When automotive historian Manvendra Singh Barwani approached the Oberoi Group’s executives 15 years ago to propose hosting a version of the world’s most prestigious car show on the lawns of their grand hotel on the shores of Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India, he received a resounding no. “We don’t do that,” an Oberoi executive told him, explaining that the crowds and heavy vehicles could destroy the hotel’s pristine grounds. But on a sunny morning last February, eight 1930s Rolls-Royce limousines were lined up in a perfect semicircle outside the gates to the Oberoi’s main courtyard, while an ultra-rare 1935 Delahaye Roadster was parked on the lawn outside the hotel and a 1938 BMW 328 flown in from Munich sparkled at the edge of a grassy road specially laid for the event. Singh Barwani had convinced the company’s current boss, Arjun Oberoi: The hotel had done everything it could to host the latest edition of the Concours d’Elegance, which takes place every August at Pebble Beach in Monterey, California.

Outside the club world of car collectors, many people are unaware of India’s deep connection with the automotive arts. From the 1910s to the 1940s, the Maharajas were a splurge-hungry clan of car freaks who ordered Bentleys and Rolls-Royces by the dozen for their private stash. Their unorthodox requests for customization – hood-mounted searchlights for tiger-hunting expeditions, extra seats for their numerous wives – resulted in some of the most eccentric luxury cars of the era, indeed of all time. Singh Barwani points out a discreet teak bar with a servant’s seat hidden inside a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom commissioned by the Maharaja of Darbhanga; it was built for a princess who craved a cocktail every evening, despite her mother-in-law’s ban on alcohol in the palace. “The Maharaja told her, ‘Okay, I’ll get you a car and you can go out in the evening,'” says Singh Barwani. “So every night she was driven around with her lady-in-waiting, who would make her a drink. She would drink her liquor and come back, and the mother-in-law never knew about it.”

Today, while the Maharajas’ descendants still own some of the family cars (and some of the family fortune) and the honorary royal titles, their influence on Indian society is surpassed by that of the country’s increasingly numerous billionaire industrialists. It’s no surprise that these new tycoons also like their fancy cars, including textile boss Gautam Singhania, whose Mumbai home has 30 floors – several of which are reserved for his collection of Lamborghinis and Ferraris, along with six models, including a 1958 Mercedes Benz 190 SL, which he brought to Udaipur.

The atmosphere was one of friendly camaraderie and fierce competition in equal measure. “What can you do? It’s a passion.”

On the morning of the event’s opening day, the collectors gathered in the hotel grounds, where jet-age Cadillacs and curvaceous Hispano-Suizas were artfully placed among the flowerbeds. The mood was one of friendly camaraderie and fierce competition in equal measure. Watching these mega-moguls spend two days in the blazing sun showing off their vehicles to judges, eyeing each other’s hood ornaments, you could understand the depth of their commitment. “What can you do? It’s a passion,” said Rajiv Kehr, a collector from New Delhi who had shipped one of his favorite Jaguars – a charming 1950 XK with its iconic leather hood strap – to the competition and was excited to drive it home on Rajasthan’s chaotic highways.

At Sunday’s closing ceremony, Sandra Button, the longtime chairwoman of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance who headed the judging panel at the Oberoi’s inaugural event, awarded the Best of Show trophy to a graceful, snappy 1939 Lagonda coupe. Owner Nishant Dossa and the winners in more than a dozen categories, smiling and waving as they drove past the Oberoi’s gate, knew the awards will add tremendous value to their cars.

A 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom has a teak bar in the back. “Every evening (the princess) was driven around with her lady-in-waiting, who made her a drink.”

Still, many collectors insisted that money and prices were not the most important thing. One vehicle that drew onlookers all weekend was a mauve and purple Rolls-Royce Phantom III, originally customized in Paris for the Maharani of Baroda with massive gold fittings and an ivory steering wheel. Collector Asheesh Jain described traveling to Varanasi in northern India and spending several weeks in a fabric workshop to recreate the elaborate brocade that covers the rear of the car from floor to ceiling. Asked how much the car was now worth, he replied: “I’ll answer that in a Hindi word: anmol. Priceless.”