Modern-day maharaja gets a new steed

Yohan Poonawalla is the kind of man who, when he says he likes aeroplanes, means he has a Citation jet parked in a hangar. So the 33-year-ol...

Yohan Poonawalla is the kind of man who, when he says he likes aeroplanes, means he has a Citation jet parked in a hangar. So the 33-year-old car freak isn’t exactly going to be filling his garage with Hot Wheels models.

On Friday, Poonawalla, of the eponymous Pune-based industrial group with a hand in engineering, biotech and horse-racing, took delivery of his new BMW-built 2005 Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The first Rolls to be officially sold in India after a five-decade gap, it’s a massive, Rs 3.5-crore mahal on wheels — and Poonawalla couldn’t wait to get on the driver’s seat. ‘‘I checked out the (Rs 5 crore, Mercedes-built) Maybach in London and found the Phantom was better,’’ he said. ‘‘It had more in terms of looks, road presence, prestige and comfort,’’ added the industrialist,whose first car (at the age of 18) was a Mercedes E-Class, and most memorable automotive experience was a spin through London in a Ferrari F360.

The day after the Phantom was launched in India on April 8, Poonawalla received the keys to his new car at a private handover ceremony. The car is customised with a black-and-silver twin-tone paint job, and ‘P’ logos on the exteriors and dashboard. ‘‘It will be a mobile office for my father and myself,’’ explained the MBA graduate. ‘‘But I will also definitely be driving it a lot.’’

And while the luxury limo made its way to India from the Goodwood factory, UK, Poonawalla busied himself with blazing-quick sports cars like a Porsche Cayenne and a Ferrari F430.

	Rolls-Royce Phantom

	• Launched in 2003 by current owner BMW • Has a 6750-cc, 453-bhp V12 engine • Weighs 2.5 tonnes, is 19-ft long • Instead of a tachometer, has a ‘power reserve’ gauge. You’re unlikely to ever see it at zero • Ultra-customisable interiors offer virtually unlimited combinations

Speed seems to run in the family too — his wife Michelle drives a BMW 760li and won an event at the Speed Run drag race held in Mumbai in February.

The passionate aeromodeller — he has a scale-model Cessna 152 and two Telemasters with enormous 14-18 feet wingspans — is going to stretch the 450-horsepower Roller’s legs in Pune this weekend, but what’s going to really give him the glad eye is seeing it parked next to his rare 1937 R-R Phantom. ‘‘I can’t wait to see them side by side,’’ he said.