The Maharajas and their Magnificent Motor Cars by Gautam Sen (Author) & Makarand Baokar (Photographs) - 2011

Haynes Publishing, U.K., 2011. First edition. Hardcover. New. 24 x 30 cm. In 1898 a European firm imported three ‘horseless carriages’ into British India that found their way to some princely states. And with that began the Indian Maharajas"" love affair with the automobile. The horseless carriage changed completely the lifestyle of Indian royalty, triggering an enthralling new passion that was to endure right up to the present day. The choicest cars with the most unusual coachworks were required to satisfy the varied tastes and demands of the rajas and maharajas – ceremonial throne cars, hunting cars with Stephen Grebel search lamps and gun racks, cars for wedding and state processions, even cars in which ladies could travel in secluded purdah. Each wealthy family tried to outdo the other in terms of pomp, glamour and splendor. Not all cars were in agreeable taste. There was, for instance, the Ford belonging to a prominent landowner who favoured overpowering silver repousse decorative work and lace curtains, or the gold-plated Daimler of an ambitious merchant. But the strangest limousine of all must surely have been the famous Swan Car of Calcutta, a 1912 Brooke with the front head fashioned to look like a swan that hissed steam from its nostrils. Several thousand wonderful and exotic machines were owned by the 500 very wealthy Indian princes during the first half of the 20th century, but only a few hundred still survive. Some of these are with collectors and museums in Europe and America, others with collectors in India, and a few remarkable vehicles remain with the ageing and declining Indian royal families of yesteryear. This book – gloriously illustrated and packed with fascinating detail – celebrates the most remarkable of these magnificent cars. Acknowledged as the ‘father’ of Indian automotive journalism, Gautam Sen founded one of Indian’s first car magazines, Indian Auto, in 1986. Later he launched Auto India, which became India’s best-selling car magazine, and Indian editions of the BBC’s Top Gear magazine and Germany’s auto motor und sport. He contributes regularly to European magazines. Printed Pages: 383. NA