| The greatest vintage and classic car collection in India is at an innocuous sounding place called Kathwada, just a half-hour drive from Ahmedabad. |
| Placed within the over 2,200-acre estate, this amazing assembly of superb automobiles is set amidst manicured lawns dotted with fountains and sculpture, evergreen foliage and bright flowers, and with peacocks for company. The setting itself "� called Dastan "� is as overwhelming as the mind-boggling cars on display. |
| While Kathwada hosts the lion's share, there's more to the Bhogilal collection. Regular readers of Business Standard Motoring magazine would have seen the Invicta and a dozen other cars "� including some special Rolls-Royces and Bentleys "� from Daskot in Mumbai that's been featured in the past. Another set of cars are housed at Ahmedabad proper, at the Dashiana palace in the heart of the city. |
| About 90 cars rest under protective roofs at Kathwada, the oldest being the 1906 Minerva and a Mors of the same year to the 1964 Wolseley 6/110 Mk 2 twins. In between there are a host of European and American marques "� some alive, some dead "� roadsters and grand tourers, handcrafted coachwork and mass-produced examples... all of them painstakingly put together over decades, for future generations to see. Business Standard Motoring is privileged to be the first publication ever to feature the priceless Pranlal Bhogilal collection "� it took us three full days to catalogue and photograph all those fine machines. |
| Here then, are some highlights of the collection. |
| 1937 Maybach SW38 The last of the Maybachs, the SW series were distinguished by swing axles and over six years, were powered by sublime straight six engines "� of 3500cc, 3800cc and 4200cc displacements, all developing 140 bhp. This elegant sports saloon, with coachwork by Spohn, was one of two ordered by the Maharaja of Kota, Rajasthan. It was bought from the Jetpur royal family and added to the Bhogilal collection. How it reached Jetpur from Kota remains a mystery. |
| 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I The Silver Ghost, which had a long, 18-year production run, was replaced by the Phantom. As it was developed in secrecy, the Phantom was codenamed EAC "� Eastern Armoured Car. The Phantom was essentially the Silver Ghost with a new 108 bhp 7668cc straight six. It was called the Phantom I in retrospect only when the Phantom II replaced it. This Rolls, called Varun, has a gorgeous boat-tail roadster bodywork by Barker and it originates from Kolkata. |
| 1936 Cord 810 A timeless piece of automotive art, people were awestruck when they saw the revolutionary Cord 810 at the New York Auto Show in 1935. It featured unique pop-up headlamps and its 'coffin' nose eschewed the radiator grille. Radical! Louvers run around the hood and beneath, twin radiators do the job of cooling. Powered by a 125 bhp 4700cc Lycoming V8, this front-wheel driven two-door sports phaeton is as exotic as American machinery gets. It was found in Kolkata. |
| 1947 Lincoln Continental Edsel Ford got his designers to build a one-off car with a European 'Continental' body style for his vacation. Based on the iconic Zephyr, Edsel's Lincoln attracted attention and orders, which prompted Ford to get it into production. After WWII, the Continental got a facelift, including the massive grille and plenty of chrome. A 125 hp 4700cc V12 rests under that massive hood. This Lincoln was a gift from Maharaja Pratapsinghrao Gaekwad to his son-in-law, the Maharaja of Dhar. |
| 1906 Mors Mors are extremely special and rare cars. Set up by Emile Mors in 1897, Mors was one of the pioneers of the French automotive industry. He started by manufacturing air-cooled horizontally-opposed engined cars, and then progressed to V4s, like Lancia. This, the Mors 10 HP is however of a conventional format. The water-cooled 1800cc inline four develops 10.5 bhp at 1200 revs and 7 kgm of torque. The Mors 10 HP was produced between 1906 and 1910, and this model sports an elegant tourer bodywork. |
| 1927 Hispano-Suiza H6C A marque comparable to Rolls-Royce in construction and quality, Hispano-Suiza was the brainchild of Marc Birkigt, a Swiss engineering genius based in Spain. Only 264 units of the H6C were produced between 1924 and 1936, and they featured a 160 bhp 7982cc straight-six. This 1927 model was ordered by the Maharaja of Alwar, who disliked Rolls-Royces. Thanks to an amazingly flexible salamanca limousine coachwork by H J Mulliner, this H6C was used both as a throne car and for hunting. |
| 1934 Chrysler Imperial Airflow The radical Airflow was the first mass-produced automobile developed with the help of a wind-tunnel. When most cars' rear ends had better drag coefficients, the Airflow showcased an aerodynamic 'waterfall' grille, cab-forward design and unit body construction. Too avant garde for traditional Americans, the Airflow in its original form, died a quick death. This Imperial version "� the zenana car of the Rajkot royal family "� has a more powerful 130 bhp 5400cc straight-eight, special trim and a longer wheelbase. |
| 1937 Riley Sprite Sports A typical British roadster from another illustrious Coventry firm, the Riley Sprite's 1500cc four-cylinder engine was introduced in 1935, and used in the roadster when it was launched in 1936. At that time, the two-seater Sprite, with its streamlined front end, was the only open-topped Riley on sale. Surprising, considering Riley was manufacturing over 23 models. In September 1936, their ad said: '...we make far too many models of course. But then we have a pretty fertile design department, and we like making nice, interesting cars.' Amen! |
| If you want to see the cars in real life, the collection is currently on display at the Dastan estate in Kathwada only for this weekend. Remember, all the proceeds from the entrance charges will be donated to a cancer patients relief fund. So not only will you see some of the greatest cars in the world, you will be contributing to a noble cause too. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard