How Cartier Transformed A Jaipur Palace Into A Time Capsule For Car Enthusiasts.

How Cartier transformed a certain Jaipur palace into a time capsule for car enthusiasts.

The vast number of immaculately restored, painstakingly preserved classic and vintage cars of India are an often unacknowledged part of our cultural heritage. In the years leading up to India’s economic liberalisation, the automobile had, regardless of the make, been rendered exotic by the mere fact of being a rarefied mode of transport. Ironic for a country which, at the turn of the century, was one of the largest importers of coach-built automotive exotica, serving both the ruling British and provincial royalty.

It’s precisely this heritage that the modern day vanguards of the Indian classic car circuit aim to preserve. For exactly a decade now, Cartier has been consolidating some of the finest vintage and classic automobiles (and, recently, motorcycles) for what’s probably the country’s most thorough and prestigious vintage car show: the Cartier Travel With Style. Held biennially, the Concours has risen in stature through its last five iterations, becoming one of the top ranked in the world and establishing India as a prominent vestige of a glorious automotive past. To this effect, last year saw the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the most comprehensive and prestigious classic car show in the world, held in Monterey, California – open a special “Motorcars of the Raj” category to recognise the incredible craftsmanship that’s gone into restoring vintage cars of royal provenance.