VINTAGE ON WHEELS

RANA MANVENDRA SINGH OF BARWANI HAS ‘RESTORED’ A NUMBER OF HIGH ROLLERS, INCLUDING A 1912 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER GHOST AND A GOLD-PLATED DAIMLER. THE RENOWNED CAR HISTORIAN IS NOW PLANNING TO RECREATE THE ‘LOST’ DESIGNS OF CARS FOR THE MAHARAJAS.

- PRIYA KUMARI RANA

RANA MANVENDRA SINGH of Barwani, vintage car expert, restorer and author, has quite a few memories with his 1956 Cadillac. One incident that he particularly remembers took place when he was five. “I was looking at something in a shop in Connaught Place, New Delhi, and my parents moved away. A lady saw me standing on the divider of the road, stopped her car and asked me how I got there? I answered that I came in a red Cadillac. By then, my mother had rushed towards me.” It was funny that the first thing he could identify about his family was the red Cadillac!

Royalty and automobiles have always gone hand in hand, ever since the maharajas imported their very first cars in the beginning of the 20th century. It is because of India’s royal history that vintage cars have still remained with owners’ families for over a century.

“If you look at the ultra-rich around the world, from the Vanderbilts to the Rothschilds, few will still have their very first cars,” says Singh. “But in India, the Nizam of Hyderabad’s family still owns its RollsRoyce from 1912!”