[MCW]

I recently purchased the Bentley Mk.VI B94KM.

It has a one-off H. J. Mulliner body, which is rather unusual for a Mk.VI in having a division and twin side-mount spare wheels.

There is a photograph of the car in Bernard King's Mk.VI book (page 336) which shows its original colour scheme of black over silver.

The car was later repainted a single colour (a shade of blue similar to that used on the Bluebird land speed record cars) but it still has its original grey leather.

The car was in California where it had been in storage for many years. Fortunately the climate over there is fairly kind to old cars and although it will need some recommissioning, the car is running and - apart from the paintwork - seems to be very original.

The RR records indicate that it was built with some export features including an oil bath air cleaner and ‘colonial’ suspension, but it seems to have been used by His Highness exclusively in the UK.

Possibly His Highness ordered his Bentley S1 (B16BA - delivered in May 1956), as a replacement for B94KM. The S1 was also fitted with a division, which was very unusual on a SWB S1. Incidentally, the only other S1 built to that particular Hooper design (with a division) was B10BA, which was bodied at the same time for HRH the Crown Prince of Iraq.

[shyml]

Originally Posted by MCW

.

Congratulations on your purchase. The years between 1947 and 1956 were critical in the life of HH the Nawab . He had had to merged his state with Pakistan (just like the states in India were merged early on with Indian state) and the Nawab had dissolved his state government and in 1955 ceded his state to become part of then West Pakistan. He had been living in UK more than in Bahawalpur and by this time he had locked up his garages in Bahawalpur and other Palaces. Incidentally he was guest at the coronation of King Feisal II of Iraq, (and the Queen Elizabeth II) in 1953 and the Iraqi king and crown prince had paid a return state visit to Bahawalpur and they had a correspondence etc. going on.
The Nawab, much older than the young king and crown prince had shown his formidable motorcars parked in Bahawalpur and there is more than a likely chance that his design and coach-maker choice had influenced the crown princes order of similar car. Both were muslim rulers and Purdah, privacy for women, remained a priority as was their own being driven around by drivers and ADC's and almost all his cars have partition glass. He had between these Bentleys also bought a Rolls Royce Silver Wraith CLW35 Hooper Empress line body. The later Bentley S1 design has design similarities to Empress design especially in hind quarters as was in vogue.
Coming back to your car, its very intriguing that the Nawab chose H.J Mulliner as he always took his custom to Barker and after its merger with Hooper, to Hooper.
Do send pictures of your car, and year of manufacture as I am concluding my book on the Nawab and his times and will like to include these.
As regards your opinion on HH replacing your Bentley with the S1, most interesting would be to find when the car was sold by HH. You see HH did not sell his cars and if his state had not merged, these cars would have ended up in Pakistan in the motorkhana (Garages) like all his previous cars. I have a strong hunch it would be in June 1966 when after his death in UK the Bahawalpur family sold his estate and all his UK cars, i.e the two Bentleys and Two RR ( Silver Wraith and Phantom V) in UK.
Do fill in details when you discover any info. I am hoping my friends Travencore, Sulaiman Abbasi and Omar Abbasi sahibs will help putting further pieces in the jigsaw puzzle. This is where we miss Sahibzada Falahuddin Abbasi again and again.
Amer Ahmad ( shyml).
Lahore Pakistan

[MCW]

Hello Amer; I have now examined the copy history file from the RREC, which includes a large number of Hooper service documents from 1953 to 1959.

You asked about the year of manufacture; that is debatable, as the ‘date of manufacture’ is not officially recorded for cars in the UK, just the date of first registration.

The chassis was delivered to RR’s London ‘Lillie Hall’ depot on 6/12/1950. From there it would normally have gone to the coachbuilders the next day. The finished car was delivered to the Nawab on 15/6/1951. So it would have been first registered in June 1951.

Normally it took about three months to construct the body for a coachbuilt car so I'm not sure why it took six months for this one. Perhaps it was because the design was a one-off, or because the Nawab requested a lot of changes.

The UK registration was changed from its original number to BWP 733 in June/July 1955, because the file includes a letter from Surrey Council and a Hooper memo about fitting the new plates. The Surrey Council letter also authorises the transfer of registration BWP 928 to the Nawab’s Rolls-Royce (chassis CLW35) originally registered OYT 129.

But it seems the Nawab decided to sell the Bentley only a few months later, because there is another Hooper document dated 31/10/1955 stating that the car was to be washed and polished ‘for showrooms'. Perhaps he visited the London Motor Show in October 1955, saw the new Hooper S1 design and was inspired to order one.

The next document is dated 15/3/56 when B94KM was at Hooper for a Schedule B service and gives the customer as a Mr. F.A. Dangerfield. By then the registration number had changed to YPH 331.

The S1’s chassis was delivered to Lillie Hall on 9/12/1955, which would fit in with a customer order in late October. Incidentally, do you know where the S1 is now?

I understand the Nawab had a house in Windsor at some point, but Windsor is in Berkshire, not Surrey (as per the registation letter), so perhaps he lived in Surrey in the mid-50s. Probably he had less space to store cars in the UK than in Pakistan, which might be why he sold B94KM. According to RR records, he sold CLW35 in 1962.

Incidentally, I’m currently working on a book about Hooper.

[travancore]

Originally Posted by MCW

I understand the Nawab had a house in Windsor at some point, but Windsor is in Berkshire, not Surrey (as per the registation letter), so perhaps he lived in Surrey in the mid-50s.

The Nawab had an estate near Farnham, Surrey from the 1930's until after WWII. It was given to the War Effort as a children's nursery. Later to Selham House ("Al-Hilal"), Petworth, Sussex, ca 1948. He passed away there in 1966. I am not aware of the Windsor home.

He likely wanted to keep the British "BWP" registration prefix on all his cars, which may explain the disconnect.

Some of the British "BWP" registrations on the Nawab's cars that I know of are:

BWP-318 on Bentley 3.5 Ltr; B32EF
BWP-733 on Bentley S1
BWP-733 transferred to Phantom V, 5BV-61
BWP-378 on Daimler DK400
BWP-378 transferred to the 1962 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood

[msabbasi]

To @travancore excellent post and investigative work, I'd like to add one more BWP number in the use of His Highness. This information came to me from communication with a Mr. David Bentley who brought to my notice a book being written by a Mr. John Elmgreen. Mr. Elmgreen observes that His Highness ordered a Jaguar XK 140 FHC, chassis number 804068 in primer without trim. The car was registered BWP 362.

It appears that this car came up for sale in 1969 (three years after the passing of His Highness most probably by his widow). Then again sold in 1971, again in 1978 and finally in 1996. It is reported to be in Germany in 1998. Here is a direct quote from Mr. Elmgreen:

"Chassis completed on 24 March 1955 and despatched on 22 April 1955 to the Maharaja of Bahawalpur, in primer with no trim - to be painted and trimmed after delivery. The factory therefore of course did not record the colours, but there was one later report that it was painted in “aquamarine blue” and another stating “pale blue with powder blue interior”. The car is said to have been a gift for they Maharani and it was apparently finished by well known body builders Hoopers, and was said to have been garaged and serviced by them thereafter, apparently never having gone to India. The car appears to have remained in the same ownership until about 1969 when it was sold. In August 1971 it was advertised for sale by D. Wooley, claiming a recorded mileage of 13,300 and to have been a concours winner at Beaulieu in September 1970. In July 1978 it was again for sale, this time by Trojan Limited of Forest Row, Sussex, now with 28,000 recorded miles and said to be beautiful and a “dream to drive”. In 1996 it apparently passed through Christies and in 1998 was in Germany with Monika Bettner of Hanau.
Original colours: Primer, Not Upholstered"

[travancore]

Originally Posted by msabbasi

His Highness ordered a Jaguar XK 140 FHC, chassis number 804068 in primer without trim. The car was registered BWP 362.

"Chassis completed on 24 March 1955 and despatched on 22 April 1955 to the Maharaja of Bahawalpur, in primer with no trim - to be painted and trimmed after delivery. The factory therefore of course did not record the colours, but there was one later report that it was painted in “aquamarine blue” and another stating “pale blue with powder blue interior”.

Quoting from the Hooper records (31st July, 1955):

H.H.The Ameer of Bahawalpur

"To special 2-Door Fixed Head Coupe on Jaguar XK-140. Engine No.G.2831-8,complete to manufacturers specification, painted Powder Blue and trimmed in Connollys Blue Vaumol leather:-
3,150 GBP

[MCW]

The H.J. Mulliner finishing sheet for B94KM includes 'supply and fit crests' to the car with a crown over a double 'A', in red.

This sounds like the crests were actually separate badges rather than just painted on. They were supplied by the heraldic artist Mr Francis, who did crests and monograms for various London coachbuilders including Hooper.

From the description, the design of the crest sounds like the one in the photograph below, which I cropped down from a larger picture. This crest can also be seen on the rear door of the Nawab's Bentley S1 in the picture above.

I would be interested to know what 'A.A.' stands for (Abass Abassi?), and to see a detailed drawing or picture of the crest, which I haven't been able to find anywhere.

[msabbasi]

Originally Posted by MCW

I would be interested to know what 'A.A.' stands for (Abass Abassi?), and to see a detailed drawing or picture of the crest, which I haven't been able to find anywhere.

The double 'A' stands for Al-Aliya Al-Abbasiya.

[travancore]

Originally Posted by msabbasi

The double 'A' stands for Al-Aliya Al-Abbasiya.

Originally Posted by MCW

and to see a detailed drawing or picture of the crest, which I haven't been able to find anywhere.

Various iterations of the Bahawalpur monogram.

The last photo is as originally painted on shyml's Cadillac V16.

[msabbasi]

The Amir of Bahawalpur had this monogram on most of his personal belongings such as pocket watches, cigarette cases, personal stationary etc. So much so that some cars had the monogram too as Shyml's V16 Cadillac.

For formal items, the State crest was used comprising of two pelican flanking a shield with a script in Urdu saying, "Sadiq Dost".

[MCW]

Thank you, msabbasi and travancore, for the information in your recent posts.

I have to confess, I'm a little confused as to the Nawab's correct full name. For example 'Al-Aliya Al-Abbasiya' isn't mentioned on the Wikipedia page about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadeq_Mohammad_Khan_V

[msabbasi]

To find more about 'AA' monogram, some further digging is required.

There are two connections to the Al-Abbsiya in the 'A-A' monogram with HH. HH was descendant of the Caliphs of the Abbasid Caliphate dating from the eighth century. Another ancient family name was Abbasiya or Al-Abbasiya ('Al' in Arabic language is article 'the').

The second connection is a bit loose but interesting all the same. It is the name of the capital city formed by the Aghlabids in Cordoba, the West most outpost of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids were the representatives of Calipha Harun Al-Rashid (HH's ancestor) who was the Caliph at the time.

With regards to Al-Aliya there are two connections again. The first comes from one of the Arabic meaning of a derivative of the word Al-Aliya - Al-Aala meaning Top, Upper, Superior, Maximum, Supreme, Topmost. . You get the idea.

The second connection is a bit farfetched and in most part not relevant but quite interesting. There is mention of both terms Al-Aliya and Al-Abbasiya in a book called the Rise of the Fatamid Caliphate (which incidentally existed in the same time frame as the Abbasid Caliphate). You can read these pages here:

https://books.google.com.pk/books?id...basiya&f=false

Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate

To sum up it can be said that ‘A-A’ monogram stands for “Abbasis the Supreme”.

It is hoped that some light is shed on this mater.

BTW the full title of HH is: General H.H. Jalalat ul-Mulk, Hafiz ul-Mulk, Rukn ud-Daula, Saif ud-Daula, Mukhlis ud-Daula, wa Muin ud-Daula, Al-Haj Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V Bahadur, Nusrat Jung, Amir of the God gifted kingdom of Bahawalpur, GCSI, KCSI, GCIE, KCVO.

[KartikeyaL]

Picture from the Instagram page of classiccarsPakistan

The caption says it all !

[shyml]

Thanks KartikeyaL.
We had extended good weather with very cool evenings, scented with flowers, in Lahore this year. Nawab Bahawalpur's RR 45WR Phantom I, was taken out regularly and these pics were taken end of March 2019, before commencement of pre summer maintenance ops, which means oiling endless points greasing and cleaning with oil changes etc. ( Takes a whole week for a single articulate person).
This small station near our residence is mainly a pass through for trains going to halt at Lahore's main railway station and was recently given a sympathetic makeover as a new train halt has been added. It is deserted most of the times with nary a passenger, coolie or vendor. Its a perfect time wrap with very efficient railway staff. These pics were taken by my daughter on the spur of the moment past mid night with a Samsung cell phone. I wish I had the Bahawalpuri fez cap.
So with a vivid imagination you can imagine its 1935, the car(s) having arrived ahead of HH's visit from Bahawalpur travelling in his two saloon carriages normally parked on his private railway sidings at Dera Nawab. HH would go to the sprawling Bahawalpur house in about 200+ acres near Mozang Chungi, Ferozepur road with other buildings on Lytton road. In the morning he would visit the Governor and the Chief Secretary and in the evening he would go to the Bahawalpur house within Aitchison College, where four of his ten sons are housed to see their progress.
At night he would visit the Princes Residence on the Mall road and canal crossing to meet his fellow princes and rulers staying there.
I could go on... but you take it up from there.

Amer Ahmad
Lahore, Pakistan

[msabbasi]

Dear Amer sb. It is with great joy I read your reenactment of a possible scene for years gone by. With your permission I will upload a few pictures carrying on with this theme.

Pic 1: In the picture below unlike your quiet moment at the Lahore Cantt Station, here a crowd gathers at the station (most probably Dera Nawab).




Pic 2: The Door of his private Saloon opens and the crowd gets a glimpse of their beloved ruler. From his hand gesture, it seems he has singled out someone in the crown to ask, "how are you doing?"




Pic 3: This picture would be from the mid 1950's. HH is at the Dera Nawab Railway station receiving the Sahibzada Iskandar Ali Mirza, the President of Pakistan. Who can be seen getting out of the Presidential Saloon identified by the Presidential coat of arms on the side.




Pic 4: The scene is set in the mid 50s. Most likely 1956. HH's daughter was soon to marry Mir of Khairpur and in this picture at the Khairpur railway station. HH is alighting from a railway bogie or his own Saloon (hard to tell). Just behind him is The Mir of Khairpur. The Kairpur RR Silver Cloud awaits much like Amer Sb's reenactment where the Phantom I awaits HH .