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

Automobilia: The Art of the Historical Vehicle 13 Dr Ravi Prakash. This very elegant Rolls-Royce from the 1920s was representative of India’s automotive history, as much as the other vehicles on display were representative of the automotive histories of Europe and the US. In a way, the Indian representative took on the mantle for the rest of the world. This may have been so as India has a very special place in the history of the automobile: not as a manufacturer or as a home to famous marques, but as an important consumer, as well as a country that understood the finer art, the subtleties and the nuances of craftsmanship, engineering, creation and innovation that went with the making of the early automobiles. Like the car that was featured at the UNESCO exposition of FIVA, some of the most famous automobiles in India have belonged to the princely families of India, the many Rajas, Maharajas, Nawabs, Thakursahebs, and the one Nizam who were once the feudal vassals of the compulsive colonials, the British. Yet, some of the very finest were acquired by the wealthy intelligentsia of the bigger cities of Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi and Madras. India had, and still has, some very important, significant, rare and very special automobiles, despite the fact that a significant number of India’s most important and historic vehicles have made their way abroad. We believe that it is important to preserve not just the historic vehicles, but also related artefacts and records by researching and cataloguing the most authentic examples of our automotive past, so that they are available for future generations. As well as add to the “automotive wealth” that India has with the addition of significant art, artefacts, mascots and memorabilia from the international markets. Starting with the inaugural auction on Automobilia, we hope to expand our offer to all kinds of historic vehicles, and not just the most remarkable and the most exciting, but also many that we expect, would be interesting, or historically relevant, as well as the most beguiling and the most fascinating. Following the definition of every vehicle that is more than 30 years old being a historic vehicle, automobiles such as Hindustan Contessas, Premier 118NEs, Standard 2000s, even early Maruti 800s should be under consideration. Thus the choice of historic vehicles in India today runs to not just thousands, but tens of thousands of automobiles of all shapes, sizes and colours. Yet there exists a ‘caste system’ that discriminates against the commoner Indian-made automobiles. This attitude needs to change, as do several other attitudes and obsessions. For instance, the need to establish the importance of preservation and patina over restoration. In India there is an obsession with restoring cars to ‘Pebble Beach standards’. Fact of the matter is that most other concours d’elegance events in Europe and elsewhere give much greater credence to preservation and the condition of a car in regular use than a freshly restored vehicle reduced to the role of being a ‘trailer queen’. A good restoration is one that retains as much of the original vehicle as possible. Yet there is a tendency in India to ‘recreate’ vehicles, to make them look better than when they were new. By recreating – the skin and bones of an automobile – the history of a vehicle is partially and irretrievably lost. At the Chantilly Arts & Elegance concours, the concours d’elegance competition is for brand new concept cars from the preceding year, following the tradition from the pre-War concours d’elegance competition for designs showcased by coachbuilders and carmakers from the immediate past. The main competition at Chantilly is about the condition of the historic vehicles on display, which is why the organisers call it a concours d’etat. Thus the increasing importance of preservation and conservation over restoration and recreation. There is also a tendency for collectors to ‘invent’ or ‘rewrite’ their cars’ histories. Many ascribe the wrong age and/or date of manufacture, in an attempt to make their cars older or more important than they actually are. Either they lack knowledge and don’t wish to make the effort to get the right information, or are just disrespectful in imagining that they won’t be ‘caught out’. And some deliberately falsify. All of which is most shameful. Correct and appropriate documentation is a must for uncovering and/or rediscovering the true histories of the cars, as well as authenticating dates. All the automobiles have a story to tell, and those stories must be told. Telling their (true) stories is a way of promoting the culture of historic vehicles, which is essential and integral to human history as there is no denying that the automobile has – over the last hundred years or so – had a hugely liberating effect on humanity. Historic vehicle owners preserve motoring heritage and provide the public with a free museum (and sometimes, a free journey) of our motoring history and culture by using and showing their vehicles on public roads and special events. And this must continue. To that end it is important for all concerned – the collectors, the owners, the enthusiasts – to unite and collaborate, at both the national as well as the international level, so as to effectively address increasing legislation designed to keep historic vehicles off the roads of the cities of tomorrow, by spreading awareness and educating the ‘non-believers’ that historic vehicles are as much an intrinsic part of India’s and humanity’s cultural history, as are the seven arts. To showcase India’s amazing automotive culture, we feature a carefully considered selection of the some of the most fascinating historic vehicles in the country today (extracted from “The 101 Automotive Jewels of India” by Gautam Sen & Makarand Baokar, published by Heritage Publishers, Delhi): 1920-21 Moon 6-42 Touring Export While at a carriage makers’ convention in 1902, American carriage- maker JosephMoon realized the potential of the automobile business and decided to diversify into car manufacturing, starting with a five- passenger touring car with a 30/35hp Rutenberg engine in late 1905. By the early 1920s, the Moon was a fine, well-built car carrying such refinements as demountable rims on detachable wheels, with balloon tires and Lockheed hydraulic brakes. In less than a quarter century of manufacturing, Moon may have made a little over 60,000 cars, and, at most, 200 of them survive worldwide, estimates Jeff Buckley, the President of the Moon Car Club. More than three-quarters of the survivors seem to be in the US (but naturally), with less than 50 in the rest of the world. Moon exported its models to some 47 countries, with rare survivors extant in far flung places. The car on these pages is the only one known in India (though there are rumours of another). Noteworthy for featuring a radiator that is clearly inspired by the Parthenon-like front of a Rolls-Royce, customers may have been attracted by the possibility of acquiring a car that looked almost as elegant as a Rolls, at a fraction of the price. Whether that was the reason why this particular car was bought by Udaipur royalty is not known. But the car eventually found its way to Calcutta, with collector Shashi Kanoria acquiring it in 1987, with his son Shrivardhan inheriting this car, as well as the collection, when his father passed away. Kanoria’s Moon 6-42 is one of two known survivors, the other one is in a museum in the UK.