Maharajah of Indore's 1937 Mercedes 540K Cabriolet A Up for Auction

The forthcoming Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on May 21st is to include the sale of a vehicle that was specifically built for the 14th Maharajah of Indore, RM Auctions announced. The vehicle in question is a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A, estimated to fetch between €1.250.000-€1.800.000 ($1.78 - $2.56 million).

For his Mercedes, His Highness specified factory Cabriolet A coachwork from the Daimler-Benz works at Sindelfingen. The Cabriolet A was a two-passenger drophead coupé, of which 83 were built.

After the Maharajah passed away in 1961, his daughter took over the throne and thus his car collection. Unfortunately, she apparently didn’t share the same passion for motorcars as her father, so the Mercedes in question left India in the late 1970s. It was exported to Britain and subsequently sold to a German collector, and then into the hands of a collector from the United States.

It has undergone extensive restoration, completed in 2002. The car was then finished in a deep midnight blue, with rich blue canvas hood. The odometer, which read 17,000 at the time, was reset to zero.

Interior highlights include a tan leather interior with blue carpet and a highly-varnished burl walnut dashboard with mother of pearl inlay. The VDO instruments are black-on-beige, illuminated in a light orange glow at night. Rear wheel spats and understated blackwall tires complete the car’s elegant appearance.

The 14th Maharajah of Indore was renown for his extensive car collection, which comprised a 4.5-litre Lagonda, a Bentley coupé and a supercharged Duesenberg, as well as a Hispano-Suiza J12, Bugatti, Delahaye, Pierce-Arrow and three Alfa Romeos. Most were painted in the dynasty colours and were equipped with red and blue running lights to indicate who was driving: red for the Maharajah, blue for his wife, the Maharani.