CARTIER CONCOURS
Celebrating automobile hertiage Cartier style
IIT WAS A DAZZLER WHEN I HAD SEEN it being restored almost 8 to 9 months ago but even I had not expected that come the fifth edition of the Cartier ‘Travel with Style’ Concours D’Elegance, it would be adjudged the Best of Show! Shrivardhan Kanoria’s 1914 Wolseley 30/40 HP royal landaulette was majesty personified as it caught the eye of the acclaimed jury and also those who knew that this now defunct marque had at one time been a strong rival to hallowed brands in Britain. So highly original was this car that it became a historian’s delight to go through its entire repertoire, on both the mechanical as well as the coachwork aspects. And to see this grand upright Edwardian purring its way from its parking slot to the winner’s ramp not once but twice (it also bagged top honours for pre-war European classics) was a glorious sight.
And speaking of glorious sights, in the tenyear, five-event history of the Cartier Concours, this year’s event excelled in its choice of venue which was the majestic Falaknuma Palace, erstwhile home of the fabulous Nizams of Hyderabad. Towering over the city of Hyderabad, thanks to the Nizam’s daughter, Princess Esra, it played gracious host to the event which saw 73 fine cars (and also 39 motorcycles) spread amongst eight classes vying for honours in their respective categories.
This year, as in 2015, one got to see another dimension in the Indian classic car scene – that of pre-1950 cars imported as rust buckets almost, and then brought back to their near original finery by some of the best names in the business. Viveck Goenka, Madan Mohan (of 21 Gun Salute fame), Diljeet Titus, etc had a flurry of cars which they had acquired overseas and to the see their quality of restoration indicates the very high level restorers have taken their craft to
in India. While there certainly is a new debate as well about Indian provenance in Indian events as regards some glorious new welcome additions because of this move to import old cars this isn’t the time or the place to debate that. However I just wanted to state that if ever there had to be an effort that trumped everyone it had to be in the form of the 1949 Bristol 400 Coupe of Amit Sapre which was also rightfully acknowledged as the most outstanding comefrom-the-dead car in the field for the Cartier Resurrection Cup which it won hands down.
This car was dug out from the premises of a building having been buried deep in the ground and next to impossible for many to restore, only because there was virtually nothing tangible to restore but quite a lot to resurrect! I think this was the leit motif for Amit along with the brothers Engineer – Nekzad and Kaizad who run Niki’s Garage in Mumbai to tackle this, and having heard of the Cartier event, gave this trio the fillip to go about it on a war footing. As such the result speaks volumes about the way the car has turned out and also highlights what careful detailing, an eye for the exact specifications and materials plus the attitude and patience needed for such a herculean task can achieve when all these gel together. Take a bow you three!
There was an exhibition class where none of the cars on display were judged but three such cars caught my eye. The first was a 1910 Wolseley 50/60 HP belonging to the Nizam of Hyderabad and in the ownership of his family. Taking into account the Napiers and the 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost ‘throne car’ (Best of Show at the 2011 Cartier Concours in Delhi), this Wolseley forms a nice quartet of Edwardians in the Nizam’s garage. The second car was a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II with wooden skiff bodywork owned by Viveck and Zita Goenka. Formerly owned by the Maharaja of Travancore who had ordered it with a Hooper limousine coachwork, this was later changed to sport this glorious boat-tailed body.
However, the car that was to shade all and
This year’s event excelled in its choice of venue
– the majestic Falaknuma Palace, erstwhile home of the fabulous Nizams of Hyderabad
everything, even the winning Wolseley I might add, in this edition of the Cartier Concours D’Elegance had to be the massively imposing 1919 Daimler 45 HP Special owned since new by the Sir Seth Hukumchand family of Indore. This car with its large imposing bodywork painted a rich golden hue, had many pure gold fittings in its time (some of which had been vandalised) and also loads of ivory in many places within the cabin. This Wind-overs-bodied car was walled up and interred in the family mansion in Indore and only just restored for this event and brought to Hyderabad. Awesome to behold, it was surely the car of the show for me.
The class for European pre-war classics had some great cars. Apart from the winning Wolseley of Shrivardhan Kanoria, the car that caught my eye was a magnificent 1927 Lanchester 21 HP Tourer that was formerly owned by the Maharaja of Nawanagar and had been spirited out of the country before Madan Mohan bought it and restored it back to its former state. And at the other end of the scale in this very class was the perky little 1929 Triumph Super 7 of Padma Lal. This car had gone through many mutations before it was restored and this roadster body grafted on.
The class for pre-war American classics had some great examples of Yankee machinery for the masses as well as the high and the mighty, and overall honours were taken by the 1936 Pierce-Arrow 1602 sedan that had been brought back to life by Diljeet Titus. Following on as runner-up in class was a most handsome 1933 Cadillac V12 Series 370-C imported in an abject state of being and completely restored here by Madan Mohan. Cadillacs dominated this class and it was great to see the large roadsters with V8 and V12 engines vie for the connoisseurs eye. Rarities in this class were Yash Ruia’s 1929 Graham-Paige Model 615, a 1922 Moon 6-40 of Madan Mohan, plus a 1930 Buick 60 Dual Phaeton owned by Kailash Charan. Siddharth
Obvious question that comes to mind is how would Manvendra Barwani be able to improve on this come 2019?
Khona’s 1915 Ford Model T runabout was truly brilliant in its turn out and amusingly well stocked with the many different accessories that ol’ man Henry could conjure up! And yes this all black Tin Lizzie was runner-up in this class.
A very special class titled Americain Aerodynamique (no typos here, these are the exact words mind you) was fittingly won by Amal Tanna’s 1936 Chrysler Imperial Aeroflow. Very well restored entirely here in India from a virtual basket case imported from overseas, this Chrysler bested Viveck Goenka’s 1936 Cord 810 Winchester Sedan among others in this class.
Shantanu Reddy’s rare 1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster took the top spot among the European post war classics while Viveck Goenka’s 1959 Edsel Villager station wagon was the winner among the American post war classics. A very lovingly turned out 1961 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL owned by Sandeep Reddy bagged top honours among the roadsters which also had a very fine example of the Jaguar E-Type Series I from 1962 in the fray. There were two classes for small and large Rolls-Royces and the first of these saw Manu Raman’s 1936 25/30 HP car sporting Thrupp & Maberly coachwork best the others to take top honours. Inder Krishnama’s magnificent 1921 40/50 HP Silver Ghost with Barker barrel body tourer coachwork was the winner among the Grand Rolls-Royce class.
The Indian heritage class which seems to be coming along nicely over the last four editions saw Viveck and Zita Goenka’s 1957 Hindustan Land master Traveller take top honours over Keshav Rao’s 1958 Hindustan Ambassador among others.
A special award and category has to take mention here. The preservation class is gaining traction in events of this kind all over the world and here a supremely elegant not to mention a rare example of the 1954 Studebaker Conestoga (ordered new for the use of the Bikaner royals) went on to bag the Mark Shand Adventurer Trophy for its owner Viveck Goenka. I just couldn’t take my eyes off this elegant station wagon and the patina it carried, replete with distinctive art deco searchlight on its roof! And on to the most impressive - for me - in this category had to be the absoluetly original 1921 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost with James & Company tourer coachwork of the Maharaja of Wankaner. I had seen this car more than two decades ago in the royal garage at Wankaner and here it was brought, ticking along nicely but unmolested and un-retouched, by Yuvraj Kesri Sinhji. Not surprisingly and very deservedly it was awarded the FIVA Preservation Trophy. For his yeoman patronage, noted car enthusiast and supreme collector Sharad Sanghi of Indore was accorded the Cartier Honour Trophy.
It was a great show for the first time in Hyderabad and dare I say it, the setting overpowered the cars unlike the previous venues in Mumbai and Delhi. That apart, it was absolutely glorious to see a clutch of great cars that curator Manvendra Singh Barwani had brought together. Obvious question that comes to mind is how would he be able to improve on this come 2019? ⌧