A house for vintage cars in Kathwada

A 1906 model Mors from France. It is perhaps the only such car in the country.

• A 1906 model Minerva. The prince of Kuwait recently came down to Kathwada to just have a look at it. The king had sent it to India for repairs, but somehow the car never went back.
• A 1911 Daimler. This custom-made car has a Charlsworth aluminium body and has kerosene lamps as headlights. It belonged to the Nawab of Junagadh.
• A 1946 Humber. Protocol has it that the British Consul General used only a Humber, a favourite of Lord Mountbatten. It has been bought from the Maharaja of Valbhipur.

And there are over 100 other vintage cars, all made between 1906 and 1956, that grace the sprawling Auto World, at Kathwada near Ahmedabad.

From the manufacturing of starch, laminates and the like to developing a passion for vintage cars, Auto World owner Pranlal Bhogilal is indeed a man of varied interests.

"These are pieces of art and for three generations we have been collecting these cars just as one would collect paintings. I would never put a value for this collection," said Pranlal Bhogilal, as he rolled his hand over a 1934 aerodynamic Chrysler, that is one of his personal favourites.

The collection includes cars from Roll Royce, Bentley, Daimler, Maybach, Morris, Lagonda, Fiat, Chevrolet, Minerva, Mors, Dodge, Mercedes, Cadillac, Buick, Humber, Hudson and many others.

While the Kathwada collection has had some high profile guests like Colin Powell, the prince of Kuwait and the Australian Prime Minister among others, the people in general will get to see the collection from December 10 to 12 at a nominal fee which will go to charity.

"These were not just modes of transportation. Some cars here have special compartments to change clothes, others are speciality vehicles used by Maharajas for hunting, complete with racks to store rifles and the like. Each car has a story to tell," said Pranlal Bhogilal.

Almost all of these cars are in working condition and are taken out regularly for a drive around the estate.

Bhogilal said almost all the cars at 'Dastan', the huge estate at Kathwada, are `coach built', meaning they are custom made according to specifications required by the owners.

"All these are built by hand and coach-building by hand stopped way back in 1955. Thus even two cars of the same make and made in the same year will be different, because they have been made by hand," he said.