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At the recently concluded
Cartier concours, a car not shown before had made her debut - a unique pearl white 1937 Daimler EL24 Limousine. Thought I'd share some of the fascinating history. I am very grateful to Capt. A Katkar and Col. D Katkar for sharing these priceless details.
The car was ordered new by Princess Indumati Ranishaeb of Kolhapur. She was unfortunately widowed at a very young age as a minor, but her varied interests included literature, art, music, dogs, gardening and automobiles. She was also a skillfull shooter, rider and driver. She continued Chhatrapati Shahu’s work on social reform and successfully led the fight to end the archaic tradition of “women’s purdah”. The schools and colleges for women which she established in Kolhapur, stand to this day carrying on the good work she began with the same zeal.
A potrait of the Princess
Her crest, showing a sinking ship with the motto 'Such is life' - rather unfortunate!
Princess Indumati was a true motorist and learnt to drive at a very early age. Amongst the many cars she used are Willys Overland, Hupmobile, Chandler, Sizaire Berwick, Lanchester, Chevrolet, Ford, Humber, Rolls-Royce and her favourite Daimler. She made many motoring trips the longest being to Dehra Dun. But the most adventurous was the epic trip in the 1920s from Kolhapur all the way to Ooty, through the forests of Mysore, in a Hupmobile tourer.
A rather unique Lanchester was due to be replaced, and the Princess was evaluating many brands.
An original rendering survives of a Delage which was under consideration.
The Rajpipla Rolls-Royce Phantom II 181RY also spent some time in the palace.
But eventually after much deliberation, a Daimler was chosen. The car is seen in the back of this photo
Chassis 45605 was delivered by special order to Her Highness Princess Indumati Ranisaheb of Kolhapur. Coachwork was constructed by Daimler inhouse, a graceful 7-seater Light Limousine design. The car was bespoke in most details. After rejecting the standard issue paint scheme options (there was one year of correspondence), a customised sample of two versions of pearl white were sent for the Princess’s approval, of which she finalised on one. The interior chosen was green leather and carpeting, finished with matching green baize. This was complemented by oak veneer to the dashboard and window frames. A rejected sample of the some of the upholstery options still survives in Kolhapur.
A cabin partition was installed, with a sliding glass fitted. The rear compartment featured a comfortable 3 passenger rear seat, as well as a pair of folding occasional seats. The main seat itself was uniquely built to be adjustable for incline. A small ‘summer roof’ was installed at the rear, measuring about 1ft by 1 ½ ft. Communication with the chauffer was via a 12V intercom system. All glass was black tinted purdah – as was the norm for most royal cars meant for ferrying ladies at the time. The wheels and drums, steering wheel and even the engine block and chassis were finished in the same pearl white enamel. The car was fitted with Luvax automatic lubrication system as well as all-round independent jacking system for each wheel. Standard specification was the fluid flywheel driven pre-selector transmission. Comprehensive instrumentation adorned the dashboard.
A treasure trove of professional period images of the car luckily exist - what a dream to have!
The car made headlines before being dispatched to India, and was covered in 'The Bystander' and other publications - I am told Autocar as well.
Another publicity photo.
My favourite image - delivery of the car in Bombay along Marine Drive. Note white highlights including the steering wheel, bumper brackets, and rear window frames. And don't miss the massive CHEVROLET sign in the back, atop the Bombay Garage building.
From left to right are probably Narumama Jamdar, D P Katkar, Kothare from the dealership (I assume the Bombay Motor Car Co) and Suryavanshi, the Princess's accountant.
Daimler with DP Katkar (Secretary to Princess) at the Indumati Hall grounds
Father and son Mr DP Katkar and son Col JD Katkar
Princess with her Daimler outside Indumati Hall.
Three of her cars at the garages, including a Chevy for regular use.
The brand new Daimler shot in Shalini Studio, Kolhapur by Baburao Painter
A rare colour photo taken in the late 1960s, where the plate Kolhapur 53 is faintly visible.
The car was the official State car for the Princess from 1937 till 1971 when she passed away. The car had run 112,000 kms at the time.
Upon her demise the car was sold to Sardar Patankar of Karad, who was close to the family. He was a supplier of gears for Pittie Tractors, a factory started by Shrikant Pittie in Pune. One day Mr. Patankar just drove the Damiler to the Pittie's factory and asked if he'd like to buy it, and that is how the car came to its third owner, the Pittie family in 1973.
When the car first came home in 1973, the owner typed out a very detailed assessment and description of his new purchase to be filed. Obviously there was a deep knowledge and technical understanding of the car.
The car was later repainted in a striking dual grey colour scheme and used on special occasions like family birthdays and Dussera.
In the meanwhile in June of 1996, this lovely article was published on the car by Auto India, which had been kindly posted earlier on TBHP.
At some point as maintenance got more and more troublesome in the 1980s, the car was laid up.
The strip down started, with the body being first worked upon on the chassis itself.
Once reinforced, the body and chassis were seperated, to be worked out in parallel.
The doors and some more panels were aluminium, making it harder to work on.
All the wood was replaced.
The completed body the primered and painted
At the same time work was on on the massive chassis.
The frame was stripped completely bare
Completed mechanicals were then fitted back to the refurbished frame, with a very high degree of detailing.
NOS (New Old Stock) parts were sourced where possible.
The mating of the body and chassis
Attention now moved to the interiors - some traces of the original material were found.
The ornamental woodwork was also renewed.
The white engine block looks terrific - but what a nightmare it will be to keep clean! For this reason it was decided to paint the frame black.
The car was getting close to completion with almost no time to spare for Cartier.
Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Vintage and Classic Car Section! Thanks for sharing.
What a great account of an absolutely fabulous car! Is this the same car that shrivz had first informed you about? Looks like the family doesn't believe in selling any of their cars, I can see a Sierra and a Cielo in fairly good nick around the Daimler. :)
Another awesome restoration by Engineer brothers and fantastic thread by Karl, lovely that so many pictures and details are available, specially the Daimler sample and the details typed by Mr. Pittie. clap:
^^^^
Thank you for the beautiful photos both new and old and for the most interesting narration of the car's history and its first owner. A big thank you to all for this restoration for the benefit of car lovers all over. In case you post more photos we won't complain :-)
Thank you Karl for recreating the wonderful history of the car. This car is a really beauty and wonderful to see it back in its prime.
Nikki Garage has done a wonderful job. The quality of work in this restoration is simply outstanding. For example see the engine bay, shows the quality of restoration
It was a real pleasure to see the car in person and to have Kaizad show and explain the work done on the car, is something I consider very fortunate and blessed.
Princess Indumati seems to have been a very strong person.
Quote:
Originally Posted by karlosdeville
(Post 4552662)
The car was ordered new by Princess Indumati Ranishaeb of Kolhapur. She was unfortunately widowed at a very young age as a minor, but her varied interests included literature, art, music, dogs, gardening and automobiles. She was also a skillfull shooter, rider and driver. She continued Chhatrapati Shahu’s work on social reform and successfully led the fight to end the archaic tradition of “women’s purdah”. The schools and colleges for women which she established in Kolhapur, stand to this day carrying on the good work she began with the same zeal.
Princess Indumati was a true motorist and learnt to drive at a very early age. Amongst the many cars she used are Willys Overland, Hupmobile, Chandler, Sizaire Berwick, Lanchester, Chevrolet, Ford, Humber, Rolls-Royce and her favourite Daimler. She made many motoring trips the longest being to Dehra Dun. But the most adventurous was the epic trip in the 1920s from Kolhapur all the way to Ooty, through the forests of Mysore, in a Hupmobile tourer.
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When Karl showed and explained to me her "Court of Arms", you respect her even more. She got married in 1917 and was widowed in 1918. At a tender age of 12 years, life must have been very traumatic.
A sinking ship with "SUCH IS LIFE" sums her trauma, but what she did subsequently seems to speak volumes of her character.
The Pittie family are indeed very lucky to have got his car and also the records and period pictures of the car, makes the ownership even more enjoyable.
Cannot thank Karl and Kaizad for taking time and detailing this wonderful car and its history.
I was also fortunate to meet the owner and have a photograph too!
Cheers
KPS
Appreciate and thanks Karl, for bringing to us, wonderful and interesting history of this Daimler Car and superb restoration and details pictures. Big thanks for all the team.
Fantastic write up with some great pictures.
The restoration pictures really detail the amount of work that has gone into this.
Thanks Karl for putting up such a detailed article with period pictures and as others have pointed out the crest summarizes the life very beautifully.
Beautiful account of a highly interesting history of a bespoke classic. In an age when women were mostly subjugated, the Maharani dared to be different & follow her passion (of course she had the royal backing, but that is another story). To think that the car has seen 3-4 generations is just fascinating to comprehend. Classics like this have an haunting & intangible aura about them that shall never die.
That engine looks so very clean, it is unbelievable. As clean and shiny as the turbines of an aero engine:D
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