[KPS]

February'24 was a busy month for me. Being a professional in the financial services industry, I had to wrap up quite a few things before embarking on a fun filled adventure with the Daimler.

Keeping in sight the Oberoi Concours d'Elegance from 16-18th Feb we made our plans. The Daimler was going to be a participant in the Oberoi Concours in the "Mysore" Class, featuring 5 cars from the Mysore Maharaja's Stables. The Hispano Suiza from Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV times. The other 4 from the times of Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar


Complete coverage of the Oberoi Concours is here (The Oberoi Concours d'Elegance - Udaipur, 2024)

Few of friends decided to drive to Udaipur. However, I did not plan to drive the Daimler to Udaipur considering she was a participant and sometimes it is better to be careful before such a large event. The Daimler would get loaded on a truck.

At the local Oberoi Mall close to home, I got the car cleaned and polished for the Concours


Leather was cleaned and polished


She got a good rub


All set for her journey


The cars were going to be loaded at Mahape. The new badge, second from the right was going to good hint that this car is going to travelling beyond Udaipur.


Sports her now familiar "Mysore 89" plates


The car is safely loaded on 13th morning


She is last car, so that she can be offloaded first at Udaipur,


On 14th we left Mumbai at 5 am, there 5 cars driving down and then past Vasai Creek we got stuck for 4 hours in a massive traffic jam. With the road work happening and the 3 lane highway merging into a single lane, it was a nightmare


The olds cars can handle any road! We too the first opportunity to go on the rural roads in our effort to bypass the traffic jam.


We stopped overnight at Gift City, past Ahmedabad. It was long journey.


The next day we had a uneventful run to Udaipur


On 16th morning the truck carrying the Daimler reached Udaipur.


more to come...

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Oberoi is known for it's hospitality and we were welcomed to the Concours


The Daimler takes its rightful place


With pride I stand next to my car!



1949 Daimler DE27, 1947 RR Silver Wraith, 1925 Hispano Suiza H6B, 1947 Bentley Mk VI and 1947 Daimler DB18


Daimler DE27 saloon bodied by Windovers, RR Silver Wraith Drop Head Coupe by James Young, Hispano Suiza H6B coachwork by Saoutchik, Bentley Mk VI Light Touring Saloon by Hooper and Daimler DB18 bodied by Mulliner, Birmigham.


The current Mysore Maharaja Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar was part of the Oberoi Concours and he would be giving the only prize for the Mysore Class. Since I am from Karnataka and had met him on a few occasions with my Daimler, I was given the task of giving him a walk around of the show and finally bring him the lawns where the Mysore Class was parked


We had to stop and have a chat with Adil Darukhanawala and his lovely Jawa. The Jawa factory was in Mysore and invokes nostalgia specially to any Mysorean


I show him my touring badges and explain to him that after the Concours we will be doing a 1000 kms tour of Rajasthan.


1947 Daimler DB18 Saloon by Mulliners of Birmigham, owned by yours truely and with HH Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, current Mysore Maharaja.


Rana Manvendra Singh of Barwani, the country’s finest automotive historian and the curator of the Oberoi Concours greets HH Yaduveer in front of the Mysore Class.


With Daimler in the background, we have HH Yaduveer of Mysore, HH Prince Micheal of Kent, Rana Manvendra Singh of Barwani


With the Judges of the Mysore Class


Felt happy that Prince Micheal took a liking to the Daimler. He was impressed with the condition of the engine and that it was in regular use.


Prince Micheal particularly liked the understated appeal of my car.


After the judging was done, some time to relax





Sign off from the Oberoi Concours at the lawns with the Shiv Niwas Palace in the background


In the evening with the setting sun the view was spectacular











All set for some touring excitement from the next day.


I had a wonderful time at the Oberoi Concours. Seeing the cars, meeting the owners and their families and enjoying the Oberoi hospitality were the highlights. Amazing quality of restoration and commitment of the owners to the Concours



The Daimler though understated did not look out of place with the other cars in it's class

More to come....

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

The Daimler brakes need to be checked. Was fortunate that Chris was passing through Mumbai and he was kind enough to check out the same.

All the wheels would be removed and checked


The car has built in jacks which is a big boon!


Cranking the jack up with a specialized handle


The scissors jack is clearly seen


This is what I love about Chris's work, he is personally involved!


Nothing major was seen. The left front has some unexplained play which seemed to go once everything was checked refitted.

Did a quick test drive and happy with the brakes!

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Since all of us V&C enthusiast were in Udaipur for the Oberoi Concours, our annual long drive trip was planned, starting from Oberoi, Udaipur.

This trip was with a Hunting Theme and this trip was called "Drive Thru The Hunting Grounds". We would be driving to Bundi, Ranthambore, Bharatpur, Dholpur and end at Gwalior. This was shorter trip of about 1000 kms.

The Hunting theme is also reflected in the trip Badge, the second from right.



The cars line up at the Oberoi for the flag off. The Daimler was the only car which participated in the Oberoi Concour d'Elegance, being part of this drive.


There was a surprise for me as HH Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the current Titular Maharaja of Mysore would flag-off the Daimler. Seen here is him waiting to the Daimler to reach the flag-off line.


The flag-off


Off we go. BHPian, Srinand is my trip partner



Onwards to Hadoti Palace Hotel at Bundi. Thirty-six kilometres from Kota lies this small town of Bundi.


We stayed at Hadoti Palace for only one night. The next morning as we left for Ranthambore, we had good Press coverage

Here is an article covering some of the vehicles in this drive as there was Press coverage at Hadoti.
https://rajasthan.ndtv.in/photos/vin...es-here-106887



The Bundi Palace is detailed here


Onwards to Ranthambore


View of the Bundi Palace from the Daimler


The road to excellent


Fascinating part of these journeys is seeing the unexpected!


Wonder what is coming from the other side


BHPian Karlos waits patiently for us to pass


Chai break is always a good as it allows the cars to cool why we refresh ourselves.


The Daimler and Hindustan Landmaster were buddies in this drive. The British cars like to be driven at a steady pace and very comfortable at 70 kmpl. Hence both these cars were always together


As we crunch kilometers towards our destination


Had a relatively comfortable journey


Finally at our Hotel, Nahargarh


We had a wonderful stay


The Ranthambore Safari was something we all looked forward to


Spotted Tigress Riddhi


She did not acknowledge our presence, as she casually walked past us


This was between Zone 4 & 5 as she went about marking her territory. Her cubs were hidden in zone 2


Towards the end of our safari


The preferred prey of the Tiger


Next, we off to Bharatpur for the famous bird sanctuary

Cheers

[KPS]

Route on the hunting trail moves towards Bharatpur where the famous Bird Sanctuary would be the highlight

Keoladeo National Park, or Keoladeo Ghana National Park, is a national park in Rajasthan, India. The national park hosts thousands of native, resident and migratory birds, especially during the winter season, when many different species fly to the Indian subcontinent to escape winter's wrath further north in Eurasia. At least 400 avian species have been noted or observed in the national park.

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, as the Park was formerly named, was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971 and established as a national park on 10 March 1982. Due to its exceptional avian biodiversity, it has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1985).

Source

Our next stop was 236 kms away


As I fueled up, there was a Jugaad parked. These are rural vehicles powered a diesel motors, typically used for agricultural pumps. When I asked a local what was the mileage, he said 2 litres per hour!. Mileage is based on number of hours the motor runs!



This had a compressor coupled, as it was a mobile puncture repair Jugaad!


The fins on the Jugaad, was giving a complex to the flutes on the Daimler!



British Brothers



Chai break in good company


Always interesting to observe the local culture as one travels across beautiful India


We had a fantastic drive on the partially opened Mumbai-Delhi Express Way.

The Delhi–Mumbai Expressway is a 1,350 km long, 8-lane wide (expandable to 12-lane) under-construction (partially operational) access-controlled expressway connecting India's national capital New Delhi to its financial capital Mumbai.[5][6][7][8] The foundation stone for the project was laid by union minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on 8 March 2019 and is inaugurated by PM Modi.[9] The total project value including the land acquisition cost is around ₹1,00,000 crores
Source

What a fantastic experience. Unfortunately, in the blink of an eye we through this wonderful road, before we exited towards Dholpur.


60 miles on the odometer is not correct.


Could not resist speeding up in this wonderful road!


What a beautiful road. 4 lanes on each side. International standards


The German cars were the fastest, followed by the Americans. The FIAT's would keep up with any car! The British were the slowest!


Slow and steady, we were always close the main group in a relaxed manner.


The Jugaad was fascinating for is ingenuity. Here is a transporter!



The Bharatpur Royals Family Tree



There was a very close connecting between the Bharatpur and Mysore Royals. Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar's sister was married into Bharatpur

Colonel Shri Maharaja Brajendra Sawai Vrijendra Singh Bahadur Jang, 1929–1947 (Signed the instrument of accession to the Indian Union), 14th Maharaja of Bharatpur 1929/1995, born 1 December 1918; he succeeded to the gadi on 14 April 1929; Member of the Lok Sabha 1962/1971; married firstly June 1941, Yuvarajkumari Jaya Chamunda Ammani Avaru [the Maharani of Bharatpur], died 1954, daughter of Yuvaraja Sir Sri Kantirava Narasinharaja Wadiyar of Mysore, and his wife, Yuvrani Kempu Cheluvammanniyavaru, married secondly, 1961 (div. 1972), Maharani Videh Kaur of the Urs family of Mysore, born 1933, died 1985, by whom he had issue. He died 8 July 1995.[citation needed]
Source

Not surprisingly some the fantastic Mysore Cars were seen in the Bharatpur Garages too. This is nice image of the Ex-Mysore, Chassis # WCB40, Silver Wraith when in Bharatpur. The car survives with Pune.


These fantastic wetlands attracted a lot of birds


Bar Headed Goose


Feral cattle is a problem


After two nights halt we were off to Dholpur.

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

From Bharatpur our next stop was at Dholpur.

We were going to stay at Raj Niwas Palace. All of us were excited as the Palace has in it's garage 4 Rolls Royces.

It was a short and relaxed drive.


The Dholpur Garage was built in 1921. This now a private party hall, where the seating is around the Rolls Royces


The front view of the Garage


The rear of the Garage


These wonderful cars were the reason that the Garage was built.

1920 Silver Ghost Chassis # 102FW





1925 20HP Chassis #GLK67




1928 Phantom 1 Chassis #26WR




1921 Silver Ghost Chassis #7JG


I had to cut short my trip due to personal reasons and I have leave Dholpur and return to Mumbai.

BHPian Srinand drove the car onwards the Gwalior and the cars got loaded from there


We had completed another of our wonderful driving trip. Missed the last 3 days, but I was not going to complain after the time well spent.

Probably this will be last of the long drive for the Daimler. She has been an excellent car and has performed flawlessly. The wooden body frame has its own limitations, and I would not want to push beyond a point.

Cheers

KPS

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by KPS

Probably this will be last of the long drive for the Daimler. She has been an excellent car and has performed flawlessly. The wooden body frame has its own limitations, and I would not want to push beyond a point.

Cheers

KPS

It is amazing how this car has taken you places all over the country. As you shipping the car back to Bangalore?

[KPS]

Originally Posted by ajmat

It is amazing how this car has taken you places all over the country. As you shipping the car back to Bangalore?

Hi Ajmat,

The car remains in Mumbai in the meantime. I plan to bring the Plymouth over post monsoon, probably November and then will send the Daimler back to Bangalore.

Cheers

KPS