Motor Car Named Desire

The four-wheeled fascinations of Indian royalty have inspired many a book. While one Maharaja boasted of a swan-necked car that elephants were scared of,another owned a Rolls Royce for his personal cricket team. Many such stories have been tucked into Gautam Sen’s book The Maharajas and Their Magnificent Motor Cars (384 pages,£40),which was launched at the residence of the French ambassador to India,Jerome Bonnafont,on Wednesday. Among those present at the event were Arvind Singh from the royal family of Udaipur and seasoned collectors of vintage cars like Nitin Dossa and Dr Ravi Prakash.

Interestingly the book,by Haynes Publishing,was first released in French in France,where Sen lives with his wife. “France’s fascination with India is greater than India’s fascination for France and that’s why the book was out in French first,” said Sen.

The book,which covers 70 of the few hundred surviving vintage cars in India,has over 500 photographs of ceremonial throne cars,hunting cars,cars for wedding and state processions and those made especially for women. “A lot of people who collected cars thought that it would give them personal pleasure. But the fact that there are books on them and car rallies,makes it evident that collectors are now keen to share their collection with everybody,” said Arvind Singh.