Rolls-Royce Phantom II 1934 of Maharaja Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla now in the Mewar royal cars collection

A Rajpipla Rolls-Royce that is still very much in evidence in India is the Phantom II 1934, chassis no. 181 RY, engine no. TT 65, Windovers sedanca de ville design no. 6168. It is mentioned in the book "The History of Windovers" (though the caption says chassis no. 181R4).

The 6^th Earl of Portarlington, Lionel Arthur Henry Seymour Dawson-Damer (1883-1959) was a director of Windovers and originally used it as a demonstration car. Maharaja Vijaysinhji shipped this car to India. It was driven mainly between Rajpipla, Bombay, Poona and surrounding areas for two decades.

Thereafter it went to Kolhapur, and was with M. Apte in Bombay for some time.  It is now in the Mewar royal cars collection at Udaipur and was featured in the 13^th James Bond movie ‘Octopussy’ in 1982. In the same year it featured in episode 4 of the television series ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ which was also largely filmed in Udaipur, showing the car registered ‘Mirat 1’.

I had the great pleasure of looking closely in early 2014 at this wonderful car, formerly owned by my grandfather. Mechanical restoration has been carried out in recent years. The interiors are to be refurbished soon to a standard befitting a Rolls-Royce. The exterior is in prime condition, still carrying the original coat of paint.

Rolls-Royce Phantom II 1934, chassis no. 181 RY, Sedanca de ville coachwork by Windovers

Indra Vikram Singh with Rolls-Royce Phantom II 1934 (chassis no. 181 RY, Sedanca de ville coachwork by Windovers), originally owned by his grandfather Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla, and now by Shriji Arvind Singhji Mewar.

Photographs taken at the Vintage and Classic Car Collection, The Palace, Udaipur, on 25th January 2014.

This exquisite car was featured in the James Bond movie 'Octopussy' and has already completed a glorious journey of 80 years from Rajpipla to Kolhapur to Udaipur, remaining with the Gohil-Bhonsle-Sisodia clan, an iconic automobile with a wonderful history and still running beautifully.

(Prince Indra Vikram Singh of Rajpipla can be contacted on emails teddy.rajpipla@gmail.com or singh_iv@hotmail.com).