Cartier's Concours d'Elegance

Mumbai recently played host to one of the world's most prestigious automotive events – The Third Cartier Travel with Style Concours d'Elégance 2013. The event was hosted by Mr. Louis Ferla, Managing Director – Cartier Middle East, India & Africa- a one of a kind vintage car exhibition and competition held every two years in India. We had previously covered the Concours d'Elegance that happened at the Windsor Castle, Windsor, England and now we get to you the one from India.

Curated by the highly respected Indian automotive expert - Manvendra Singh of Barwani - and orchestrated by car aficionado and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall’s brother, Mark Shand. The Cartier Concours d’Elégance showcases some of the rarest and best-preserved vintage automobiles from across India.

This year amidst the opulence of over 100 of the rarest automobiles and motorcycles from the esteemed stables of Indian royal patrons and noted private collectors guests mingled over lunch and high tea at a specially curated exhibition space spread across the lawns of Taj Lands End.

The distinct exhibit culminated with an award giving ceremony hosted by Master of Ceremony Mr Alan de Cadenet.

The Best Car of the Show was Rolls Royce 1935 Model No: Phantom II owned by HH Maharaja Gaj Singhji of Jodhpur, and the Best Motorcycle of the show was the Indian 1915 Model owned by Subodh Nath. Amongst others the winner of the Indian Heritage category went to Fiat 1949 Model: 3100 Half Ton owned by Adil Jal Darukhanwala.

The detailed list of cars and bikes this year that received the coveted winning awards is attached for reference.

Key guests in attendance at the third Cartier Travel With Style Concours d’Elegance were John Abraham, Turkish Consul General Ceylan Ozen, Natasha & Adar Poonawalla, Praful & Poorna Patel, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Nisha Jamwal, Adi & Uma Dubash, Anoop & Devaun Shimehta, Devika & Suresh Bhojwani, Aarti Kailash Surendranath, Rashmi Uday Singh, Zeba & Rajesh Kohli, Arjun Khanna, Esther Daswani, Sushma Reddy, Dipali Goenka, Pria Kataria Puri, Biren & Sheetal Vaidya, Komal Wazir, Amrita Puri, Narendra Kumar and Monica Vazirali.  

The first international Concours d’Elégance in India was hosted at the Royal Western India Turf Club Mumbai in 2008. It was a historic moment in the history of Indian motoring that gained wide spread recognition for ushering in the classic car movement in India.

The third edition of Cartier Travel With Style witnessed several exciting additions – taking it a step forward in establishing Cartier Concours d’Elegance as a world renowned vintage automotive exhibit.

Two exciting new automotive categories - Edwardian Class (oldest preserved automotives in India - unique category to Cartier Concours) and the Shikar Class (automobiles used for royal hunts) – will be introduced, in addition to the pre-established categories; Pre-War, Post-War, Indian Heritage, Preservation and Roadster classes.  

An exciting new addition of this year was the introduction of motorcycles. For the first time since its inception in 2008, Cartier ‘Travel With Style’ exhibited 32 exceptional vintage motorcycles from across India, which competed in the three all time favorite classes - Pre War, Post War and Racing. Renowned vintage auto cognoscenti hailing from automotive, design, finance, racing and sporting worlds from across the globe comprise the expert Judging Panel at Cartier Concours d’Elégance each year.

The Judges for 2013 Cartier Concours included chief judge HRH Prince Michael of Kent; Chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance Sandra Button, Fiat Scion and ever-dapper Lapo Elkann, President of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Jean Todt, one of the greatest F1 driver Sir Stirling Moss, 15 time World Motor Cycling Champion Giacomo Agostini, 8 time GP World Champion Phil Read, award winning F1 designer Prof.

Gordon Murray and leading industrialist Sir Anthony Bamford among other notable personalities.

Speaking about the Cartier ‘Travel With Style’, Mr. Louis Ferla, Managing Director – Cartier Middle East, India and Africa, says, “The relationship between Cartier and India dates back over 100 years, when the royal families of the time commissioned jewelry and watches from Cartier.

Cartier ‘Travel with Style’ is our very special endeavour to celebrate the remarkable design and craftsmanship of India’s automobile heritage which brings forth the most luxurious and distinctive of cars.”

Manvendra Singh of Barwani, Curator of the Concours, added, “For each edition we try to raise the bar higher with the introduction of exciting new categories and this year showcased rare, vintage motorcycles for the first time. Another unique addition to the Concours automobile category is the ‘Edwardian Class’. These cars are from the turn of the 20th century to 1919. Some of the earliest cars were specially ordered by the Maharajas as they graduated from horse carriages.”

Also, Jaguar has shipped the legendary C-Type to India that had won the Le Mans and was driven by Sir Stirling Moss. Sir Moss was present at the event and so was the owner of the C-Type Richard Frankel. We did a one-on-one interaction with Mr Richard Frankel, as this was one special appearance car that made it to India, especially for Concours d’Elegance.