Tiger hunting Rolls to sell at Pebble

| 26 Jul 2011

A custom-made Rolls-Royce Phantom once used by an Indian Maharaj to shoot Tigers is to go under the hammer at Monterey.

The 1925 Tourer has been consigned by Bonhams for its 19 August sale at Quail Lodge.

It was commissioned by Sahib Bahadur of India (officially known as Umed Singh II, Maharaja of Kotah) and was originally delivered complete with a battery of armaments including a Howdah gun (double-barrel shotgun in pistol form), bumper-mounted Lantaka canon and a machine gun perched on a matching trailer.

The Barker-bodied Phantom featured extra low gearing to allow it to creep through the roughshod jungles of Rajasthan while other bespoke fitments extended to a hidden safe and nickel-plated serpent horn.

The Rolls, which the Indian government has previously attempted to repatriate in the interests of national heritage, is expected to sell for $750-1m. See: www.bonhams.com for more.