Rajkot, a sleepy town that rests on the brink of the sand dunes of Gujarat, is also home to the stately but understated royal family of Rajkot. Possibly one of the leading princely states in the region, it is today home to the stylish and suave Thakore Sahib Mandhattasinhji and his beautiful wife, Kadambari Devi.
Recently, he invited half of royal India for his coronation, which was an elaborate and beautiful affair, that lasted a whole month long. Witnessing its finale, I saw what local pride meant in the tiny towns of India, and how, even today, the royal families hold a position of great prestige amongst the community—with the locals lighting the longest chain of diyas in honour of the Thakore, the bards singing praises of the family and over 300 priests presiding over the consecration ceremony.
While I was there, I also heard the most fascinating story of bringing back home what the family calls its prized possession: the Star of India, the rarest of Rolls Royces from the Phantom series.
It is a story that can credit a place in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. A one-off 1934 Phantom II 40/50 HP Continental ‘All-Weather Convertible’, custom made for the then Maharaja of Rajkot, Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj, in 1934, was sold by the family in the 60s to British collector Bill Meredith-Owens, and bought back by Mandhattasinhji for a whopping Rs. 3.22 crores!
The story of the car is as fascinating as the automobile itself. It was in 2010 that the car came up for sale on JamesList and, under the auctioneer’s block in Monaco, ended up in the hands of a new owner at the bargain basement price of $ 850,000 (€ 640,000). To add a bit of spice to the story, the car was actually bought by the original owners: the Rajkot royal family. Turns out, Mandhattasinh Jadeja bought the “Star of India” Rolls Royce as a present for his father on his 75th birthday, effectively bringing the multi-million dollar Rolls Royce back to the family for the first time since the Maharaja had sold it in 1968.
It was in 1934 that his ancestor, the then Thakore Sahib of Rajkot, had decided to replace his 20-year-old Rolls-Royce with a new one—not just any other Rolls-Royce, but the one which has become renowned as the “Star of India,” named for the famous 563-carat star sapphire. Early in his reign, he ordered a Rolls-Royce Phantom II to replace the 1909 Barker-bodied Silver Ghost open-drive landaulet (chassis number 60797) that he had inherited from his father. The Chassis 188PY was duly completed at the Rolls-Royce works at Derby and dispatched to London coachbuilders Thrupp and Maberly for a handsome and striking All-Weather Cabriolet body.
His Highness’s new car was painted saffron ochre, a shade which symbolized purity, while the bonnet and wings were left in polished aluminium. The interior was trimmed in ochre leather, and the wooden dashboard was marbled with saffron paste. It had steerable driving lights and two small lights that flashed orange, signalling that the road should be cleared for its royal passenger. There were searchlights on each side, with smaller lights attached to the windshield, each with a mirror at the back. The Rajkot state crest appeared on the doors and side windows along with the motto “Dharmi praja raja”, meaning, “an impartial ruler of men of all faiths.” The back of the front seats had a lovely half moon and full moon design made of ivory and dark semi-precious stones, with two small ivory elephant heads in the middle.
The reign of Thakore Dharmendrasinhji, however, was not a happy one. His lavish lifestyle and heavy taxation of his subjects vexed citizens, who did not appreciate his collection of fine cars. There were many protests, strikes and demonstrations. Eventually, Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji died early in 1940, while hunting lions in the Sasan Gir forest.
In 1965, British collector Bill Meredith-Owens found the car while adventuring in Rajkot. He immediately wanted it, but negotiations for its acquisition and export took three years. Once expatriated, it became the star attraction at his museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and was issued the distinctive British registration RRR65.
Meredith-Owens had Wood and Pickett carry out a general overhaul in 1970, after which he and his wife took the car on a lengthy tour through Sweden and Norway. In 1977, it was a participant at the great Rolls-Royce parade at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1989, after Bill Meredith-Owens’ death, his heirs sold the car collection. After purchase by a German doctor, the Star of India came to the notice of Rolls-Royce collector Hans-Günter Zach, who purchased it in 2000.
In 2001, the Star of India suffered an engine fire that affected parts of the front body area and interior. Expert repairs were carried out, making the car ready for Techno Classica in Essen in April 2002 and a return trip to England later that month for Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee, where British Rolls-Royce author Bernard King rode in the car. The work conducted on the interior and the extraordinary leather cost over €70,000. It was named the “most beautiful vehicle” at the 2002 European Concours d’Elegance at Schwetzingen, Germany, and received a similar award at Tulln, Austria in June 2004.
During Zach’s ownership, it chauffeured notable people such as Roland Koch, acting minister-president of Hesse, Germany, and opera stars Günter Wewel and Johannes Kalpers. In 2003, it was part of a special broadcast of ARD, the German public television service. At the event, Mr. Zach drove Johannes Heesters, the oldest working actor in the world, on stage to celebrate his 100th birthday. In all, 188PY has made 24 television appearances in Germany alone, 200 press and magazine reports and showings at countless classic car events, including five Techno Classicas and numerous Concours events, including Villa d’Este. As such, it comes with two enormous files of reports, clippings and the like documenting its fame.
Aside from AX201, the original Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (which was on display in Mr Zach’s museum for two weeks in 2002), perhaps no car is as renowned and admired as the Star of India.