA Rolls Royces : Please, please dump those horrid white walls. It simply detracts from the elegance of the machine. White walls were more predominant on American cars. Lets keep it that way. Honestly these European beauties look awesome on black tyres. Please give the original designers some credit, they really would have shorn their cars with whitewalls if they felt it enhanced the appearance.



































Harit Trivedi's amazing Lancia Astura racing machine. What a rare sight.

[Julian UK]

Excellent photos DKG,
I think the new Derby Bentley in post #62 is #B186 AH 1934 the only DHC made by Mann Egerton 1st owner Sir Roderick Wigan, nice to see it surface here.
Also from your post #62 This looks like the same Mercedes Benz 230?

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Julian UK

Also from your post #62 This looks like the same Mercedes Benz 230?

That was the first question asked by me when i saw the car. I was informed that it was bought from Indore Palace. There could be a possibility of the car being bought from Wadwan State by the Indore palace and he bought it from there. I shall ask him to check the details.

Deepakji Great pictorial and i do not need to post any of the pictures i have taken. Wonderful and a treat to watch again.

Maharani Gayatri Devi's Bentley is going to be repainted if she permits. My Father has mentioned the Blue as being too striking and not a correct shade. Since my Fufa Mr.Sudhir.Kasliwal maintains the car for her, he would try and convince her to have it mellowed down.

Another fact not known to many is that his 1941 Packard has a factory fitted Airconditioner. This was the first car in India to have it.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by DKG

A rather stylish Daimler.

That gorgeous Daimler was ex Aga Khan I believe. This literature was on the front seat, describing a probably similar car.

Originally Posted by DKG

It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Momen again after many years. His splendid Rolls coupe was on display.

These original documents were placed on the rear seat. A must have for the discerning collector

Originally Posted by DKG

More shots of the prize winning exotic. The car was originally meant for the Maharajah of Udaipur who was handicapped and required hand operated controls to enable him to drive.

Here is a shot of the dash, somewhat showing the controls



And regarding your rant on the whitewall tyres, I couldn't agree with you more. What really dissapointed me was the Banswada Rolls, now under new ownership, sported 4 whitewalls and twin sidemount blackwalls! I was glad to see the earlier number restored though.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

That gorgeous Daimler was ex Aga Khan I believe. This literature was on the front seat, describing a probably similar car.

Yes Karl the Daimler was an ex Aga Khan car. The car was missing alot of parts. We had a Daimler DB18 hardtop that was more of a body shell, we took from saat Rasta and was Given as a donor car for this one. I still have the Fenders with me everything else was consumed into this one. It took almost 6 to 7 years to complete this car.

[Julian UK]

Here's 3 shots of the XKs courtesy of Rajiv Kehr:

[Julian UK]

YouTube - Vintage Car Show

YouTube - India Cartier Concours d'Elegance First Ever in India Royal Western India Truf Club Mumbai

[Brabus E V12]

Beautiful pics DKG. Some impeccably maintained treasures. Would have loved to be there!