Prince buys back unique Rolls for Dad bday

Was sold to an English collector in 1968; Rajkot royals now have it back for Rs 3 crore plus

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Forty-two years after it left these shores for Europe,Rajkot will have the Star of India again.

The 76-year-old Rolls Royce Phantom-II famously the one and only saffron-coloured Rolls Royce ever built was custom made in 1934 for the then ruler of Rajkot,Thakor Saheb Dharmendrasinhji,and sold to an English collector in 1968. Now the current Crown Prince,Yuvraj Mandhatsinh Jadeja,has bought the car,bidding via the Internet at an auction,and will gift it to his father Manoharsinh Jadeja on his 75th birthday on November 29.

Bearing chassis number 188PY and named after the legendary 563-carat sapphire Star of India,it was made as a representative vehicle in 1934 for Thakor Saheb.

Mandhatsinh says he paid more than Rs 3 crore to buy the car at the Germany auction in September.

The Rolls Royce Phantom-II had been part of many lores and events of the former princely state,including as bridal vehicle at royal marriages. Once it arrives,the Rolls will be taken through the city,before being placed in a museum that is being built by the Rajkot royal family,along with five other vintage cars.

Its a great symbol of a bygone era. This is a special gift for my father it was used at his wedding ceremony, said Mandhatsinh.

The cars one-of-a-kind paintwork makes it quite special. The bonnet and wings are in polished aluminium while the rest of the body has a saffron ochre finish,a hue selected to symbolise the purity of Kshatriya rulers. The interiors are entirely in ochre while the dashboard is marble,with a saffron paste.

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Another feature of this seven-seater is its exceptionally large headlights. Visible on all doors and side windows is the erstwhile Rajkot states crest,with an inscription translatable as Impartial ruler of men of all faiths.

According to Mandhatsinh,English collector Bill Meredith-Owens chanced upon the car in 1965 during a trip to Rajkot. It took him three years of negotiations to convince the royal heirs to allow him to take the car to England,where it was given a Royal licence plate RRR65. In 1977 it participated in the Rolls Royce parade to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor. In a superlative classic car show,Roth Handle in Germany in 1980,it was one of the vintage cars on show. It found a new owner,a German doctor,before it became part of the collection of its last owner,Hans-Gunter Zach.