[KPS]

A brief note on my good friend Manu Raman's father 25/30 Rolls Royce # GGR 56. The car has been with the family for 44 years!

As a kid, I remember seeing this car at Woodlands Hotel, having been driven down from Mysore. Woodlands Hotel was the pick up point for all of us kids, to the board the special bus to our boarding school - Rishi Valley School. Manu was my junior and his elder brother Aroon Raman (check link) was much senior.

Post the unfortunate passing of their father, the car was at the Mysore house in a well cover garage, but needing a full restoration.

Mr. John Fazal had in his correspondence the Manu/Aroon noted

I recall seeing your car many years ago on one of my many trips to India. You may be aware that Mr. N.C.Lakrawallah of Bellasis Road, Byculla, Bombay, ordered two 25/30 h.p. cars:- GGR 56 and GGR 81 a saloon by Thrupp & Maberly. (Body no. 6813). I gather from the records that both cars were sold on to one Mr. H.Batliwalla of Bombay.

Your car was finished in green throughout with the wings and top portion of the body in black. The luggage grid was chromium plated. The interior woodwork was teak. The car was shipped to Bombay on the s/s 'Durenda' which sailed on the 14th May 1938. GGR 81 was shipped this day, 11th June 1938 aboard the s/s 'Dalgoma' to Bombay.

The Senior Raman had noted the brief history of the car and how he came about acquiring the same

..the 25/30 hp Rolls GGR 56. When I bought the car, I was told that the car originally belonged to a Mr. Batliwalla (Original owner was in fact N.C.Lakrawalla), an interesting gentleman ....... I was also told that he did have a second Rolls, details if which were not available. (We know this to be the 25/30 GGR 81).

The car was purchased from the estate by Mr. Chawala from whom I acquired it in 1973."

Every time and met Manu, I used to nag him about restoring the car in memory of his father . Being an enthusiast, I would always end my conversations with him on this car. I shared with him pictures of the car with his father, taken at the Mysore Dussera Rallies. These pictures seem to have brought back a lot of good memories for the family.

Sporting the original number plate


Sr. Raman and the car with the Mysore Palace at the background.




Finally, the family decided to restore the car in memory of their father. We explored various options before we agreed the best options before us was to do the mechanical restorations with Christopher Rodricks. Body restoration to be done by the premier Rolls Royce restorer in the country, Maharana Manvendra Singh of Barwani.

So in July 2014, the restoration was kicked off with the car being brought to Rodricks Restoration, Bangalore

Car being loaded at Mysore












Body work at Indore. Was amazed at the detailing and commitment to the restoration. Lot of missing items were traced and fitted.

Manu and I went to see the car in November'16






Proudly stand next to the restorer. Enjoyed our visit to Indore. It was great to spend some relaxed time with Mr. Manvendra Singh. The added bonus was that I got him to autograph my copy of "The Automobiles of the Maharajas"


Manu and Christopher get ready to ship the car to Hyderabad at the Cartier.


KVCCC Members inspect the car!


At the 5th Cartier Concours de Elegance, Falaknuma, Hyderabad, the car picked the class prize. I had the honour to go on stage for the prize with Manu Raman!






Noted Rolls Royce Historian. Mr. John Fazal gives the Class Award






Manu proudly stands with the Class Award with Taj Falaknuma in the back drop


I get a chance to share Manu's glory


Cheers

KPS

[sgiitk]

Someone has moved court in Delhi to be allowed to continue to drive his Antique /Veteran car. Sometimes we do not think out the unexpected consequences of the laws, like the 15 year one here.

[howler]

@KPS wonderful pics of Mr Ramans rolls , I used to walk past his old house in jl Puram in the late 90s just to catch a glimpse of the rolls in the garage. A really wonderful gentleman , your post brought back some good memories.

[KPS]

Came across some old pictures of what appears to be paper clippings

Bharatpur


Chassis 105 MW 1933 PII, Raja Sahib of Hathawar


This car has been covered before

Cheers

KPS

[travancore]

Originally Posted by KPS

Came across some old pictures of what appears to be paper clippings

Bharatpur
Attachment 1610867

KPS

Thanks KPS.

The Bharatpur cars are 20 H.P. Chassis GSK15; and the ex-Mysore Silver Wraith James Young WCB40.

Will post a colour picture tonight.

[travancore]

The Bharatpur 20 H.P. (GSK15); and the ex-Mysore Silver Wraith (WCB40) in colour, as promised.

GSK15 survives in fine nick in England; and WCB40 is still in India (registered DHD-9211).

[shyml]

Originally Posted by travancore

The Bharatpur 20 H.P. (GSK15)......

Nothing beats Grebel lamps. If I was buying a car in 1920,30s I would only specify Grebels. Would you agree or do you like the P100DB or the Marchal 12" .Really no other good choice in my opinion.
Amer Ahmad

[wasif]

Originally Posted by shyml

Nothing beats Grebel lamps. If I was buying a car in 1920,30s I would only specify Grebels. Would you agree or do you like the P100DB or the Marchal 12" .Really no other good choice in my opinion.
Amer Ahmad

My grand uncle had Grebels on his Ford Model A Roadster, car is in Pune now there are pics of it here on the forum somewhere Karl knows

[travancore]

Originally Posted by shyml

Nothing beats Grebel lamps. If I was buying a car in 1920,30s I would only specify Grebels. Would you agree or do you like the P100DB or the Marchal 12" .Really no other good choice in my opinion.
Amer Ahmad

How about Willocq-Bottin ? I know a Cadillac V-16 that wears those.

I agree, the Grebels looked good on almost any car. Some owners tended however, to specify them too small in my opinion.

[//M]

The ex-Maharaja of Panchkote's Chassis #3CM37 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III from the Poonawalla collection in Pune.

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

I have recieved some lovely old pictures of the Dholpur cars which are now under restoration, courtesy Kishore Gidwani.
20HP GLK67 Hooper tourer.

Originally Posted by Julian UK

Here are some photos of the Dholpur cars being restored in Jaipur.
1925 20hp GLK67 Hooper Tourer Dholpur

The same car ? , now restored and parked at the chief minister's residence in Jaipur, some people got to click pictures when they visited the CM's residence on her birthday today.

[KartikeyaL]

A recent import, this car is now part of a prominent collection in Jaipur

[KartikeyaL]

Couple of more pictures of the Dholpur Rolls Royce 20HP GLK67 Hooper tourer.

[kasli]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

Couple of more pictures of the Dholpur Rolls Royce 20HP GLK67 Hooper tourer.

What have they done :( . This is utter rubbish treatment to what was a fine Automobile when it was red and black. Sad !

Cheers

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by kasli

What have they done :( . This is utter rubbish treatment to what was a fine Automobile when it was red and black. Sad !

Cheers

True, looks like an ambulance now !