Ranjitsinhji’s Rolls Royce up for sale

A car fit literally for an lndian prince is coming up for sale and is expected to attract buyers from well beyond the shores of the sub-continent.

The reason is that the custom-built Rolls Royce due to be auctioned in the UK next month was originally intended for Ranjitsinhji, Maharaja of Jamnagar, who played for Cambridge, Sussex and England and who, even before he died in 1933, was regarded as one of the world’s greatest batsmen. Famously described as the “midsummer night’s dream of cricket”, he scored 154 runs on his debut for England against Australia in 1896.

So cricket lovers from all over the world — not just India — are expected to be among the bidders for the cream and blue Phantom ll Sedanca De Ville that was custom built to help facilitate Ranjitsinhji’s tiger shoots in and around Jamnagar.

Current expectations are that the car is expected to fetch nearly Rs 1 crore (£90,000) when auctioneers H&H Classics put it up for sale at a former stately home in the county of Lincolnshire, Burleigh House, where it is expected to coincide with a rally of Rolls Royce enthusiasts. The auctioneers say the car’s unusual wrap-around rear windows are an indication that Ranjitshinhji may have had tiger shoots in mind when he placed his order. This particular car was crafted by Windovers, who designed custom-built car bodies for Rolls Royce and Bentley, and the first owner after Ranjitshinhji failed to take delivery, was Mrs Amy Davies, a niece of sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate.

The car stayed in the Davies family until and beyond 1976 and was often seen in and around the city of Manchester when policemen on duty would stop other traffic to wave the Rolls Royce through.