Pallab Roy’s Studebaker 8 President Limousine May be the World's Only Limousine of its Kind

Pallab Roy’s grandfather, Kamala Ranjan Roy, the Raja of Cossimbazar, had once sent his very American Studebaker to the railway station to pick up a group of British officials who had arrived. Back then, it was customary for the landed aristocracy to send a transport to pick up guests picked up from the station. Waiting at the station, therefore was the Studebaker and another British car. In a fierce show of British pride, the officials had all piled into the other car, leaving the American Stude to return empty. Indian Independence was still distant then.

Cut to 2026, the British are long gone, and guests arriving at the station or airport have the choice of app-based cabs too, should a transport not be there to receive them. Although I suspect Roy’s pedigree and sophisticated upbringing would still insist on transportation being sent to pick guests up.

The Cossimbazar Palace of the Roys, or Rajbari (meaning royal residence in Bengali), is now a lovely heritage hotel recognized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, that is run by the Roy family. This is the one in Kolkata where Roy grew up. On the one side, there is the smell of fresh bakes because Roy and his family have been running the successful confectionery chain The Sugarr & Spice for decades. On the other side is the unmistakable smell of old vehicles – a faint mix of petrol, paint, metal, and wood. Pallab, along with his son Saurav, runs the well-known Father & Son Restorations.

When the Studebaker 8 President Limousine was Brought to Calcutta

The story, however, began with Roy’s 1928 Studebaker 8 President Limousine. The stately Studebaker was one of two vehicles that had been brought to Calcutta – the city would be renamed decades later. One was an open-top tourer that was to be sold, the other was a limousine-bodied prototype that was to serve primarily as a demo car to help show off American innovation and craftsmanship.

“In those days, long before Independence, it was customary to buy British products, including cars,” says Roy. “In 1928, Studebaker Corporation, which was about 76 years old, pioneered the straight eight engine, which the company claimed had an output of 100 horsepower. It also had a lot of innovations like an electric intercom to talk to the chauffeur, a recoiling cigar lighter, an 8-day clock that needed to be wound once every eight days, map-reading lights, and so on.”

These aside, the limousine is the picture of pre-World War II luxury. Seats made of broadcloth for the rear occupants, deep pile Wilton weave carpets, and even a foldable footrest to brace against. Small electric fans, too, for comfort. Foldable captain seats for the children, and vases to ensure that you’re surrounded by the smell of fresh flowers on the way. And of course, privacy curtains. “This was the last official state limousine that my grandfather, late Raja Kamala Ranjan Roy, used,” Roy remembers. 

He tells me that although it was the open-top tourer that was to be sold, his grandfather persuaded the importers to sell him the prototype demo car. “At the time, there were hardly any roads, and most of the village tracks would be very dusty. So, on my grandfather’s insistence, the dealer wrote to the Studebaker Corporation in Indiana and got special permission from them to sell him the demo car,” Roy explains. There was a Chevrolet in the family at the time, which was given to the dealer along with a sizeable sum of money to acquire this car.

The vehicle was then taken from Calcutta to Cossimbazar, where it remained. The driver was also a mechanic who had been trained by the company since service centres did not exist, especially in the countryside. He was trained enough to be able to take the huge engine apart, service it, and repair it. In the middle of the third such service, the unfortunate driver-mechanic succumbed to a fatal outbreak of malaria. While the car’s engine was still dismantled, India had her tryst with destiny, but it was through the filter of the chaos and horror of Partition. In the meantime, the zamindari system was abolished in 1953, and the family moved to Kolkata. The Raja’s Studebaker, however, remained in Cossimbazar in its dismantled condition. 

Restoring the Dismantled Studebaker 8 President Limousine

“In 1963, my father decided to bring the vehicle and the dismantled parts in three packing cases to Kolkata. Back then, there was a very good mechanic named Keshto Babu. He had assembled the car and got it back to running condition,” remembers Roy. Thereafter, the car was used quite frequently. At first, to take Roy’s father to college and eventually even Pallab to school. “This was used particularly on days when it would rain heavily, and roads would get waterlogged,” he laughs. The Studebaker’s electricity distributor was raised to a point where even in flooded conditions, it would stay above the water line and not suffer from short circuits. 

“By the time I saw the car first, a lot of the original features, like the multi-sound bugle horn, had gone missing. I used to hear about them from my grandfather as a child,” he recalls. One of his earliest memories with the car is the first time he tried to drive it. “I was a child and tried to get the car started. I succeeded in getting the car rolling, but I had no idea how to stop it. It rolled slowly across the lawn and went and hit the open reservoir where the family retainers were having a bath. The reservoir cracked and the entire water drained out with a huge whoosh while the retainer still had soap lather all over their bodies,” he laughs. His first proper drive in the car, however, was with his grandfather, who taught him how to drive around the expansive compound of their Kolkata home. “There was a huge portico and a field here then, and it was an art to get such a big car to drive through that portico and around the house without having to reverse. My grandfather took me with him and said he would show me how to do it. He then let me drive the car around the house. That was my first driving experience.”

“We tried to restore the car to its original condition with several restorers with little luck. Eventually, we decided to restore the car ourselves,” he says. To that end, he acquired an original 1928 brochure for the Studebaker 8 President Limousine. Little by little, the grandfather’s stately limo was restored to its former glory. 

“I had written to the Studebaker Museum in Indiana to find out details about the car, and they wrote back saying that they knew about such a car, but they did not know of its existence. In fact, they didn’t even believe it at first and asked for the chassis number. I gave them the number I had. They responded by telling me that what I had supplied was not the chassis number and told me where to look for it. When I finally provided them with the number, they confirmed that this was truly that car.”

Although there were other Studebaker 8 President Limousines that were made, Roy’s vehicle was a bit different from the rest. “There were other such cars produced; nearly all were left-hand drives. This is the only right-hand drive version that the museum knew of. So, it could be the only one in existence in the world,” he says. Be that as it may, the 1928 Studebaker 8 President Limousine of Pallab Roy is truly one of a kind.