An elegant 1934 Rolls-Royce, which was custom-made for Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of erstwhile Baroda state but changed hands later, has now returned to the royal family’s fold after almost five decades. Pratapsinh Gaekwad (above pic), scion of the erstwhile royal family of Baroda and great-great-grandson of Sayajirao III, has bought the seven-seater petrol car (it was ordered in Paris in July 1934) for an undisclosed amount and is restoring it now. Pratapsinh shares, “Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad would ride in this car for years and it has great sentimental value for us. It had been sold to Mayur Madhvani, actress Mumtaz’s husband, and they used it for about 12 years. I bought it from Diljit Titus, an advocate and car collector, about three years ago. This is an important part of our family heritage and when I got to know that the car was up for sale, I immediately decided to buy it.”
Originally, the car’s colour was navy blue and it had cherry red interiors. However, many of its specifications were changed by the buyers and when Pratapsinh bought it, the car’s colour was silver and black, with black interiors. Pratapsinh adds, “I am proud of our heritage and we are in the process of restoring it to its original avatar. The complete restoration will take about eight to 10 months.” Once the car is restored to its original glory, Pratapsinh has plans to showcase it at various vintage car exhibitions and also drive it on the streets of Mumbai, where he lives currently.