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Old 14th July 2020, 19:26   #1606
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by KartikeyaL View Post
Picture Credit: Pindi Lull via The Royal collection Trust

Prince of Wales alighting from a motor car, Allahabad [Edward, Prince of Wales. Royal Tour in India, 1921-1922]
Attachment 2025631


Arrival at racecourse, Rangoon
Attachment 2025632
All Crossleys, I think.

regards,
Aditya
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Old 18th July 2020, 22:55   #1607
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-nepal-crossley-21hp-1929.jpg

An ex-Nepal Crossley.

More details and pictures here:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25455/lot/706/
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Old 20th July 2020, 11:34   #1608
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by travancore View Post
Attachment 2031993

An ex-Nepal Crossley.

More details and pictures here:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25455/lot/706/
High quality car with provenance, low mileage and lovely condition..... sold for a little over 30 lakhs. Makes one wonder about the asking prices here

regards
Aditya
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Old 22nd July 2020, 13:55   #1609
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by TractionAvant View Post
All Crossleys, I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by travancore View Post
An ex-Nepal Crossley.
While on Nepal, here is one of the Prince of Wales's Crossley at the Nepal frontier

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-pow-nepal-crossley.jpg
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Old 29th July 2020, 12:34   #1610
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Bhumendra Pal Singh Awagarh shared this picture from his family archives.

Quote:
Car outside Awagarh Kothi, Etah
What car is it ?

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-awagarh-kothi.jpg

Last edited by KartikeyaL : 29th July 2020 at 12:38.
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Old 31st July 2020, 10:49   #1611
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Shared by Baneswar Singh Deo

The Zamindari of Garh Jaipur, also known as the Jaipur Raj Estate, in the District of Manbhum and now in district Purulia, WB.

Quote:
Birendra Narayan Singh Deo and his youngest sister and their teacher, 1938
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-garh-jaipur-estate.jpg
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Old 31st July 2020, 18:29   #1612
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by KartikeyaL View Post
Shared by Baneswar Singh Deo

The Zamindari of Garh Jaipur, also known as the Jaipur Raj Estate, in the District of Manbhum and now in district Purulia, WB.



Attachment 2036617
Perhaps an American car. Grille looks Humber-ish though.

Last edited by travancore : 31st July 2020 at 18:32.
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Old 1st August 2020, 15:19   #1613
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

At the Concours Virtual https://concoursvirtual.com/cars/191...-silver-ghost/ voting is going on for Class P : THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL, BEST OF 2019.

We have PATIALA 10 - 1919 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, Chassis 32PP, Baker polished aluminim bodied Skiff

Quote:
After one of the Princesses of Patiala was killed the Maharaja gave the car to his friend Rustom Boga of the Ice Factories in Patiala and Amritsar on the condition that it never returned to the State during his lifetime. Another accident in 1935 left the car in a sorry state and in 1969 it was brought to England to spend the next 32 years with Silver Ghost connoisseur Jeremy Bacon in South Kensington and Kew.

In 2001 it was acquired by current owner John Fassel, the Rolls-Royce historian, author and publisher with a particular interest in Rolls-Royce and Bentleys in India. He has restored the chassis with a team of other specialists to bring the car back to its original splendour.

Chassis number
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p.jpg

We have seen this many a times on TBHP
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p1.jpg


How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p2.jpg

Post its accident
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p3.jpg


How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p4.jpg


How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-p5.jpg
Source credits to https://concoursvirtual.com/
Cheers

KPS
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Old 4th August 2020, 13:18   #1614
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Cross posting

XK140 ex-Bhopal/ex-Pataudi

Soha Ali Khan Pataudi shared this picture of the Jaguar with her brother, Saif Ali Khan Pataudi and herself.

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-pataudi-jaguar.jpg
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Old 5th August 2020, 14:35   #1615
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Rupendra Pal Singh (Uchagaon), shared these pictures of his grandfather Late Surendra Pal Singh, MP from Bulandshahr, also former minister in the Union cabinet, during his days abroad.

The car is a coach built Hudson, which he brought back to India and later sold to his brother in law Maharaja Brijendra Singh of Bharatpur.

England

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-117168566_10158617664308987_3794285512283571737_n.jpg

Italy

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-116705176_10158617664378987_6198232739223550649_n.jpg
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Old 6th August 2020, 12:43   #1616
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by KartikeyaL View Post
Many thanks to the Former Maharaja Shri Dharmendra Prasad Singh for these great pictures.

Personal motor cars of Maharaja Bahadur Sir Bhagwati Prasad Singh KCIE KBE of Balrampur C. early 1900s

Hello
I was very pleased to see the photos you posted back in 2017 of the cars of Maharaja Bahadur Sir Bhagwati Prasad Singh KCIE KBE of Balrampur C. early 1900s.
I have a photograph of my great grandfather, Charles Dear, being driven in one of the Maharaja's cars with (presumably) him and various others. Charles established the Upper India Motor Company in Lucknow with an agency to sell Daimler cars. I believe there were several cars sold to the Maharaja.
I've attached the photograph and wondered if you have any other details of early Daimler purchased by the Maharaja or any information regarding my great grandfather's car business.?
Regards
Terry Dear
Attached Thumbnails
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-charlesdear1.1.jpg  

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Old 6th August 2020, 13:12   #1617
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

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Originally Posted by terryh2c View Post
Hello
I've attached the photograph and wondered if you have any other details of early Daimler purchased by the Maharaja or any information regarding my great grandfather's car business.?

Welcome Terry, and thanks so much for sharing this stunning image. I shall look for any previous posts on the Upper India Motor Company, it does sound familiar to me. In the interim we would be very greatful if you could share any more images, stories, paperwork and timelines of the business? Thanks again.
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Old 6th August 2020, 13:13   #1618
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Quote:
Originally Posted by terryh2c View Post
Hello
Charles established the Upper India Motor Company in Lucknow with an agency to sell Daimler cars. I believe there were several cars sold to the Maharaja purchased by the Maharaja or any information regarding my great grandfather's car business.?
Regards
Terry Dear
Thank you for such a great picture.

I had posted about the Upper India Motor company here

I am re-posting them here

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-de-dion-letter-1.jpg

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-dedion-letter-2.jpg

Last edited by KartikeyaL : 6th August 2020 at 13:16.
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Old 7th August 2020, 07:32   #1619
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

Thank you for your very warm comments regarding my posted photograph. My great grandfather has been a source of great interest for me as I am a car enthusiast and now have someone to blame for my obsession - it's clearly hereditary.
Charles Dear was an apprentice motor mechanic with Daimler from the age of 15 in the 1890s. He later drove in the London to Brighton motor trials in the early 1900s (see attached photograph).
In April 1905 Charles, his wife, three sons, and brother Alan left England to establish a motor business in Lucknow; The Upper India Motor Company.
I presume Daimler had enough interest from the Lucknow region to establish an agency there and Charles had the ability to drive, fix, and sell cars so was well credentialled.
Quite how the business fared I am unaware.
There is a gap between starting the business in 1905 and Charles leaving India and moving to Western Australia to go farming, establishing 'Lucknow Farm' in 1913 in East Narrogin.
Why did Charles leave India?
Family oral history has it that Charles was driving with some of the Maharaj's family in the mountains and they were attacked by robbers. Various of the group were either injured (not sure if there was also a death?) but this made Charles' mind up to look for further opportunities elsewhere. How accurate this is I cannot be sure.
I have attached a few photographs of his time in India with cars.
Any help to fill in the story would be very much appreciated.
I have planned to visit Lucknow to get a sense of how it must have been for Charles and visit the places he photographed.
That seems a distant dream as we start our second week of hard lockdown in Melbourne, only able to travel 5kms!
Attached Thumbnails
How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-album1.3.jpg  

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-dears.cars.jpg  

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-india-11.jpg  

How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas-india-2.jpg  

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Old 7th August 2020, 07:57   #1620
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Re: How rich were the Maharajas before Independence! Cars of the Maharajas

I cannot see a single car with less space. All cars were so spacious. And so damn good looking. Mostly SUV types and a lot of convertibles/ open top types. Build quality, without doubt would have been way better than what we have today. I seriously want to sit in one and feel it!!

And btw, I can't find a single sub-4m car!
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