Vintage & Classic Automobiles at Osianama

24/07/2019

Osian’s Group has opened up a window into the fascinating world of Vintage & Classic Automobiles. We take a peek into the magnificent auction catalogue, a collector’s item in itself!

01/03/2019

Check out vintage and classic cars such as the majestic 1957 Rolls Royce Twenty, the elegant 1948 Bentley Mark VI and many, many more at the Osian's Vintage ...

01/03/2019

27/02/2019

The Riley Pathfinder is too interesting and rare a car not to present when opportunity knocks, though this is not an original shot (thanks, Osian’s) like most of what you see here.

The Pathfinder is often called “the last real Riley,” because while it was the first of many Rileys to share a body with another make, it retained the old 110-hp Riley 2.5L twin-cam four and looked and felt substantially different from its sister, the Wolseley 6/90 (introduced a few months after the Riley).

Riley had been part of the Nuffield organisation (Morris/MG/Wolseley) since 1938, but wasn’t really integrated into the larger whole until 1947-49. Even then, the Riley RM series continued with little relationship to MGs or Wolseleys.

After Nuffield merged with Austin in 1952, future Rileys, like many Wolseleys, were largely badge-engineered from Austins and Morrises. But the Pathfinder and 6/90 predated the merger and both arguably retained a great deal of their individual makes' characters, even if they shared many things.

Both were designed under Gerald Palmer, who’d come to Nuffield from Jowett, where he designed the advanced but ill-fated Jowett Javelin.

Palmer’s first Nuffield/BMC cars debuted in 1953. The Pathfiner’s sleek looks and traditional motor and suspension (torsion bars up front, trailing arms & coil springs in back) were attempts to stay true to Riley’s heritage. The Pathfinder was a very fast car for a British sedan in 1953, and it became a police favorite, but Its weight (~3,400 lbs.) and closeness to the 6/90 were market handicaps.

But one flaw was worst of all. The panhard rod that located the rear axle could snap on the very earliest cars due to a design error. This problem was quickly fixed (and some cars had a second bar added for reinforcement) but the already understeery car earned the unhappy nickname “ditchfinder” in the process for its supposedly hard-to-tame handling.

The Pathfinder was full of interesting quirks too, things that are fascinating now but drove accountants crazy. Most nobably, the gear lever was on the right side on RHD cars and the left side on LHD cars, near the driver’s door as if it were 1923. The turn signals weren't on a stalk but on the horn ring.

Once the axle problem was corrected it was a good drive and it still looked great (complete with a beautifully detailed wood-and-hide interior in the best British tradition), but sales were always cool and just 5,152 were made into 1957, when it was replaced by the “Two Point Six" (Yes, the model name was spelled out).

This new car was a virtual clone of the SIII Wolseley 6/90 and was powered by a less-powerful BMC C-series six. Also missing was the Pathfinder's unique suspension, which had been partially eliminated in 1957 (trailing arms gave way to leaf springs). The Two Point Six proved an even weaker seller and was dropped in 1959.

As rare as the Pathfinder is, it’s even rarer in LHD - just 327 “left hookers” were made for export - mostly to continental Europe and a few to North America.

This slightly scruffy one, mostly original but sporting an old repaint is in India - where such a car is super-rare. It's not known when or how the car arrived in India but it's lived in the Dehli area for at least the past decade. This particular example is another gem from next Monday’s auction in Dehli by Osian's - The Auction House. To find out more about the Osian’s event go to bit.ly/2TYcxF8.

25/02/2019

Lot 10
1948 ROVER 12 P2
Documentation Incomplete

Chassis N° R7211311

Engine N° 7211308

- A prestigious English marque from yesteryear
- A recent comprehensive restoration
- A very fine runner

Provenance C. P. Kavaranas > Jaikumar Babulal Bhandari > Naveen K
Estimates
INR 1,800,000 - 2,700,000
USD 25,000 - 37,500
Non-Exportable Item

The Rover badge features a Viking longboat in which the Norse people roved and raided their surroundings. Rover the car company was based in Solihull in Warwickshire and the cars produced had a reputation for quality and performance. In fact, when the first post-war model was tested by the American Road & Track magazine in 1952 it was the magazine that claimed that it would take a Rolls-Royce to be better than a Rover.

The Rover story began in Coventry when John Kemp Starley partnered with William Sutton in 1877 to start making bicycles. When the partnership broke up three years later Starley continued making cycles under the name Rover. Coventry’s first motor vehicle came in 1888 when Starley built an electric three-wheeler using an Edwell Parker motor. England had a 4mph speed limit in those days so Starley took his invention to France where it managed a staggering 8mph. Manufacturing, however, only began two years after Starley died in 1901, and H J Lawson, an entrepreneur took over the business. 1904 saw the arrival of an 8hp single-cylinder-engined car designed by Edmund Lewis which had aluminium in its construction with a 6hp model following the next year. The success of these two cars led Rover into manufacturing four-cylinder-engined cars. Also designed by Lewis, these were the 10/12 and the 16/20. Bernard Wright was another influential designer at Rover. It was he who got Rover to start using Knight sleeve-valve engines and in 1911 the first such car appeared, an 8hp and a 12hp.

1911 also saw Ex-Wolseley man Owen Clegg of Yorkshire exerting his influence on Rover. He designed a 2297cc 12hp car that proved to be excellent and being a skilled production organiser he also streamlined the manufacturing of cars at Rover. By 1912 Rover was claiming that they offered the largest selection of cycles, motorcycles and cars between £6 to £600!

Cycle and motorcycle production was halted from 1925 leaving Rover to concentrate solely on cars. When depression hit, Rover tried to survive by launching the Scarab in 1931, a rear-engined car designed to bridge the gap between a small car and a motorcycle. While it was technically impressive, garnering praise from Dr Porsche, the Scarab never went into production. The range in the 1930s included the Family Ten and the more luxurious six-cylinder Meteor Limousine.

In 1934 Rover launched the 12, a more powerful four-door sedan, which was offered parallel to the Rover 10, and with the same body as the successor to the Rover 10/25. A typical “middle class” sedan from the period, the Rover 12 featured a four-cylinder OHV engine of 1496cc, developing 48bhp. With a top speed of 112 km/h, it offered fairly decent performance for the period. Suspension was conventional leaf springs on rigid axles, and the wheelbase initially was 2.84m. The body was in steel, with the framework in wood. This car later became known as the Rover P1.

An updated version came out in 1937 with mainly cosmetic changes, and the chassis was reinforced. The 1938 model had fixed side bonnets, and in 1939 synchromesh was fitted on the top two ratios of the four-speed gearbox. Disc wheels became optional to the spoked wheels in 1939, and standard in post-war models. As many as 11,786 of these Rover 12s – known later on as the P2 – were sold before production halted during World War II. After production recommenced post-War in 1947, the P2 was back on sale for just two years, until 1948. During these two years just 4,840 of the Rover 12 P2s were produced. The P2 range consisted of not just the 12, but also the smaller 10hp and the larger 14/16hp too.

The car on offer is a Rover 12 P2, from 1948, the very last year of production. Post-War the Rover 12 was offered in mainly two body styles: a four-light (four side windows) sports saloon, and a six-light (six side windows) standard saloon. (Another 200 two-door convertible tourers were made, most of which were coach-built by AP Coachbuilders of Coventry.) The car for sale is the six-light standard saloon, which has seen just three owners since new, with the first owner a certain C. P. Kavaranas.

The second owner was Pune’s famous JaikumarBabulal Bhandari, who comes from the family that owns the automotive dealership network of B U Bhandari, a chain of dealerships for brands such as Honda motorcycles, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz cars and much else. Given their facilities, this Rover received a very extensive and detailed restoration in their workshops in 2013.

Subsequently the Rover was acquired by Bengaluru-based collector Naveen K, who has been using the car for events in Bengaluru and the South of India. The car is a very fine runner and like all Rovers, which have been likened by journalists from the period as a “poor man’s” Rolls-Royce – is very refined, as well as robust and comfortable. A practical and usable historic vehicle, this elegant and handsome Rover 12 P2 can make a very good “starter” historic or a noteworthy addition to any collection.

24/02/2019

Lot 17
1956 PLYMOUTH SAVOY
Documentation Complete

Chassis N° 14193876

Engine N° P-28PA1290

- An elegant and rare sports saloon
- From one of the world’s most iconic marques
- In excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition

Provenance Dr Darius Bacha > Rishad Kundanmal
Estimates
INR 1,600,000 - 2,400,000
USD 22,222 - 33,333
Non-Exportable Item

Plymouth cars made their debut in 1928 at the (famous today) Madison Square Garden, New York. It was the Chrysler Corporation’s way of entering the low-priced car market which was ruled by Chevrolet and Ford at the time, with products that were more attractive than the rivals as a result of features and characteristics that the rivals lacked, like internally expanding hydraulic brakes for example. Plymouths were low-priced equivalents of the upmarket Chrysler cars. The Plymouth logo is a rear view of the Mayflower, a ship which landed at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. However the choice of the Plymouth name has nothing to do with the city. The Plymouth Cord Company used to make a type of twine which was very popular with farmers of the time.

The origins of Plymouth lie in the Maxwell automobile made by the Maxwell-Chalmers Car Company. Walter Chrysler took control of the troubled company and inherited the Maxwell car as part of the deal. After launching a six-cylinder Chrysler in 1924 he wanted to make a cheaper car too. This is where the Maxwell came in handy – it was reworked and rebadged as the low-end Chrysler 52 model in 1926. Two years later the 52 was reworked all over again and the Plymouth-Chrysler Model Q was born. From the Model U onward in 1929 the “Chrysler” portion of the name was discarded.

While the Great Depression of the 1930s hit luxury and high-end car manufacturers badly, Plymouth with its low-end cars ensured the survival of Chrysler Corporation. Badge engineering was big at Chrysler and Plymouths were sold badged as Chrysler, DeSoto and Dodge. After having survived the depression years, Chrysler decided to up the engine stakes and a 3.1-litre flathead six-cylinder engine along with a downdraught carburettor was installed in the Plymouth PC of 1933. This car was not too popular though as the wheelbase had been reduced. However, a Dodge DP chassis was put under the Plymouth PC body along with DP front fenders, hood, and radiator and renamed the PD while the PC became the ‘Standard Six’.

The PC was exported to Europe and Australia and also renamed the Chrysler Kew in England after the town in England where Chrysler’s factory was located. By 1939 Plymouth had produced 417,528 vehicles, of which almost 6,000 were two-door convertible coupes with rumble seats. At the 1939 New York World’s Fair 1939 the convertible coupe was promoted as the first mass-production convertible with a power folding top.

Like most of the other American car makers Plymouth manufactured mu*****ns and military engines during the war, whilst stylists like A. B. Grisinger, John Chika and Herb Weissinger worked on post-war ideas whenever they could. When the war ended and production recommenced, Plymouth launched the pre-War range with a few cosmetic upgrades. It was only in 1949 that the new family of cars from Chrysler arrived in the marketplace. Even if the all-new Plymouth DeLuxe was not one of the better looking cars in the American marketplace, it was very spacious and comfortable.

In the meantime, India’s Walchand Hirachand group had inked a deal with Chrysler Corporation, to assemble their cars in India. So, when Walchand Hirachand’s Premier Automobiles factory came up in Bombay, soon after India’s independence, in 1949, the first cars that they started importing in kit form and assembling were Chrysler’s triumvirate of popular cars: the DeSoto DeLuxe, the Dodge DeLuxe and the Plymouth DeLuxe, with pricing reflecting their positioning in Chrysler’s corporate scheme of things.

As these models went through their yearly model changes in facelifted cosmetics the cars on offer in India also followed the same changes. For the 1954 model year, Chrysler (and thus Plymouth) replaced its entire model range with new vehicles. Amongst them the Plymouth Savoy was located between the entry-level Plaza and the flagship model, the Belvedere. The names of the new models were taken from well-known hotels, in this case the London Savoy Hotel. The name Savoy had been used by Plymouth from 1951 to 1953 for a full-size model line-up. Both the Concord Savoy, as well as the later Cranbrook Savoy were wagons with better equipment than the cheaper Suburban wagons.

From 1955, the Plymouth Savoy featured Chrysler’s so-called “forward look” for the brand from the late 1950s (which became famous thanks to the Plymouth Fury from the movie Christine). This style was proposed by Chrysler’s design chief, Virgil Exner, and was quite a success. Special feature of this style were the huge tail fins and the inclined forward profile at the front.

The car on offer, a Plymouth Savoy from 1956, is a very fine example of this style. An Indian-assembled Plymouth, at Premier Automobiles in Bombay, this Savoy was bought new by Dr. Darius Bacha, of Mumbai’s Bacha Nursing Home fame. The car remained with Dr Bacha and his family for more than three decades. Current owner Rishad Kundanmal, who lives in the same building as Dr Bacha, has known this car since he was a child. And he has always been in love with it. It took several years of persuading before Dr Bacha decided to part with the car, and Rishad Kundanmal became a very happy proud owner (in the same building!) of this flamboyant Savoy in 1989.

When Rishad came into the ownership of the car, it was a runner, but needed work. Over the years several mechanical and cosmetic interventions were executed, but it was only over 2012-2013 that the Savoy received a really comprehensive restoration. Following the restoration, the Savoy has made several very long drives: first to Rajasthan in 2013, and then in 2014 to the South of India, to Bengaluru and then Hyderabad. In 2015 the Savoy was back travelling to Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as regular shorter trips to Mahabaleshwar, Udvada and elsewhere.

To make it a more usable car, Rishad has carried out a few practical modifications, such as an electric fuel pump, an alternator and an electric fan. The headlamps have been upgraded for night driving. Completely rattle free, with a really tight body line, this Plymouth Savoy is impressively smooth and refined. The interiors have been redone in genuine, high quality leather, and Rishad has cladded a thick, see-through plastic covering over the seats and the door trims to retain the newness of the materials. The carpet too is new, and also has a plastic cover over it. The dashboard is complete and completely original.

On the exterior, Rishad has taken the liberty to clad the relatively plain flanks of the Savoy’s with the trim that features on the more upmarket Plymouth Belvedere, thereby dressing it up in a striking two-tone of metallic white and yellow! The car also features a pair of original wing mirrors, as well as guides on top of the front fenders, making it easier to locate and manoeuver the car. Another very useful accessory is the driver’s side spot lamp, with an inbuilt rear view mirror.

At the front the Savoy features a badge bar with emblems and badges to indicate the various events that this Savoy has participated in since Rishad’s ownership of the car. The car will come with the badge bar, proclaiming the wonderful history and provenance of such a fine example. Arguably, one of the finest Plymouth Savoys in the country, here is an opportunity to own an extremely well-restored car, which is a dream runner, a historic vehicle that is waiting to be driven and used and appreciated by another true-blue enthusiast.

24/02/2019

While we are on the colour red and it’s power, do see this lovely 1952 Fiat Topolino which is Lot 1 for Osian’s Vintage and Classic Automobile Auction on 27th Feb. 2019. Visit www.osians.com for all Lots.

13/02/2019

21 1927 Rolls-Royce Twenty

Frederick Henry Royce, who had started off in 1884 with a small workshop making domestic electric fittings, turned his attention to making a small twin-cylinder automobile in 1902. Soon thereafter, a client of Royce, Henry Edmunds, introduced him to Charles Rolls (1877-1910), an aristocrat with a strong passion for engineering, and the two came to an agreement to set up a company called Rolls-Royce Limited. Between 1904 and 1906, 20 cars with the twin-cylinder engine (the 10HP), six with the triple-cylindered 15HP, three with the V8 20HP, 40 with the four-cylindered 20HP and 37 with the six-cylindered 30HP engines were produced.

In 1906 Royce developed a more powerful version of the six-cylindered 30HP and this was launched as the 40/50HP. Finished in silver lacquer, as well as silver plated fittings, the 12th car of the series (chassis number 60551 and registered AX 201), was nicknamed the Silver Ghost by Rolls-Royce’s Managing Director Claude Johnson. That car inscribed its place in the history of the automobile by traversing 15,000 miles (24,000kms) between July 1 and August 8, 1907 without needing any mechanical intervention whatsoever. Powered by an in-line six of 7.0-litres (increased to 7.4-litres in 1910), 7,876 of the 40/50HP had been made by Rolls-Royce both in Derby (UK) and Springfield (Massachusetts, USA) when production came to an end in 1926. Incidentally, the 40/50HP was referred to officially as the Silver Ghost by Rolls-Royce only when the car was being phased out!

Thanks to advertisements that extolled Rolls-Royces as the “Best Cars in the World” there was soon a long list of notable clients including kings, queens, aristocrats, millionaires, stars from showbiz, and even a certain Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his alias, Lenin… following the practice established by his predecessor, Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The Indian Maharajas’ love affair with the Rolls-Royce marque began with the Maharaja of Gwalior, Madhavrao Scindia II, when he acquired the Rolls-Royce dubbed the ‘Pearl of the East’, after its record-breaking trans-India run, in 1908. And that was cemented when eight more Rolls-Royces were ordered for the Grand Coronation Durbar of 1911, in Delhi, when King George V was proclaimed the King-Emperor of India.

With the 40/50hp Silver Ghost established as one of the best cars that money could buy, Sir Henry Royce turned to developing a smaller car for those who preferred to drive themselves, instead of being chauffeured around. The ‘Twenty’ (as it was a 20HP car) was unveiled in 1922, and, like the 40/50hp, was powered by an inline six-cylinder engine that was markedly smaller, at 3127cc, yet significantly more modern in featuring a single block (unlike the 40/50hp’s two units of three cylinders each), with detachable cylinder head. Mated to a three-speed gearbox (initially, and a four-speeder by 1925), the Twenty was capable of a top speed of around 100 km/h (60mph), which was not unimpressive, for its time. Suspension was by semi-elliptical leaf springs for both front and rear, but brakes were initially only on the rear wheels, with four wheel braking arriving in 1925. Produced till 1929, when it was replaced by the more powerful 20/25hp, as many as 2,940 of the highly successful Twentys were made. Of these, approximately 80 cars made it to India, estimates marque expert André Blaize, almost half of which were ordered by Indian Princes including the Maharajas of Jammu & Kashmir, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Mysore, Patiala, Mayurbhanj, Sargoda and the Nawabs of Golconda, Bahawalpur and Sachin, amongst others.

The Rolls-Royce we are offering, with Chassis number GRJ1, Engine number W8E (matching numbers), was custom built in 1927, and sent out by Rolls-Royce to their agent in Mumbai then, RR Ltd., Bombay as a trials car. The car was designated “Indian Trials” and “Indian Demonstration” in the build sheets and it remained with their Bombay agents till early 1931, when it was sold to the Nawab of Sachin, Haidar Muhammad Yakut Khan, on 27 February 1931. Sachin was one of the smaller “nine-gun” princely states during British India, located in present-day South Gujarat. The Nawab, a descendant of the Siddi dynasty (which could be traced back to the late 18th century) was of Abyssinian origin.

With a very elegant four-door tourer body by Barker, one of the oldest and the most respected of British coachbuilders, the car was used for state ceremonial and touring purposes by the Nawab in the initial years (as GRJ1 featured Sachin 1 as its registration plate) until the state’s accession to the Indian Union on 8 March 1948. The car remained with the Nawab’s family until it was sold to Shumoon Abdulali of Mumbai. A leading orchid grower, Abdulali sometimes used the Rolls-Royce to carry all kinds of produce and livestock from his farm in Mahabaleshwar to Bombay. Rolls-Royce historian John Fasal, in his book “The Rolls-Royce Twenty”, mentions that amongst the many items carried by the Rolls, at one time 36 hens and a live deer were ferried from Mahabaleshwar to Bombay. Continuing on an interesting note, he goes on to write: “One 6 ½ ft. rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) was normally kept in the car to discourage mice from appreciating the leather upholstery, and was unfortunate enough to find its way beneath a loose floor board during a journey, coiled up around the revolving propshaft – certainly an unusual cause of propshaft vibration, or of a snake suffering from a splitting headache!”

In the 1970s, GRJ1 was acquired by famous Pune-based collector, the late Ramesh Thakkar. He kept the car for several decades, later selling it to another Pune-based collector of very fine automobiles, Balaji Rao of Shri Venkateshwara Hatcheries, in 2004.

Diljeet Titus acquired the car in 2012, which has since then participated in a number of classic car shows and drives. Over the last 30 months, Diljeet worked to restore the car back – with substantial help from Mr. Manvendra Singh Barwani – to its present concours condition. The incredibly comprehensive restoration as per the original build sheet, as well as the individual customised specifications entailed extensive sourcing, and then the import and fitment of a huge list of original genuine parts and accessories, such as a set of highly desirable Stephen Grebel headlamps fitted to the patented “Barker” headlight dipping system, a rare Stephen Grebel spotlight, mounted under the headlamps, an additional spotlight mounted on the right side of the windshield, a third spare wheel and mounting system in the luggage grid at the rear, a complete Twenty tool kit including the Rolls-Royce jack, starting handle, wheel wrench, mallet, spanners, oil gun, Dunlop Foot pump and else.

In addition, Diljeet has sourced a leather cased flask with four nested beakers, a four-person picnic set, a luggage trunk for the rear carrier and a complete set of six detachable side windows. The hood envelope cover is in the same matching leather as the seats of the car. All instrumentation on the dash has been completed and serviced and the dash finished in black. All instrument dials have been nickel-plated with black lettering – a highly unusual and rare custom feature found on very few Rolls-Royces. The car also has a Town Cap, a Pyrene fire extinguisher, and a Boa Constrictor horn (which will be provided separately). The radiator core was replaced with a new core made in the correct style, design and pattern.

The steering wheel, steering controls, dash controls, and the k***s for the brake lever, gear lever and the Barker headlamp dipping lever are all painted in ivory colour – another exclusive and extremely rare custom feature ordered on only a handful of Rolls-Royces. The car comes with its original hand book “Instructions for the Care and Running of the 20 HP Rolls-Royce Car,” as well as a set of seven Firestone black-wall tyres with the correct tread pattern, plus tubes and flaps. All parts and accessories have been newly nickel-plated. Also, the entire internal woodwork, as well as body work, the painting and the upholstery in the correct materials was done and completed by Mr. Manvendra Singh Barwani.

The additional restoration and fitments specific to the ownership and use of the car by the Nawab of Sachin, include the Stephen Grebel Hunting Light and stand mounted on the running board, a highly desirable Dual Windshield with twin aprons for the rear seat passengers, the Sachin State Flag made in red silk carrying the Coat of Arms hand embroidered with the correct Zardozi and Dabka Zari work, mounted on the radiator with the original signed Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, Sachin State Crest hand painted on the red glass Stephen Grebel front lamp, an aluminium casted “Sachin State No 1” red enamelled identification plates on the front and rear of the car, the Nawab of Sachin’s personal monogram hand painted on the two rear doors of the car and the personal monogram, also hand painted, on the leather case flask installed in the car. Indian Princes used their colourful and traditional State Coat of Arms as a proud finishing touch to the car.

As would be obvious from the description above, the restoration of this Rolls-Royce has not been undertaken with a “commercial” motive, but with a clear and thoughtful vision and a keen attention to detail, to bring this car back to its original state. There are pictures in public domain after the car was sold by Sachin, but very few prior. The build sheets and the car body at the start of restoration showed a lot more and very different from what was found on the car. For Diljeet Titus, it has been a labour of love restoring this car over the last 30 months and almost two dozen visits to Indore to see the car under restoration, ready for the forthcoming Cartier Concours on 24 February 2019, in the Rolls-Royce class.

A car with a continuous and well recorded history and provenance, registered with both the RREC (Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club) as well as the RROC (Rolls-Royce Owners Club), the car comes accompanied with its Build Sheets, Test records and membership of the 20 HP Registers.

Fresh out of a very meticulous restoration, this immaculate Twenty must be one of the finest pre-War Rolls-Royces in India today. This is indeed a very rare opportunity to acquire one of the best examples of the world’s most prestigious automotive marque, a 92-year-old true-blue Rolls-Royce with extraordinary provenance and pedigree, recently restored to immaculate levels of workmanship and quality.

Text by Gautam Sen from Osian's Vintage & Classic Automobiles Auction for 27th Feb. 2019, with Photographs by Makarand Baokar.

13/02/2019