@ Mohsin Bhai, KC and All,
These days I am reading the âMEMOIRS of Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khanâ â Army ADC to Quaid-e-Azam and later the last C-in-C of the Pakistan Army. On page 72-73, I came across very interesting information which I would like to share with the members of Vintage and Classic Cars forum.
âMountbatten and some of his staff were put up at the Governor-Generalâs House, but there were only two cars to cart everyone around. And I, being ADC in charge of transport, was given strict instructions not to hire any transport but make do with what we had and borrow what we could. It would have needed a magician to manipulate the fleet of two cars to meet all the demands, whereas borrowing proved impracticable, as those who possessed reasonably presentable cars were in need of them themselves to attend our functions. The Viceroy and the Governor-General wished to drive to the Sindh Assembly building in an open car, which was not easy to procure. After extensive enquiries, one was located. It belonged to the Nawab of Bahawalpur, a yellow Rolls-Royce of considerable vintage, which was in need of massive repairs as it had not been used for years. This was accomplished: at least so I thought. For Miss Jinnah and Lady Mountbatten, the Viceroyâs staff came to our rescue and dispatched Mountbattenâs personal convertible Packard from Delhi. Then there were dozens of outstation guests for whom, orders or no orders, I hired taxis, which were shampooed inside and out, and then again inspected. The drivers were put into some semblance of uniform. At the last minute I discovered the cars had no flagstaffs; these were fitted more or less en route to the airport to collect guests.
After formal declaration in the Sindh assembly building, the Viceroy and the Governor-General returned to the House: the yellow Rolls-Royce barely managed to reach the porch, discharged its two dignitaries, decided that enough was enough, and caught fire! It had to be pushed out of the way to make room for the following car with Miss Jinnah and Lady Mountbatten in it. I gave orders for the Rolls-Royce to be returned to its owner pronto, in case someone else got it into his head to drive around Karachi in an open car.â
P.S: Picture of this Rolls-Royce can be seen on page 2 of this forum.
