Surrounded by a regal line up of dream automobiles, Sunil Shukla speaks about a bygone era that saw cars that boasted superb coachwork and craftsmanship, each masterpiece flaunting silver finishes, gilding, precious stone inlays, richly carved bar cabinets, picnic lunch arrangements, and so forth. As his listeners, all visitors to the Auto World vintage car museum in Ahmedabad are transported to another era, museum-in-charge Shukla’s eyes light up in excitement as names like Rolls Royce, Hispano Suiza, Daimler, Maybach and Mercedes Benz roll off his tongue.
As he takes the visitors around, Shukla suddenly stops at a section. Standing in front of a 1920s-made Hispano Suiza, he says, “This section has coach-built cars customised for different purposes—from purdah cars for Maharanis to hunting brakes.” Pointing to a limousine he says, “This was the hunting car of the Maharaja of Alwar. It has a detachable roof, spring-loaded guns in glass cabinet, bulletproof screens, and a warning bell in front.” Taking the guests to a 1930s Hotchkiss Cabriolet Biarritz, he says, “This car once belonged to the royal family of Nandgaon. It has a distinctive logo with canons because Hotchkiss also made weapons. This was a high-performance car, bodied by renowned coach-builders Figoni et Falaschi.”
Shukla, along with teammates Mahendra Patel and Sanjay Patel work tirelessly to ensure a quality experience for museum visitors. They are ably led by museum director Bhailal Patel. Auto World is a gift of Pranlal Bhogilal, India’s largest collector of vintage and classic cars. Bhailal throws more light on the museum’s history when he says, “Housed at Dastan, Bhogilal’s ancestral estate, the museum has 105 cars. The estate also features exquisite art pieces like sculpted lions by 19th century animal sculptor Pierre Jules Mene. The collection at Dastan was earlier open to a select few. It was thrown open to the public only five years ago and was christened Auto World Vintage and Classic Car Museum.”
The turning point came when Bhogilal passed away in 2010. Many wondered if the much-acclaimed museum would continue to function. The staff came out in full support of Bhogilal daughter’s wish to keep the museum alive. Today, a team of 20 people keeps the show going.
The cars in the museum are arranged according to different themes. The American classics pavilion has cars of Chrysler Corporation like the Chrysler Airflow, Dodge, Plymouth and DeSotto; other American classics like Ford and Buick also find space. In another pavilion, the 1935 Cord 810, Auburn 851 Cabriolet and 1938 Hutchkiss are kept together because of technical similarities in the gearbox.
The oldest cars are grouped together like the 1906 Mors Tourer, 1910 Ford T with original brass radiator and headlights, 1909 Fiat Tourer, 1914 Minerva Tourer which once belonged to the Maharaja of Jhabua, 1926 Lagonda 2-litre Tourer, 1906 Minerva Tourer and 1911 Daimler which once belonged to the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (present day Jamnagar).
The Jam Sahib was known for his fleet of Daimler and Lanchester cars, all in his signature blue colour. The British car section contains a Bentley, 1922 Rolls Royce from Hyderabad, Lancia Dilambda from Jetpur, 1955 Armstrong Sidley, 1950s Jaguar from Baroda, Lagonda and 1947 Daimler limousine from Jamnagar.
Bhailal says, “In the 1950s and ‘60s, many princely and wealthy families began to look upon these cars as white elephants, and Bhogilal began to buy them for his collection. However, he respected the owners and mentions the name of the princely state before each one. The 1932 Rolls Royce 20/25 Sedanca Deville which belonged to one of Kolkata’s old Jewish business families has been named Gubay Versailles.”
Bhailal recounts, how Bhogilal admired Maharajadhiraj Holkar Raj Rajeshwar Sawai Shrimant Yeshwant Rao of Indore for his selection of art, textiles, crafts and cars. The 1930s Bentley with a Gurney Nutting pillarless coupe body came from Indore.
The collection has attracted many important visitors. Ulrich Schmid-Maybach visited Auto World for a look at the 1937 six-cylinder Maybach SW38 designed by his grandfather Karl Maybach that once belonged to the Maharaja of Kota but later ended up with the Darbars of Jetpur. Dr Hugo K Weihe, Christie’s international director, appreciated the way the cars have been displayed. Apart from cars, there are also motorbikes and carriages. The museum even offers rides in a vintage roadster.
“While our team takes pride in maintaining and promoting the museum to a good standard, we would like to make it even more famous and improve the facilities. Today, we are proud to say that Auto World is a top attraction of Ahmedabad—we often get 80-100 visitors on a single day and 500 to even 1,000 on a Sunday. A number of prestigious visitors including industrialists and international car experts come to see the museum even today,” signs off Bhailal.