Aug 24: Maharajas' Wonderful Cars

What is a maharaja anyway? I've heard of them for years and at one time in India they had huge amounts of money and "ostentatious" might have been an understatement. This blog isn't a history lesson, it's one on cars, so I'll leave you to do the research on maharajas. Let's take a look at some of their cars.......

This is a Rolls-Royce that was featured in a show on India at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Check out all that silver. Imagine the price of a custom made Roller with the entire front end, along with all the fenders being made from pure silver. But hey, if your subjects are starving, you had to give some them hope  -  try to figure out that logic.

The pic below shows this same Rolls from the side. While you are polishing the silver tableware, also do the car, please.

Another beautiful Rolls, but this one was built so that the maharaja could address his subjects while driving along. The top could be lowered and the brightly coloured umbrella would still protect his highness (or whatever they were called). One of my favorites is this one below with the snakes coming up over the front fenders.......

By the way, this one was done completely in silver  -  completely!! Note how the small chair on the running boards reflects on the super shiny and polished body.

Oh, how I long for the good old days when money could buy you anything and nobody questioned it. Well, that may not be exactly correct.

Some American cars were also treasured as supreme status symbols like this custom Duesenberg.......

But the ultimate in my opinion is this one, the Brooke Swan Car.........

This one was done for a swan lover in India around 1910. The interesting part is that this was not the car of some maharaja, but of an eccentric Englishman who loved swans. Check out that beautiful body work. He was such a swan lover, that he also had a cygnet version done to trail along behind or in front or whatever. This car has been restored and was recently shown at the Pebble Beach Concours.

The main idea I want you to take away from this blog, is what extremes and excesses you can go to when you score with a super big lottery win. Expand your horizons and impress your friends!

Until next time........