[BITList] When Rolls' used to rock India...

[John Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

When Rolls' used to rock India...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Specials/Auto/When_Rolls_used_to_rock_India/articleshow/3216604.cms

10 Jul 2008

The pic above is that of the official company showroom of Rolls-Royce
in Bombay of the 1930s. By the third decade of the last century this
famous British automotive marque had been given a virtual blanket
recognition by Indian royalty. Any nawab, maharaja, thakor sahib,
worth this standing, had to have at least one Rolls-Royce in his
garage and it was the idiosyncratic Indian royalty which in essence
bankrolled Rolls-Royce through the tough years of the late 1920s
and on till the mid-1930s.

The first Rolls-Royce to ever hit Indian shores was the 37th 40/50
HP model to roll off the company's assembly lines at Cook Street
in Manchester. The 40/50 HP was the model that came to be known
as the Silver Ghost, the very car that made the legend of Rolls-Royce
being acclaimed the world's best car. The man who decided to bring
the Rolls-Royce to India was, just like the East India Company, a
merchant trader by the name of Frank Norbury. He got a very special
portable-top limousine body built on the Silver Ghost chassis by
Joseph Cockshoot & Co. Ltd. and this car finished immaculately
in a shade of yellow cream was shipped to India in 1908.

Off the docks and it went straight on to the 1908 Bombay Motor
Show where it garnered a gong for best in show. At around this
time Norbury decided to christen it the Pearl of the East. Immediately
after that Norbury was advertising its performance prowess in
the best possible way: competition. He entered the tough Bombay
- Kolhapur Motor Trial, which saw the competitors' tackle a plethora
of tough mountain passes over pot-holed roads. Not surprisingly
the Pearl of the East blazed through winning many awards including
the prestigious Mysore Cup. So smitten was the Maharaja of Mysore
with the Pearl of the East that he bought it immediately after its
successful run in the trial and from there on began another mighty
race, among Indian royalty who vied with each other to own not
just the most Rolls-Royces but also who would have the most
ostentatious of them all.

Rolls-Royce opened a proper company owned facility to take care
of the cars owned by the various big and small royals, sadly the
Pearl of the East disappeared and not much is known of it. However
the legacy it left behind stays intact, with thousands of cars from
the 1920s to the 1950s being prized jewels residing in the best
automotive collections all over the world.

-

ooroo

If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door.

Anon.



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