Daimler 45 HP Barker Salon Cabriolet 'Star of India'

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Built for Gulab Singh, the Maharaja of Rewa. Outfitted for regular use by the Maharaja in tiger hunting expeditions. At its completion the Daimler was featured in a drawing in the June 1927 issue of Vanity Fair, titled The Car of an Indian Potentate. The Daimler’s bodywork was built of sheets of German silver formed over an intricate inner wooden frame, with a single door provided on the passenger side, folding front bucket seats, and a capacious rear seat for the owner. Elaborate woodwork and fine leather were used throughout. The design incorporated a convertible top that disappeared under a tonneau, in the fashion popularized by European coachbuilders Castagna and Saoutchik, as well as two separate sets of windows, running parallel to one another. One set of windows was of clear glass, for use with the Maharaja aboard; the second was of darkly smoked Triplex, so-called purdah glass. The dashboard was outfitted not only with a speedometer and tachometer, but also gauges to measure oil and air temperature, a Radamax spark plug tester, and a gradient meter to measure the Daimler’s angle on terrain, which one writer described as giving the appearance of a dirigible control room. Rattan seats were fitted to the running boards for the carrying of attendants and gunbearers, while the front fenders carried electric boa constrictor horns and two pairs of Lucas lights to sear their way through the Indian night. Lantern-like Toby taillamps took up the rear, and the Maharaja’s crest announced his presence to all comers.