[travancore]

Moderators / Members - Could we simply retitle this thread to something like "Cars of the Maharajas".

Agree with all of you that have said the focus here should be on the cars, not on socio-economic, political , etc, etc...

That is the only reason I am here!

[C.S.ANANTH]

Hi Travancore,
BHP is a medium for car lovers.Only Cars & Bikes.Period. Unfortunately, of late I find some personal attacks creeping in. Such persons who indulge in personal attacks need to be strictly warned to maintain the decorum.This is my personal opinion. I stand corrected, if I've said something wrong.

[travancore]

Originally Posted by C.S.ANANTH

Hi Travancore,
BHP is a medium for car lovers.Only Cars & Bikes.Period. Unfortunately, of late I find some personal attacks creeping in. Such persons who indulge in personal attacks need to be strictly warned to maintain the decorum.This is my personal opinion. I stand corrected, if I've said something wrong.

Kudos! Well said C.S. !

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by C.S.ANANTH

BHP is a medium for car lovers.Only Cars & Bikes.Period.

Well, we do allow members to stray a little outside of automobiles. Love of automobiles brings this community together, and once members develop many friendships, it is quite natural to share other interests with their forum friends. That is why we have the Shifting gears section.

Once in a while members might slightly deviate from the main topic to related topics, just like it happens in any normal face-to-face conversation. As long as it gets back on track within few posts, it is perfectly fine.

However, we expect members to be civil to each other, you are welcome to attack opinions, but not the people who express them. You can disagree, but you cannot disrespect. That's what keeps most discussions healthy.

[awini]

Originally Posted by awini

Post Deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Watch the tone. Personal attacks or referring to any member in a derogatory tone is STRICTLY prohibited on Team-BHP. Your points can be put across in an unprovoking manner too.

We advise you to read our board rules before proceeding any further.

in that case please refer to post #166 of this thread,where i did just that, and some of the most vital contributors of this thread agreed with me.
And also #13 of team BHP rules, posted by you on 2nd May 2005.
its strange that you deleted just my post, in which i asked the mods to delete all posts provoking a political debate, yet you kept the posts to which i simply reacted, albeit a bit harshly, but if you notice, that the persons that have posted their "views" probably never posted earlier on the vintage car forum, they have nothing to do with vintage cars and their owners (past and present), nor did they bother to go through the entire thread, and see what has already been said
and why are attacks on the families of erstwhile royalty not being considered personal attacks, and derogatory? or are members of former royal families barred from reading posts or being members of team BHP?
i know some who do read these pages....
sorry, but on this issue, the mods are not being just.
i take out time to visit this site because vintage cars are my hobby, a little off topic banter is healthy, but tarnishing the image of an entire community is not.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by awini

its strange that you deleted just my post, in which i asked the mods to delete all posts provoking a political debate, yet you kept the posts to which i simply reacted, albeit a bit harshly, but if you notice,

They didn't break any rules, but you did. Their comment was not totally off-topic, they were merely touching upon another aspect of richness of maharajas before independence, that's the thread title afterall. But your response was totally out of line.

Originally Posted by awini

that the persons that have posted their "views" probably never posted earlier on the vintage car forum, they have nothing to do with vintage cars and their owners (past and present), nor did they bother to go through the entire thread

We have no cliques or gangs here, and there are no strict territories. Members are free to move from section to sections making their contribution or comments. If somebody is trolling or creating nuisance, use the report post icon to complain. We have lots of members who passionately discuss Ferraris and Lambos and Veyrons, without ever owning one. Not owning a vintage car is no reason to bar them.

Originally Posted by awini

and why are attacks on the families of erstwhile royalty not being considered personal attacks, and derogatory? or are members of former royal families barred from reading posts or being members of team BHP?

Going by your logic we can never rail against car companies or car magazines because we have lots of members belonging to car and magazine companies. Any public figure or company is bound to attract both fame and brickbats, that's the price one pays for being a public figure. If somebody wants to attack Charu Sharma for picking a test team for IPL, there is no Team-BHP rule against that, same goes for pre-independence maharajas.

Now, if you feel the need to defend the maharajas, please do so, this thread is about that, how rich were the maharajas. But do it in a civil manner, one cannot get their point across by abusing their audience.

PS:Now don't ask what I am doing in Vintage section.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by travancore

Moderators / Members - Could we simply retitle this thread to something like "Cars of the Maharajas".

Agree with all of you that have said the focus here should be on the cars, not on socio-economic, political , etc, etc...

We considered that, even renamed it. But, this thread is nearly 4 years old, was created 3 years before Vintage section was even formed. Therefore, the latest renaming made all the earlier posts on socio-economic issues off-topic. Therefore we are reverting to earlier title. This thread according to original intent is not purely about cars, you can discuss the owners too.

[Julian UK]

This is a prototype a certain company were developing for the new emerging market at the time:

Source unknown copyright

[travancore]

Originally Posted by Julian UK

This is a prototype a certain company were developing for the new emerging market at the time:
Attachment 14276
Source unknown copyright

Ya, ya, ya Julian: been told that RR's were used for collecting garbage.....but did not know that an eventual "throne car" was the prototype!

[Julian UK]

Somewhere I have a photo of the bulldozer version which I believe was a few years later, I'm searching for the photo.

[travancore]

The Patiala Maybach Zeppelin

Sotheby's Geneva Auction (Sept 1997 - source: ITN)

"Second highest price of 207,560 pounds sterling was achieved for the 1933 Maybach 12 Cylinder Type Zeppelin. Originally it was a gift from Adolf Hitler to the Indian Maharaja Patiala in expectation of neutrality".

This story is possibly true, because there are numerous references. The existence of a Patiala Zeppelin is also corroborated in an interview with the grandson of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh in "Automobiles of the Maharajas".

Which then brings us to this picture (courtesy: www.de.cigarclan.com)

I cannot confirm that this is Patiala or that it is indeed a Maybach Zeppelin (it has been identifed in Automotive Quarterly as a 1935 DSH - 6 cylinder)
Anyway, it is an interesting picture; and any attempt at identification is welcome!

[karlosdeville]

Which also beings us to the topic of Maybachs in India. How many were documented to have reached India? I can think of 4 cars, fortunately 3 still survive here.

Ramchander Naths green and black car, recently recommissioned and visited by Maybachs grandson (?) himself. Who was the first owner?



Bhogilals car, which I remember had some Jetpur connection. Note some Matador hubcaps adorn the car





The Kolhapur royal family has still retained their Maybach, I think it is a yellow convertible with a BYF regn. Apparently she is still in remarkable good running condition.

And finally the Patiala/Hitler car. I remember reading somewhere that the car is now in a large collection in the US like the Blackhawk or thereabouts.

[travancore]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Which also beings us to the topic of Maybachs in India. How many were documented to have reached India? I can think of 4 cars, fortunately 3 still survive here.

Ramchander Naths green and black car, recently recommissioned and visited by Maybachs grandson (?) himself. Who was the first owner?

Attachment 14666

Bhogilals car, which I remember had some Jetpur connection. Note some Matador hubcaps adorn the car

Attachment 14667

Attachment 14668

The Kolhapur royal family has still retained their Maybach, I think it is a yellow convertible with a BYF regn. Apparently she is still in remarkable good running condition.

And finally the Patiala/Hitler car. I remember reading somewhere that the car is now in a large collection in the US like the Blackhawk or thereabouts.

I do have a small, low quality picture of the Kolhapur car that I will post.
Thought the Bhogilal SW36 was one of 2 ordered by the Maharaja of Kota.
"Automobiles of the Maharajas" also shows at least one other Maybach (different, I think from the Ramchander Foundation car).

[travancore]

Originally Posted by travancore

I do have a small, low quality picture of the Kolhapur car that I will post.
Thought the Bhogilal SW36 was one of 2 ordered by the Maharaja of Kota.
"Automobiles of the Maharajas" also shows at least one other Maybach (different, I think from the Ramchander Foundation car).

According to Mercedes-Benz Canada, the following Maharajas owned Maybachs:
Jaipur, Patiala and Kolhapur.

Attached is a rather poor picture of the Kolhapur Maybach (source: Upper Crust)

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by travancore

According to Mercedes-Benz Canada, the following Maharajas owned Maybachs:
Jaipur, Patiala and Kolhapur.

This is what bsmotoring.com has to say about the Bhogilal SW38

"The last of the Maybachs, the SW series were distinguished by swing axles and over six years, were powered by sublime straight six engines – of 3500cc, 3800cc and 4200cc displacements, all developing 140 bhp. This elegant sports saloon, with coachwork by Spohn, was one of two ordered by the Maharaja of Kota, Rajasthan. It was bought from the Jetpur royal family and added to the Bhogilal collection. How it reached Jetpur from Kota remains a mystery."

Now I wonder where the second one is?