Team-BHP > Vintage Cars & Classics in India > Pre-War


Reply
  Search this Thread
1,556,121 views
Old 14th July 2004, 17:04   #1
v12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
v12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 6,737
Thanked: 7,200 Times
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

The Punjab connection :

This world’s most famous and a best known brand is also associated with Punjab. According to a legend which finds mention on khalistan-affairs.org, in 1930, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh felt slighted at the British Rolls Royce company’s refusal to accept an order from him for a new Rolls Royce car. Reacting to the refusal, the old Maharaja put some of his old Rolls Royce cars to haul garbage dung and filth in Patiala city to the chagrin of the all-powerful Rolls Royce-loving Viceroy and the British ruling establishment who quickly prevailed upon the Rolls Royce Company to comply with the old Maharaja’s wishes.


The Bharatpur connection :

Another famous buyer was the Maharaja of Bharatpur (He always bought three automobiles at the same time). Once when the Rolls-Royce firm delayed sending mechanics to his capital to rectify small faults in the cars, the maharaja threatened to convert all his Rolls-Royces into garbage carriers. Lest the car lose its "aura" as the automobile for the super rich, the car-makers sent a group of mechanics at the earliest to Bharatpur.


The Patiala connection :

When the Maharaja of Patiala was snubbed by snooty British salesmen at a Rolls Royce showroom in the U.K., he hit back by buying up the entire consignment of 50 vehicles on display and turning them into garbage trucks back home. An English paper printed a picture and the story that made company representatives scurrying to Patiala with an olive branch.


The Alwar connection :

When Maharaja Jay Singh of Alwar *visited the showrooms of Rolls-Royce in London, he was affronted when the salesman implied that he couldn't afford to purchase one of the sleek new models -- he promptly purchased 10, shipped them home, tore their roofs off, and used them to collect garbage.

Had stored these stories on my HD so i dont have the source right now. Will search and put them up soon.
v12 is offline   (17) Thanks
Old 14th July 2004, 17:36   #2
Team-BHP Support
 
Rudra Sen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 11,553
Thanked: 6,477 Times

Great find v12. Nice reading also.
Rudra Sen is offline  
Old 14th July 2004, 18:38   #3
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,734 Times

Talk about A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!!

Awesome stuff, V12

GTO
GTO is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 14th July 2004, 19:46   #4
Senior - BHPian
 
Stratos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Belgium
Posts: 2,609
Thanked: 1,437 Times

Haha!...Wat a lesson to a certain breed of people!!!
Stratos is offline  
Old 14th July 2004, 20:35   #5
F50
Senior - BHPian
 
F50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mumbai/USA
Posts: 1,707
Thanked: 103 Times

Just wanted to see those Rolls Royce guys' faces
F50 is offline  
Old 14th July 2004, 22:19   #6
Senior - BHPian
 
shravan316's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,029
Thanked: 9 Times

I would love to drive those garbage truck!
shravan316 is offline  
Old 15th July 2004, 03:03   #7
Senior - BHPian
 
Shan2nu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hubli - Karnata
Posts: 5,533
Thanked: 125 Times

Indian surely did have a lot of money then and a lot of garbage too.

Regards....
Shan2nu
Shan2nu is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 15th July 2004, 13:48   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
Dippy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai, India
Posts: 7,554
Thanked: 2,438 Times

Excellent stories.. V12 can we source some pictures of the garbage trucks??

Dippy
Dippy is offline  
Old 15th July 2004, 14:28   #9
Team-BHP Support
 
navin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 25,156
Thanked: 9,238 Times

putting india's wealth in perspective.....
when we gained "indepandence" in 1947 India's share of world trade was in the region of 7%. Today about 50 years later India's share has dropped to less than 1%.

maybe India has progressed in the last 50+ years but the rest of the world (largely far east asia and china) have progressed almost 10 times as fast as India.

The Indian sub continent is one of the last known habitats of the polio virus (the others being Egypt, Nigeria and Niger).

Sorry for being a cynic but given our new found Leftist leanings I dont see how India is gonna pull itself out of this "hole" it has dug into.
navin is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 15th July 2004, 14:56   #10
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,734 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]

maybe India has progressed in the last 50+ years but the rest of the world (largely far east asia and china) have progressed almost 10 times as fast as India.
Think about it, Chinas auto market was about the same size as ours till a couple of years back. It has long surpassed Indias automotive sales figures and if the current Chinese growth rates continue...2010 will see China as the worlds largest automobile producer!

GTO
GTO is offline  
Old 16th July 2004, 01:10   #11
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 77
Thanked: 2 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]The Punjab connection :

This world’s most famous and a best known brand is also associated with Punjab. According to a legend which finds mention on khalistan-affairs.org, in 1930, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh felt slighted at the British Rolls Royce company’s refusal to accept an order from him for a new Rolls Royce car. Reacting to the refusal, the old Maharaja put some of his old Rolls Royce cars to haul garbage dung and filth in Patiala city to the chagrin of the all-powerful Rolls Royce-loving Viceroy and the British ruling establishment who quickly prevailed upon the Rolls Royce Company to comply with the old Maharaja’s wishes.


The Bharatpur connection :

Another famous buyer was the Maharaja of Bharatpur (He always bought three automobiles at the same time). Once when the Rolls-Royce firm delayed sending mechanics to his capital to rectify small faults in the cars, the maharaja threatened to convert all his Rolls-Royces into garbage carriers. Lest the car lose its "aura" as the automobile for the super rich, the car-makers sent a group of mechanics at the earliest to Bharatpur.


The Patiala connection :

When the Maharaja of Patiala was snubbed by snooty British salesmen at a Rolls Royce showroom in the U.K., he hit back by buying up the entire consignment of 50 vehicles on display and turning them into garbage trucks back home. An English paper printed a picture and the story that made company representatives scurrying to Patiala with an olive branch.


The Alwar connection :

When Maharaja Jay Singh of Alwar visited the showrooms of Rolls-Royce in London, he was affronted when the salesman implied that he couldn't afford to purchase one of the sleek new models -- he promptly purchased 10, shipped them home, tore their roofs off, and used them to collect garbage.
i too came acrose this article with photos long back. iam searching all my mails to get them...
ravi_28_8 is offline  
Old 16th July 2004, 17:23   #12
Team-BHP Support
 
navin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 25,156
Thanked: 9,238 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] (GTO @ July 15 2004,13:26)]
Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]

maybe India has progressed in the last 50+ years but the rest of the world (largely far east asia and china) have progressed almost 10 times as fast as India.
Think about it, Chinas auto market was about the same size as ours till a couple of years back. It has long surpassed Indias automotive sales figures and if the current Chinese growth rates continue...2010 will see China as the worlds largest automobile producer!

GTO
GTO, china is another story. even countries like philipines, bangladesh, srilanka, kenya, etc...have progressed at a relatively faster rate. and talking about china - they are already the world's largest importer of steel as well as the world's largest producer of steel. That means the make more steel than any other country but even this huge production capability is not enough so they need to import.
navin is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 16th July 2004, 18:35   #13
v12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
v12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 6,737
Thanked: 7,200 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]2010 will see China as the worlds largest automobile producer!
Correction GTO : 2010 will see China as the worlds largest automobile producer of "look alikes".
v12 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 19th July 2004, 17:45   #14
Team-BHP Support
 
navin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 25,156
Thanked: 9,238 Times

i wish we produced as many look alikes as china did. even that would be progress.
navin is offline  
Old 19th July 2004, 22:45   #15
Senior - BHPian
 
shravan316's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,029
Thanked: 9 Times

For our progress.......the constitution is too complicated and the whole process of getting a small change or improvement would take years....and frankly, the ministers aren't helping either.
shravan316 is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks