How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

travancore · 7th June 2011, 03:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Is this car covered before? What is it? Supposedly the first car in Bhopal:

Attachment 556081

Some Jeeps in Bhopal:

Attachment 556082

Sir Sultan Mohammed Khan at the Round table conference with the Maharajah of Alwar:

Attachment 556083

And a Sunbeam Talbot ex J&K at a rally:

Attachment 556084

The first picture shows the Begum of Bhopal with a R-R Silver Ghost (believed to be Chassis #1620, Hooper Detachable Top Limousine)

The hunting scene at Bhopal seems to be a rear shot of the Austin Champ, also previously featured on this site.

vagu · 9th June 2011, 00:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by harit

This should be the Indian Maharajas 540K coming up for auction soon. If it is ex-Holkar, it was advertised in Hemmings about 12 years ago for One Million US Dollars. In the link put up by Vagu in classics for purchase, they mention that the car left India in the late 1970's. So another car smuggled out of India?

Cheers harit

This car has been sold for Euro 1.4 million (approx USD 1.9 million). IMO 1.9 million is a very good price for a 540k. Can anybody fill in the details of the car's history from the year bought to the year it was taken out of India. Or how did it land up in some mumbai motor garge.

Source : RM Auctions

Joyce Faulknor · 14th June 2011, 09:46

Does anyone have a picture of the Maharaja of Kotah, Umed Singh ii, in full dress. I have bought one of his cars and I would like to have a picture of him.

Any picture of him hunting or in his car would be fantastic, also.

Thank you

Joyce Faulknor

AVR · 14th June 2011, 10:36

Not sure if you guys have seen this link on Facebook.

Pics from wheels of many princely states have been put up. LINK

@Joyce,

On this LINK2
There is an album for Kota which has a pic that might be of help.

Cheers,
Adi

d4v3 · 15th June 2011, 19:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbd8779

As far as i can decipher from this pic , these scooters appear to be the Girnar Leo scoots that were made by a company called Gujrat Small scale industries corporation (A goverment of India/Gujarat Enterprise).

The G logo on the front panel also points to this.

This information has been taken from a a existing Tbhp thread.

Regards
Salman

Hello, do you happen to have any more pictures of the scooters?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...-scooters.html

harit · 16th June 2011, 11:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joyce Faulknor

Does anyone have a picture of the Maharaja of Kotah, Umed Singh ii, in full dress. I have bought one of his cars and I would like to have a picture of him. Any picture of him hunting or in his car would be fantastic, also. Thank you Joyce Faulknor

Hi, go and check http://www.royalark.net/India/kotah6.htm, if you cannot go in just see www.royalark.net, select India, then kotah6. Here is a picture, I have put a mark since it is not my picture. There is also a small write-up, but I did not search further if there are car pictures.

Cheers harit

travancore · 22nd June 2011, 04:48

Technically not pre-war, however, here is an interesting one .....

Maharaja Madhavrao Scindia with a Ford Mustang "Gwalior State No.44".

Where is she now ?

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-gwalior-ford-mustang-medium.jpg

Those horns behind the grille look like "India Specials"

Dr.Suraj · 24th June 2011, 12:09

@ V12 !

What a post & what a lovely read !

Excellent - never heard before stories.

Do find the source and let us know.

What a way to teach a lesson to snotty high-nosed salesmen.
There are 2 sides to this story that we must respect and learn from -

1. never piss off people, respect them, dont underestimate them and that if a person wishes to, he can do anything he sets his mind on
&
2. Brand building - you really have to work very hard constantly to uphold your brand & keep it running as an icon - the stuff dreams are made of !

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
Thank you.

Cyrus43 · 1st July 2011, 02:29

I just saw an hour long documentary on the BBC about the Maharajahs and their Rolls Royce connection. Fantastic insights into some facts, although lots has been left out. Primarily the Star of India and the Swan car, which somehow didnt make any appearance nor did they get a mention. Will try and get a copy of the same if possible.

Reshad · 1st July 2011, 15:00

As far as I know the swan car was not a Rolls Royce. Can you please post name of the documentary.

travancore · 1st July 2011, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reshad

As far as I know the swan car was not a Rolls Royce. Can you please post name of the documentary.

The Nabha Swan Car was a "Brooke".
As far as I know, unfortunately the BBC documentary on RR in India was only available (even on-line) in the U.K .

Cyrus43 · 3rd July 2011, 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by travancore

The Nabha Swan Car was a "Brooke".
As far as I know, unfortunately the BBC documentary on RR in India was only available (even on-line) in the U.K .

Yep. I saw it by chance on the tele browsing through channels. Lucky me I guess. Its a part of Luxury week or something a rather.

harit · 3rd July 2011, 19:31

One of the persons who was involved in this documentary of BBC, primarily on the Maharajas Rolls-Royces was one Patrick who came for the Cartier 2008 event. By that time thgis documentary was already in the can, to use a filmy term. And he was MOST kind to keep his promise and send me a CD of this. A real man of honour.
And those who will see this film will see that many Rolls still present in India are missing in the documentary. And those who know who were the people in India assisting, will automatically understand why.
The documentary was interesting, and part 2 could be better.

Cheers harit

vagu · 3rd July 2011, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by travancore

As far as I know, unfortunately the BBC documentary on RR in India was only available (even on-line) in the U.K .

Its available on Torrent. If you want I can give you the link.

sureshkishore · 4th July 2011, 20:14

Most Maharajas spent their wealth on Expensive Imported Cars, And Built Huge opulent palaces and went around wearing expensive jewelry and clothes.

But thank god, there were some sensible ones who thought of saving their wealth for the future.

Maharajas of Travancore had preserved a huge trove of wealth in the Vaults Hidden in the Padmanabha Swami temple in Trivandrum, Kerala. Now the Supreme Court Ordered the Audit of the Treasure and with one vault remaining to be opened the current estimate has crossed one lakh crore. Double Bihar's annual Budjet or 4 times the Union Health Budjet. Making it one of the richest shrines in the world.

Travancore Maharajas Even Bought Used Cars, they could have easily bought new ones, but refrained from doing so. Perhaps they had read GTO's lateral upgrade thread.

,

Wish the government doesnt end up taking over the temple and its treasure.

14th June 2011, 09:46	#588
Joyce Faulknor Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: san francisco Posts: 9 Thanked: 0 Times	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas Does anyone have a picture of the Maharaja of Kotah, Umed Singh ii, in full dress. I have bought one of his cars and I would like to have a picture of him. Any picture of him hunting or in his car would be fantastic, also. Thank you Joyce Faulknor
	() Thanks

14th June 2011, 10:36	#589
AVR BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 978 Thanked: 847 Times View My Garage	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas Not sure if you guys have seen this link on Facebook. Pics from wheels of many princely states have been put up. LINK @Joyce, On this LINK2 There is an album for Kota which has a pic that might be of help. Cheers, Adi Last edited by AVR : 14th June 2011 at 10:37. Reason: formatted links
	() Thanks

22nd June 2011, 04:48	#592
travancore Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ann Arbor Posts: 2,934 Thanked: 8,551 Times	Gwalior Ford Mustang Technically not pre-war, however, here is an interesting one ..... Maharaja Madhavrao Scindia with a Ford Mustang "Gwalior State No.44". Where is she now ? Those horns behind the grille look like "India Specials" Last edited by travancore : 22nd June 2011 at 04:49.
	() Thanks

24th June 2011, 12:09	#593
Dr.Suraj BHPian Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Mumbai Posts: 724 Thanked: 1,775 Times View My Garage	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas @ V12 ! What a post & what a lovely read ! Excellent - never heard before stories. Do find the source and let us know. What a way to teach a lesson to snotty high-nosed salesmen. There are 2 sides to this story that we must respect and learn from - 1. never piss off people, respect them, dont underestimate them and that if a person wishes to, he can do anything he sets his mind on & 2. Brand building - you really have to work very hard constantly to uphold your brand & keep it running as an icon - the stuff dreams are made of ! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Thank you.
	() Thanks

1st July 2011, 02:29	#594
Cyrus43 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: London Posts: 5,019 Thanked: 221 Times View My Garage	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas I just saw an hour long documentary on the BBC about the Maharajahs and their Rolls Royce connection. Fantastic insights into some facts, although lots has been left out. Primarily the Star of India and the Swan car, which somehow didnt make any appearance nor did they get a mention. Will try and get a copy of the same if possible.
	() Thanks

1st July 2011, 15:00	#595
Reshad Newbie Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Dhaka Posts: 20 Thanked: Once	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas As far as I know the swan car was not a Rolls Royce. Can you please post name of the documentary.
	() Thanks

3rd July 2011, 19:31	#598
harit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,033 Thanked: 3,281 Times	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas One of the persons who was involved in this documentary of BBC, primarily on the Maharajas Rolls-Royces was one Patrick who came for the Cartier 2008 event. By that time thgis documentary was already in the can, to use a filmy term. And he was MOST kind to keep his promise and send me a CD of this. A real man of honour. And those who will see this film will see that many Rolls still present in India are missing in the documentary. And those who know who were the people in India assisting, will automatically understand why. The documentary was interesting, and part 2 could be better. Cheers harit
	() Thanks

4th July 2011, 20:14	#600
sureshkishore BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: trivandrum Posts: 478 Thanked: 290 Times	Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas Most Maharajas spent their wealth on Expensive Imported Cars, And Built Huge opulent palaces and went around wearing expensive jewelry and clothes. But thank god, there were some sensible ones who thought of saving their wealth for the future. Maharajas of Travancore had preserved a huge trove of wealth in the Vaults Hidden in the Padmanabha Swami temple in Trivandrum, Kerala. Now the Supreme Court Ordered the Audit of the Treasure and with one vault remaining to be opened the current estimate has crossed one lakh crore. Double Bihar's annual Budjet or 4 times the Union Health Budjet. Making it one of the richest shrines in the world. Travancore Maharajas Even Bought Used Cars, they could have easily bought new ones, but refrained from doing so. Perhaps they had read GTO's lateral upgrade thread., Wish the government doesnt end up taking over the temple and its treasure. Last edited by sureshkishore : 4th July 2011 at 20:15. Reason: spell
	(2) Thanks

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