BHUBANESWAR: If it is about cars, vintage and classic, it has to be about Dharmaditya Patnaik too. The collector from Orissa has done it once again by bagging the best car prize in the ‘exotic cars’ category at the prestigious The Cartier ‘Travel with Style’ Concours at Royal Western India Turf Club, Mumbai, recently.
The 1923 Rolls Royce 20 HP owned by Patnaik was adjudged the best on show. The trophy was given away by one of the most charismatic cricketers of all times Imran Khan.
The Concours D’Elegance was, in fact, judged by an international panel including Prince Michael of Kent, Sir Anthony Bamford, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Imran Khan, Don McCullin, Sophie Marceau, Olivier Martinez, Christopher Lambert, Mark Stewart, James Lindsay and Simon Kidston.
The three-day exhibition from October 31 showcased an extraordinary collection of India’s unique classic cars. Owned by Indian royalty and private collectors, these magnificent automobiles had never been displayed on the international stage. Many of them had not even been exhibited in India before. Only 64 cars had been selected to compete in this prestigious event.
The Cartier ‘Travel with Style’ Concours comprised four categories Vintage Classics, Post-war Classics, Exotic Cars and Roadsters and, of course, ‘The Best Car of the Show Award’. Among the gems on display were the 1949 Bentley Mark V1 Sports Tourer (specially built for The Maharaja of Mysore, one of the six Bentleys ordered in one commission) and 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom 11 Arrow Coupe (specially built for The Maharaja of Jodhpur).