1925 Rolls Royce Phantom 'Tiger Car' with machine gun on the back up for auction... and it could sell for $1 MILLION
Last updated at 11:38 PM on 25th July 2011
It's a 1925 Torpedo Tourer or 'Tiger Car' built for Umed Singh II, a maharajah who was rather fond of hunting the big cats.
Next month it will be one of six pre-war Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars up for grabs when Bonhams holds its annual auction on the Monterey Peninsula in California.
Spot of tiger hunting what? The Rolls Royce Phantom Torpedo Tourer featured an arsenal of weaponry for the Indian hunt
THE TIGER CAR VITALS
- Weapons included: A large-calibre gun for seeing off charging game; a number of bird guns, rifles and shotguns mounted in the cabin; a trailer towing a Bira .450-caliber hand-cranked machine gun; a Lantaka cannon attached to the rear bumper for elephant hunting
- Top speed for similar model was around 88mph but the gearing on this Tourer was built for plodding rather than racing
Before anyone gets excited, the rather grand vehicle does come with a price tag that warrants a deep sniff of the smelling salts.
It's expected to fetch between $750,000 to a cool $1million.
In its hey day the car had all the latest tools for the hunt
It boasted a large-calibre gun for seeing off charging game; a number of bird guns, rifles and shotguns mounted in the cabin; and, at the rear, a trailer towing a Bira .450-caliber hand-cranked machine gun - the primary weapon for hunting Bengal tigers.
The machine gun attachment still exists and is part of the auction.
If that wasn't enough the maharajah also had a Lantaka cannon attached to the rear bumper, should he fancy a spot of elephant hunting before tea time.
It's powered by its original 8-litre, 6-cylinder engine.
Like a tiger in the headlights: The car was fitted out with swivelling search lights designed to startle game
Serious bit of kit: The car also comes with a machine gun attachment for its rear...
The gun slinger himself: Umed Singh II, maharajah of Kota, circa 1902
The top speed of similar models is around 88mph but the gearing on the Tourer was built for stealth plodding in the jungle rather than cruising down the streets.
This would have been custom built to suit the owner's preferences.
'There was no going to the dealership and just picking out a Phantom in a colour you liked,' David Swig, a specialist with Bonhams auction house, told the New York Times.
'They were built to order. Many maharajahs built cars like this.'
Worryingly the interior of the car boasts a Chubb safe for holding contingency money for any family members of hunting assistants killed in the bush, according to Bonhams literature.
It also has seats upholstered in crocodile hide just in case riders were in any doubt what the car's purpose was for.
There is no record of a torpedo being attached but the body work could certainly have supported one.
Given the amount of other ballistic material it had sticking out of every nook and cranny, it is feasible.
The Tourer has been owned by collectors in both England and the U.S.. It has undergone two restorations in the 1960s and 1980s.
The Bonhams auction is on August 19.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018688/1925-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Tiger-Car-machine-gun-auction.html#ixzz1TAuYuNKH
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