by: Gautam Sen
In 1898 the first three 'horseless carriages' were imported into British India and so began Indian royalty's love affair with the automobile. During the first half of the 20th century the choicest cars with the most unusual coachwork made their way to India to satisfy the varied tastes and demands of the rajas and the maharajas. All manner of ceremonial throne cars, hunting cars, wedding cars and cars for state processions were owned by 500-odd Indian princes who tried to outdo each other in terms of pomp, glamour and splendour. Of the several thousand such cars that came to India, just a few hundred survive today and this magnificent book focuses on 70 of these together with the people associated with them.
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