1924 Rolls-Royce Twenty
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From a car bought to be cannibalised for spares (to keep other Rolls-Royce 20 H.P.s motoring) in the Udaipur royal garage to its glorious resurrection to pride of place in the same fleet and also as the flag bearer of royal Indian automobiles at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, is a story right out of a fable. Adil Jal Darukhanawala sheds light on GLK 21, the 1924 Rolls-Royce Twenty, originally ordered and owned by the Maharaja of Jodhpur and since the late 1930s doing duty in the automobile fleet of the Maharaja of Udaipur
From a car bought to be cannibalised for spares to keep other Rolls-Royce 20 H.P.s motoring in the Udaipur royal garage to its glorious resurrection to not just pride of place in the same fleet but also as the flag bearer of great Indian royal automobiles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is a story right out of a fable. Adil Jal Darukhanawala sheds light on GLK 21, the 1924 Rolls-Royce Twenty, originally ordered and owned by the Maharaja of Jodhpur and since the late 1930s doing duty in the automobile fleet of the Maharaja of Udaipur
Indian royalty loved their motor cars. And of course their other worldly possessions but then this was a matter of course because they had so much of it that not having one or two baubles wouldn’t have dented their financial standing. However, honour was of even greater import than mere money and it was also the pride of being seen in the grandest at all times which saw so many royals (Maharajas, Rajas, Thakur Sahibs, Nawabs, etc, etc) take to the automobile with such gusto as they would have done so with horses and elephants in the century before the advent of the internal combustion powered vehicles.
One has heard many a tale of our royals buying exotic cars by the dozen for the simple reason that the impression thus created was massive on the minds! Not just on their subjects but also on their peers and compatriots! This latter aspect was one which more often than not had many a raja ranged against a maharaja (and vice versa) in competition for the most powerful automobile just as they would have fought for the hand of princess in earlier times. That buying many units of the same model in one go was because they could afford them to show off and not because of there being a wholesale price charged for the purchase! Woe betide anyone was it to be known that some motor manufacturer had offered a discount and a royal had accepted!
However, among the over 278 Indian royals classified at the time of Independence, we also saw quite a few of them who were genuine motoring enthusiasts and who had great taste, be it displayed in the marque they chose, the coachwork they specified or the special one-offs they commissioned. So many of the greatest automotive names in existence at that time made special cars for our royals and while many did acknowledge that they had to have at least a couple of Rolls-Royces for official duties, this didn’t prevent them from investing in Lanchesters, Daimlers, Hispano-Suizas, Isotta-Fraschinis, OMs, Mercedes-Benz, Delages, Delahayes, Minervas, Cadillacs, Duesenbergs, et al.
In fact motoring history is the richer because of our royals and their penchant for great and grand cars and on August 19 this year, one would get a glimpse of some of these magnificent machines which our Maharajas drove and rode in their heyday when these beauties roll down on the famed 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach golf course for the 62nd Concours d’Elegance.
And of the eclectic (Maharaja Cars to enter 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance) lot at Pebble this year would be the car splashed across these pages and a few overleaf, the 1924 Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. entered by His Highness Shri Arvind Singhji Mewar of Udaipur. While many would question the stature of a mere Twenty against the likes of a Phantom II or III this car and its entry is without a doubt one of the most significant for Pebble Beach in its history. It would be the first time that a Maharaja car would be driven on the hallowed greens with its Maharaja owner riding shotgun! In fact, this car will also do the 17-mile Tour d’Elegance on August 16, running through scenic vistas as the route winds through mountains and valleys along the California coast with a mid-way halt at Carmel-by-the-Sea.
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