In Gwalior’s historic garages, Yuvraj Mahanaaryaman Scindia treats vintage cars as living archives of royal life. From a century-old Rolls-Royce repatriated from Germany to a Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental painstakingly restored, each vehicle is traced through chassis numbers, family memories and global detective work, preserving both automotive heritage and the Scindia legacy for a future museum.
It’s not everyday that the gates of Gwalior’s garages open up to the visitor. Even rarer is the off chance that the guide to the back stories of what lies behind the doors happens to be a scion of the Scindia family, Yuvraj Mahanaaryaman Scindia himself. The very man who is behind bringing back these family jewels back to the family garage.
As part of our Collector Series we travelled to Gwalior, where the young Scindia scion welcomed us into the garages of the erstwhile Scindia royal family. What awaits inside is far more than a constellation of beautifully restored vintage automobiles. Each car carries a deeply personal story—of royal ownership, painstaking detective work, restoration and, in many cases, journeys across continents to return home. From a century-old Rolls-Royce that found its way back from Germany to family heirlooms that have survived generations, Scindia takes us through his garage and shares how preserving these machines is, for him, as much about safeguarding family history as it is about celebrating automotive heritage.
Robb Report India (RRI): Where did your passion for cars begin?
Yuvraj Mahanaaryaman Scindia (MS): It started when I was very young. My uncle and I spent a lot of time driving around Bombay. He used to collect a lot of cars even back then. He had an old BMW M5 and a Porsche 911 Turbo, and he would often take me out for drives. I think just the thrill and the sound of the engine and the acceleration used to get me very excited. Since I was about five or six years old, I really started enjoying cars. I also started collecting Hot Wheels at a very young age.
From then on I’ve kept the thrill and passion for cars alive. My father shares the same passion. When he was studying at Stanford, he owned a Porsche Boxster—it used to be one of my favourite cars. He would take me for drives around San Francisco and California. Those experiences were really my introduction; my foray into the thrill of being in a car and hearing a car.
RR: When did that interest shift from modern performance cars to vintage, old cars?
MS: That happened over the last five years after I returned from college. I started reading a lot about the family's history on cars, and I really got interested in finding old family cars—that’s where the real connection to vintage cars started. Before that I was more into modern, or modern classic cars, but [the interest in] vintage cars started really in the last five years.
RR: How large is your vintage collection today?
MS: We currently have around 15 vintage cars. About six are here, four or five are undergoing restoration, a few more are waiting for restoration to begin, and another two or three in Delhi.
RR: Evidently, there’s royal blood mixed with petrol in your veins. Tell us about this first car. It clearly has a very personal history.
MS: This was originally my great-grandmother's—not grandmother but great grandaunt’s—car; it started off as my great-grandmother’s car before it was passed on to my grandfather's sister, my grand-aunt. There are various pictures of her driving around in Gwalior in this. We found it in India in an absolutely terrible condition—it was little more than a skeleton.
By tracing the chassis number, we were able to establish its connection to our family. Once we confirmed that, we knew we had to bring it back. It underwent six to seven months of intensive restoration in Bombay.
One of the most special aspects is that the interior remains original. The seats and textile upholstery are untouched. The fabric is almost like a Chanderi textile, making it exceptionally unique. You don’t get it anywhere else in the world. Everything else has been restored and repainted, but we've preserved the original interior because it's an important part of the car's identity.
RR: Does every car in the collection have a family connection?
Almost all of them do.
Take this Ford Thunderbird, for example. It was originally purchased by my great-grandfather. It has a powerful Ford V8 engine and still today it’s very peppy—when you accelerate it just flies! The point here is, see, it’s a large car—you can see how long and wide it is—yet, it’s a very very smooth drive. It almost feels like driving a spaceship; it glides on the road.
I'd say these were the old Bentley Brooklyns, you know, those long, large, Tudor cars. But it still glides and drives so beautifully, you wouldn't feel you're sitting in such a large car. But again, a great deal of restoration was done in this.
This particular example wasn't continuous with the family—we reacquired it—but we've documented its entire restoration process in a book, detailing every stage of bringing it back to life.
RR: How do you actually track down these long-lost family cars?
MS: Fortunately, we have an excellent network of historians and researchers who constantly help us trace our old cars.
We usually begin with chassis numbers and ownership histories, tracing each successive owner until we locate the current custodian. It's a long and often tedious process, but that's also where much of the excitement lies. You're not just finding an old automobile—you're rediscovering a piece of family history and bringing it back home.
RR: The level of restoration is extraordinary. Is that attention to detail deliberate?
MS: Absolutely. We try to restore every component to concours-level standards wherever possible. Even details like the chroming, wiring and engine bay are restored to original specification.
Take the Thunderbird's engine compartment—it looks almost showroom fresh because that's the standard we aim for during restoration.
RR: How do you preserve these cars once they've been restored?
MS: Gwalior's weather actually helps us a great deal because rust isn't as significant a problem here. The garages themselves are historic buildings with thick walls, which provide excellent protection.
We've recently restored these garages as well. Eventually, we'd like to line up the entire collection here and open it as a museum so people can understand not only the cars themselves but also the stories behind them.
RR: This BMW Isetta is perhaps the most unexpected car here.
It really is a fascinating little car. BMW developed it during the post-war economic crisis as an affordable vehicle for ordinary families. Despite its modest purpose, it's beautifully engineered and very well finished.
This particular Isetta belonged to my grandfather. He used to play around with it, drive it around the palace with his friends before passing it on to my father, who later passed it to me. It's one of the few cars that has remained continuously within the family.
RR: Tell us about your Lincoln Continental.
MS: This was my great-grandfather's Lincoln Continental from the 1940s. It has a V12 engine, although it's actually less powerful than the Thunderbird's V8.
We've recently completed its restoration, finishing it in a champagne-gold exterior with brown interiors. It's another car restored to concours condition while retaining its historic character.
RR: Perhaps the most remarkable story belongs to Rolls-Royce.
MS: Yes, this 1920s Rolls-Royce, often called the "Baby Rolls" as it’s a smaller version of the Rolly-Royce, originally belonged to my great-great-grandfather. A special piece of history.
He gifted it to the Nizam of Hyderabad following the birth of his daughter. From there, it eventually passed through the hands of the director of Bonhams before ending up with a collector in Germany.
We traced it all the way to Germany, contacted the collector and finally brought this extraordinary piece of family history back to India after nearly 80 or 90 years.
RR: Unlike many of your other cars, this Rolls-Royce hasn't been restored. Why?
MS: Because it's completely original.
I haven't touched anything—not the paint, not the interior. The patina is genuine, and I think preserving that originality is important. It's a very special car. It's driven on the shera and when my mother has dinners, I send her in this. It has a coachwork by Bacchus. Everything is original. It's a little faded but I'd like to keep it in its original state. It's just one of those cars... Even if there are a couple of scratches here and there, it's fine. It adds history to the car. It's also a well used car, driven quite a lot extensively in Europe, from London to Germany, Germany to London. It's well used for sure. And it's withstood the test of time and still runs very smoothly. Still probably more silent than many of the new cars.
RR: There's also an unusual vintage motorcycle here. What's its story?
MS: That's a 1920s bike built by an old English company called Dot, which no longer exists, although I believe it's now being revived.
I found it about a year ago lying almost like scrap within our family museum. Its unusual front carrier was designed for carrying picnic equipment or even children around large estates. Although we don't know exactly which member of the family originally bought it, it has been with us for generations.
RR: What other projects are currently underway?
MS: We are just waiting to redo my grandfather's Mustang, a Jaguar E-Type Series 1, and my great-grandmother's Chevrolet Suburban, which is currently being restored. As far as I know, it's the only example of its kind in India.
We also have an old Dodge RV that I hope to restore in the future, along with a few other cars that are currently in various stages of restoration.
RR: Do you always restore cars to factory specification
MS: Not always. If we have original photographs and documentation, we try to stay as faithful as possible.
However, some cars can benefit from discreet upgrades. For example, we're giving my grandfather's Mustang modern suspension, improved brakes and power steering. The idea is to make it a more usable, enjoyable car while respecting its character.
Most of the rest of the collection, though, remains very close to original specification, apart from occasional colour choices.
RR: Do you regularly drive these cars?
MS: Yes, most of them.
My father and I often take the Thunderbird, Lincoln and several others around Gwalior, including drives to the fort and through the city. They're wonderful cars to drive, although you naturally have to be mindful of their size.
The Rolls-Royce is different—that's more of a ceremonial car. But the others are meant to be driven. That's the best way to keep them alive.