[v12]

The mysterious Rolls Royce in Khandala / Lonavala.



If you have been travelling to Lonavala / Khandala - you would have definitely not missed this car. I know this may not be a vintage or a classic or a Maharajah Rolls Royce. It's been part of various other threads - Vintage cars spotted, Classic Cars rotting, Imports gathering dust etc. I thought why not start a new thread on the most mysterious Rolls Royce in India. This car deserves its own thread.

Everytime I visit Lonavala - this car is like a tourist attraction for me. I have to go and take a look at it. Everytime I see it , I feel I have come to meet an elderly person at the home for the aged. From the first time that I saw this car more than 15 years ago - it has deteriorated very badly. The SOE is missing, windshield is broken, seats are torn, the roof has caved in, water seeps through the broken windshield - but it refuses to die.

Everytime I look at it makes me wonder what's the story behind this Rolls Royce. Who owned this car? What's its history? Why has it been neglected and abandoned? Can a team bhpian or a collector rescue this car and restore it to her original glory.

The only story I have read about this car and the haunted ones which I don't believe to be true. Do any of the old timers on the forum know about this car? Or have pics of this car when it was used? Maybe at vintage car rallies etc.

The only thing I remember is a similar colored Silver Shadow was once featured in an old issue of Auto India and belonged to Pramod Talera of Talera Ford fame. The article had an aerial / roof top shot of the Silver Shadow - am not able to find that article so am not sure if it's the same car.

Anyone on the forum can shed some light and brave enough to even rescue this car?

Current state of the car. Roof has caved in, windshield is completely broken, water filling up the interiors through the windshield.

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by v12

The only thing I remember is a similar colored Silver Shadow was once featured in an old issue of Auto India and belonged to Pramod Talera of Talera Ford fame. The article had an aerial / roof top shot of the Silver Shadow - am not able to find that article so am not sure if it's the same car.

The Talera RR is a different car and still with them.

[crdi]

This car has intrigued me ever since the first photos appeared on the forum. Would someone be having more pictures at least?

Pictures with a broader frame would benefit people not familiar with the location/garage, especially since the available stories about it are very fascinating.

[GTO]

An old post on this car:

Originally Posted by the mole

This Rolls belongs to the spiritual head of the Bohris. I hear it was for sale for about a crore. Its a well maintained car, frequently used.

And a video if you want to see more of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVN5VLjRZsw

[v12]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

The Talera RR is a different car and still with them.

Attachment 1789928

Thanks Kartik, yes now I remember the registration number. This clears out the confusion then.

Originally Posted by crdi

This car has intrigued me ever since the first photos appeared on the forum. Would someone be having more pictures at least?

Pictures with a broader frame would benefit people not familiar with the location/garage, especially since the available stories about it are very fascinating.

Here you go Crdi. The car is located in Khandala just next to the New Taj hotel on the Old Mumbai Pune highway.

Originally Posted by GTO

An old post on this car

The SS owned by the spiritual head was a different one and was in use till some years ago. This is a different one. Yes there have been lot of stories of this being a haunted car.

[amrutmhatre90]

Originally Posted by v12

The mysterious Rolls Royce in Khandala / Lonavala.

This is the same Rolls which I had seen in my locality in Shere-Punjab Andheri area. We have a guy who has almost all kinds of cars which are used in movies or tv series on rent basis. Back then this Rolls had the Spirit of Ecstasy on it, but within 2-3 days it was stolen. The same car was badly maintained, they still have many JDM cars.

[BLACKRiVAL]

Someone told me that the owner stays in London and this was the same car used in bollywood movie Lakeer (2004).

[Miel]

Forgive my ignorance , but isn't this as simple as finding who owns the patch of land on which it is parked? It looks like prime, but dilapidated private property - which is a better start than tracking the history of a car abandoned by the roadside.

In all probability the car belongs to whomever owns that real estate or to someone very dear to them. What do the hotel guys next door have to say?

Also, found the following image on Google. The car looks the same and the number is also a match to the one seen in the Suniel Shetty movie.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by v12

Here you go Crdi. The car is located in Khandala just next to the New Taj hotel on the Old Mumbai Pune highway.

Attachment 1790006

The car appears to be kept in private premises having gate. So, won't the owner of the premises be able to tell the story of the car?

Originally Posted by Miel

Attachment 1790122

I think this is the same car MH01 R 0746. Look at the grill on the right side in the photograph, in Miel's post. The same grill is seen in the first post. Also the round pole of the shed, on the left side in the photograph, is same

[theqca]

Originally Posted by Miel

Forgive my ignorance , but isn't this as simple as finding who owns the patch of land on which it is parked? It looks like prime, but dilapidated private property - which is a better start than tracking the history of a car abandoned by the roadside.

Attachment 1790122

I spent a part of my childhood quite close to this place. The house with this car used to be called Ayesha Villa. There was a hotel at the corner called Nagraj and the one next to this house was called El Taj. The place appears to have changed though from the photos you guys have posted. Ofcourse the expressway construction must have changed the entire area quite a bit. Haven't been there in years ....

[BLACKRiVAL]

Originally Posted by Miel

Forgive my ignorance , but isn't this as simple as finding who owns the patch of land on which it is parked? It looks like prime, but dilapidated private property - which is a better start than tracking the history of a car abandoned by the roadside.

In all probability the car belongs to whomever owns that real estate or to someone very dear to them. What do the hotel guys next door have to say?

Also, found the following image on Google. The car looks the same and the number is also a match to the one seen in the Suniel Shetty movie.

Attachment 1790122

This seems to be the same car parked at the same place. Also heard that the place is on sale but some developer is spreading fake stories so that no one buys that place.

[v12]

So far it seems then that the car was left at Lonavala after the shoot and probably that was the last of it. The place , Ayesha Villa, seems to have been purchased by El-Taj group going by the huge hoarding covering the bungalow.

Probably the place where the car is parked is under dispute, hence it hasn't been moved a bit from there. Ditto for the Priya scooter that's parked next to it.

Theqca - since you have spent a good amount of time around that place, do you know of a Triumph TR3A that was parked just a few metres away? It was a white colour TR3A - was not in the best of condition though.

[sudev]

IAC even if the car is same one the database of MORTH shows the number MH01R0746 as invalid data!!

[asit.kulkarni93]

Originally Posted by sudev

IAC even if the car is same one the database of MORTH shows the number MH01R0746 as invalid data!!

That maybe because the car may not have its fitness done post 2006. Mostly the data available readily online is of cars post 2006 or older cars who have visited the rto for the RC renewal.

[Saurav_Nair]

Yup! It's the same car - MH01R0746
Skip forward to 1:09 min in the attached YouTube video.

http://youtu.be/xiRyRFUfI9g