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I think i remember seeing a picture of the car at your house, when it was with your family

Many years ago, there was picture story in Filmfare about late Sheikh Mukhtar ( he was alive then) and his love of classic cars. This MB was pictured in the article. More recently, about ten /fifteen years Car & Driver magazine featured this MB with a story how it ended up in the US ! It was sold for peanuts and was smuggled out of Bombay on an Arab Dhow , reached one of the Gulf countries, was transported to Europe and then to the US where it was restored and is with a collector on the west coast The Pictures were of a beautiful blue MB in its full glory. I wish I had saved that magazine.

Can you vaguely recall which issue this was, or at least narrow it down? I have access to most back issues of Filmfare, I can start hunting for it.

I was in college, in Meerut. It must have been mid 60s may be 63-64. if you recall, Filmfare
Started as a small size magazine , about 6" x 10" format . Then it grew to full size similar to Illustrated Weekly. My recollection is it was a full size Filmfare . it was during the time when Mario used to put a full page cartoon re: Rajani Nimbupani & Balraj Balram ! I.S.Johar answered readers questions. The article on Sheikh Sahib was about three pages covering his home , cars etc. I also recall his movie ' Mangoo ' had been released. That could narrow down to mid 60s. The photos were B/w as the magazines in those days had very few color
Photos. I have tried to trace the story in 'Car & Driver ' also ,but perhaps, I was searching the wrong way. That article mentIoned the origin of the car , mentioning Sheikh Mukhtar by name. If you recall I had touched on this very topic several months back while writing about cars of film stars ( my story about Nimmi's 1946-47 green Cadillac convertible that ended up in Meerut with one of the film industry's financiers) .

I have the Moto Trend March 1985 which features the Cadillac V 16 which he once owned. Don't know if I posted it in the Maharaja Thread though

Mangu it seems was released in 1954, and the larger format of filmfare too was introduced in the late 50s I am told (on asking around).

Incidentally I found a Mangu Dada from 1970 here, also with Sheik Mukhtar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Z0y2uREps

Thank you for your research. It is possible that I aim a few years off on the question of Filmfare article. After all , it has been over 50 years . But there is no doubt that such an article was indeed published with photos of the Sheikh and the MB. Like wise, the car was featured in the American magazine with clear mention of its origin in Bombay. More research will be needed .

shyml, we are still awaiting for more from you:)

In the mean time I chanced upon this issue of Motor Life magazine dating to July 1955. An American magazine, it carried a short piece on the Holkar car (wrongly attributed to Jodhpur in the article).

It mentions that the car was last reported to be in Poona in the 1950s, so probably before Shiekh Mukhtar owned it. Maybe it was already with Idar, hopefully Nathji can shed more light.







On digging around a bit, James 'Jim' Talmadge turns out to be Buster Keaton's son.

I am in UK to drop off my daughter who is to read at Oxford. back mid Oct. I have indeed started the research and the family will dig up more photos and info regarding when it was acquired, paint scheme at the time etc. I was stressing more on the Mercedes as it still seems to be uncharted. The magazine article writer is guessing the whereabouts of the car and is not sure. Dates these cars were bought and sold would make matter clear. Before personaly seeing this Duesenberg, I was of the opinion that the V-16 was the best pick of the lot. However in actual sight the Duesenberg is outstanding. No true enthusiast should die before laying eyes on this car.

Here is a treat for Duesenberg fans. Photo credit to Sheikh Mukhtar Sahibs son Mr Moin who has given these very nostalgic pictures of his fathers Duesenberg to me with permission to post these. Handsome man handsome car. I wish the family had kept these as together the three are world class.
I dare say it would be the creme dela creme of the classic car collections in India Pakistan and of serious contention in the world. I have also posted pics of his Mercedes 540K and Cadillac V-16 in relevant threads.
Pics of RR twenty, Daimler and Lincoln K are expected. The family may still have films in 16mm of these cars running around, in Pakistan. After all they were movie producers. I dont know if I can persuade them to have these digitised.
Further details are coming slowly but surely. Enjoy.
Amer Ahmad
Lahore, Pakistan

Amer fabulous photographs. Thanks for sharing. What is the colour of the car in these pictures? Silver and sunglow?

Fantastic postings and is that the Bombay Race course in the back ground

Cheers

Check todays posting in Mercedes and Cadillac threads by yours truly. ( once posted I had a difficult time tracing these out myself). I think I should have posted these together in "How rich were..... " for a comparison. maybe the esteemed administrator can move these appropriately. Sorry for the trouble.
Amer

A Cord has been imported to India. From the import/export website:

ONE UNIT VINTAGE CAR 1936 CORD WEST CHESTER CHASSIS # FB1176 United States Bombay Sea UNT 1 1,600,426

Yes the same info was shared by bhpian KartikeyaL here: Link . :thumbs up