Osian's Auction Catalogue Automobilia The Art of the Historical Vehicle | October 2018

Treasures from India’s Automotive History Gautam Sen , Head - Historical Vehicles Division, OSIAN’s - Connoisseurs of Art On August 24th recently a 56-year-old car sold for $48,405,000, the equivalent of a tad over Rs 340 crores! A Ferrari 250 GTO, from 1962, this particular car was long considered to be the ‘holy grail’ of the collector car world. To start with, it was a Ferrari. And that too, the 250 GTO, the most coveted of all Ferraris. And then there was this perfect history that went with the car – a car that had been in the long term ownership of noted American businessman, Ferrari enthusiast, and vintage racing driver Dr Gregory Whitten. So, when chassis no. 3413 GT rolled on to the auction block in front of an overflowing salesroom at Monterey, USA, driven by five-times 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Derek Bell, there were cheers and applause, which, soon turned to gasps, as auctioneer Maarten ten Holder opened the bidding at an unprecedented level of $35 million (almost Rs 250 crores). Three collectors, bidding via telephone, competed for the car, sometimes moving in million-dollar increments, before it sold for a final $48.4 million in less than ten minutes. The Ferrari was one of scores of cars that went under the hammer, with sales totalling up to $158 million (Rs 1120 crores) at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. The historic vehicle movement and market in the US and Europe has developed into a several billion dollars business, as much as it has become a crossroad for culture, human heritage, sports and pleasure. At the outset it may be pertinent to discuss the significance of the phrase ‘historic vehicle’, as these two words, of more recent usage, defines best the world of old cars, motorcycles and utility vehicles. Traditionally, the words used in India have been vintage and classic. For the British, vintage cars are specifically those from the era 1919 to 1930. They also use words such as veteran, classic, Edwardian, and so on, as nomenclatures for other periods. The Americans prefer using the term classic, and this word applies to a very specific list of models. The Germans use the words ‘oldtimers’ and ‘youngtimers’, as well as ‘klassik’. With so much variation, as well as much confusion, the Fédération Internationale de Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), the global organisation that encourages the safe use on the roads of historic, self- propelled, mechanical vehicles, while remaining focused on preserving and promoting the very culture of motoring, decided to define all classics, vintages, veterans, oldtimers, et al, as ‘historic vehicles’. So what are historic vehicles? To answer that, we quote Patrick Rollet, the president of FIVA: “By ‘historic vehicle’, we mean a mechanically propelled road vehicle at least 30 years old, preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition and not used as a means of daily transport. These vehicles are part of our technical and cultural heritage.” And to put this into perspective, FIVA celebrated its 50th anniversary by exhibiting a very fine selection of vehicles at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters in November, 2016, following which UNESCO recognised FIVA as a non-governmental partner. Amongst the two dozen vehicles on display at UNESCO, Paris, one was of Indian heritage: a Rolls-Royce Phantom I, which used to belong to the erstwhile princely family of Cooch Behar, in North Bengal, and which is now owned by one of the more prominent collectors in India, Photos: Makarand Baokar