| |
| The country was one of the biggest markets for Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, and was also once home to priceless works of motoring art like the Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic coupe, Maybach Zeppelin, and the Cadillac V16. |
| |
| The Automobiles of the Maharajas by Sharada Dwivedi and Manvendra Singh Barwani explores this wealthy automotive heritage of our country. |
| |
| Dwivedi's famous for the books she's written on Indian royalty and on Mumbai, while Manvendra Singh is one of India's best vintage and classic car restorers. |
| |
| Between the two, they have put together this exquisitely produced and well-researched book which extensively details the royal machines. |
| |
| The Automobiles of the Maharajas contains over 500-odd historical photographs of kings and their cars culled from various sources, and has evocative little nuggets that have emerged from personal interviews with royal families. |
| |
| It's all there, whatever apocryphal story you would have heard about the idiosyncrasies of the maharajas, their astounding wealth, their demands on coachbuilders, the absurd seclusion of the ladies under the purdah system, everything. |
| |
| The Automobiles of the Maharajas is available at all leading book stores, but at Rs 3,000, you will have to pay a king's ransom for it. |
| |
| Supermodel |
| |
| If you're watching the Fall/Autumn Collection of Giorgio Armani at the Milan fashion week on FTV, don't be surprised if you see a Mercedes-Benz CLK sashaying down the catwalk (it won't actually sashay, because it's got ABS, EBD and SBC, but you get the idea). |
| |
| Mercedes-Benz and ace designer Armani have got together to create a special CLK cabriolet, that's been given the Armani treatment. |
| |
Which means the car gets a unique bodywork finish called 'Sabbia'
|
