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Old 29th September 2009, 16:08   #391
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Hi,

Do we have one definitive book on the cars that were imported in British India, and their histories w.r.t their styling & design, manufacture, prices, and what happened afterwards, i.e., after India's ( and Pakistan's & Ceylon's independence)? I am particularly intrigued by non-British/non-American marques, such as Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Mercedes Benz, Maybach, Alfa Romeo and lower profile marques ( at least in the imagination of the general public) such as Lanchester, Duesenburg, Pierce-Arrow...

There is a lot of information on the thread here, but for a neophyte like me it is slightly confusing and overwhelming; one definitive book might be the answer.

Regards
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Old 29th September 2009, 17:18   #392
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Quote:
Originally Posted by issigonis View Post
Hi,

Do we have one definitive book on the cars that were imported in British India, and their histories w.r.t their styling & design, manufacture, prices, and what happened afterwards, i.e., after India's ( and Pakistan's & Ceylon's independence)?
I think Manvendra Singh's "Automobiles of the Maharajas" is what you're looking for.
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Old 29th September 2009, 17:21   #393
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Quote:
Originally Posted by issigonis View Post
Hi,

Do we have one definitive book on the cars that were imported in British India, and their histories w.r.t their styling & design, manufacture, prices, and what happened afterwards, i.e., after India's ( and Pakistan's & Ceylon's independence)? I am particularly intrigued by non-British/non-American marques, such as Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Mercedes Benz, Maybach, Alfa Romeo and lower profile marques ( at least in the imagination of the general public) such as Lanchester, Duesenburg, Pierce-Arrow...

There is a lot of information on the thread here, but for a neophyte like me it is slightly confusing and overwhelming; one definitive book might be the answer.

Regards
Greetings.

The closest thing you will find is "The Automobiles of the Maharajas" by Manvendra Barwani and Sharda Dwivedi. While it is in no way a concise list or registry, it provides some fascinating stories, images and insight to the Indian Royalty's fondness for the finer things in life when it came to their cars.

This thread (and many others on this forum) do contain a very impressive amount of information, facts and pictures - mostly collected from various sources and compiled together for our benefit. No doubt it is overwhelming and may not be as fluid as we like, but that is how a forum works. Spend some time sifting through threads of your interests, save pages particularly relevant, and you will not be dissappointed. Any contributions by you will be most welcome.
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Old 29th September 2009, 17:32   #394
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I found this pic on net of Maharaja of Tana...What car is this? is it a Hispano Suiza?..
Attached Thumbnails
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-rw_tana_harisingh.jpg  

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Old 29th September 2009, 17:38   #395
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I found this pic on net of Maharaja of Tana...What car is this? is it a Hispano Suiza?..
It appears to be a Rolls Royce tourer, maybe 20/25hp. Can you share the link with us too please?
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Old 29th September 2009, 17:44   #396
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It appears to be a Rolls Royce tourer, maybe 20/25hp. Can you share the link with us too please?
Here goes the link..
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/files/pix_india20.html
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Old 29th September 2009, 18:21   #397
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New Phantom

It looks rather more like a New Phantom or very late Silver Ghost to me.
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Old 29th September 2009, 18:57   #398
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Originally Posted by agspins View Post
Here goes the link..
ROYAL FAMILY OF TANA
We are certain that the cars is a Rolls. See the two projections on the cowl panel outside the windshield. So a P I or a late Silver Ghost. Too lazy to compare now.

This web site is interesting, one can see pictures of royalty. Many are still around, some are in the glamour world, have a look.

There is also a good chance that this Rolls is still with Tana, the picture does not seem to be that old.

Agspins, a nice find. I have lots of photos with regal cars in them, where features were cut like in this case, no grill to be seen.

Cheers harit
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Old 30th September 2009, 10:15   #399
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Some relatively recent images from a book called Maharaja, by Andrew Robinson and photos by Sumio Uchiyama

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-raghvender-singh-jodhpur-mg-tc-sumio-uchiyama-maharaja-book.jpg

Raghvender Singh Jodhpur MG TC

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-various-jodhpur-family-members-mg-tc-sumio-uchiyama-maharaja-book.jpg

Various Jodhpur family members in MG TC

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-maharaja-kishengarh-his-jaguar-sumio-uchiyama-maharaja-book.jpg

Maharaja of Kishengarh with his Jaguar

Last edited by Rehaan : 30th September 2009 at 15:19. Reason: AS per request.
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Old 30th September 2009, 10:23   #400
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Hi Karl.

That picture of the Jag is very interesting. Looks like the larger 3.5 litre but the interesting part is that it looks like it has a full length folding roof on it.

These cars were supplied with a regular sun roof but never with a full folding section as is visible here, rather like a "webasto" roof on a VW bug.

Any idea if this car is still around ? The paint job looks ravishing.
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Old 30th September 2009, 19:58   #401
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karlosdeville View Post
Some relatively recent images from a book called Maharaja, by Andrew Robinson and photos by Sumio Uchiyama



Attachment 199770

Various Jodhpur family members in MG TC

Don't think this one is too old though what do you say?I am saying this because on the amby at the back.
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Old 1st October 2009, 04:07   #402
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agspins View Post
I found this pic on net of Maharaja of Tana...What car is this? is it a Hispano Suiza?..
This car has been tentatively identified by "experts" as R-R PI Chassis 100EF (originally Udaipur). Picture below is recent shot of 100-EF. Cheers

credit: unknown
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-udaipur-rr-pi-100ef-large.jpg
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Old 1st October 2009, 04:11   #403
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You are most welcome to publish my photograph. Kind regards, Robert Geelen
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Old 1st October 2009, 06:36   #404
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Quote:
Originally Posted by travancore View Post
This car has been tentatively identified by "experts" as R-R PI Chassis 100EF (originally Udaipur). Picture below is recent shot of 100-EF. Cheers

credit: unknown
Attachment 200360
this thread is super cool. Hadn't seen this one before. I've got a few pix. let me pull out relevant history of it before posting.
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Old 1st October 2009, 10:34   #405
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karlosdeville View Post
Some relatively recent images from a book called Maharaja, by Andrew Robinson and photos by Sumio Uchiyama
Quote:
Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar View Post
Don't think this one is too old though what do you say?I am saying this because on the amby at the back.
Hence I used the term 'relatively recent images'.
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