Gautam Sen
In 1898 the first three ‘horseless carriages’ were imported into British
India and so began Indian royalty's love affair with the automobile.
During the first half of the 20th century the choicest cars with the most
unusual coachwork made their way to India to satisfy the varied tastes
and demands of the rajas and the maharajas. All manner of ceremonial
throne cars, hunting cars, wedding cars and cars for state processions
were owned by 500-odd Indian princes who tried to outdo each other in
terms of pomp, glamour and splendour. Of the several thousand such
cars that came to India, just a few hundred survive today and this
magnificent book focuses on 70 of these together with the people
associated with them.

Key content

An authoritative and visually impressive study of a glamorous and historically
fascinating subject.
The first automobiles came to Bombay and Calcutta, and wealthy inhabitants
of Calcutta – the second city of the British Empire – particularly took to them:
automobile associations and motorsport sprouted there.
Destiny has been unkind to Calcutta, but treasures have been discovered there
in recent times: Protap Roy has unearthed some of the finest cars ever.
With India’s independence, the royal privileges of the rajas and maharajas
disappeared, along with their titles, money and property. Just a handful - such
as the maharajas of Jodhpur, Udaipur and Gondal – were able to retain their
wealth by converting their palaces into luxury hotels and keeping cars bought
by their ancestors.
The cars of other rajas and maharajas were sold, many to opportunistic
collectors in India who have, in recent decades, built up fine collections; the
most famous is that of Pranlal Bhogilal, whose collection is featured in this
book, along with those of Dr Ravi Prakash, Diljeet Titus and Nitin Dossa.
Some of the more exceptional cars found their way to the West: those featured
include the strange Brooke Swan Car that hissed steam from its ‘nostrils’
and a
magnificent Delahaye 175 that Elton John used to own.
Over 500 photos, some showing cars that have never been seen before.