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The pictured A6 B Super Sport Torpedo was originally ordered by Lieutenant-Colonel HH Maharaja Sir Daulat Singh, the ruler of the Indian state of Indar. The coachwork is remarkably elegant and aerodynamic for its day; the fully cowled underside is a particularly unusual feature. The Maharajah used the open Farman for tiger hunting as well as touring. He later presented the car to a relative, who was a Maharajah of a neighboring state. The car was eventually retrieved from India in 1967 by Rolls-Royce expert John Fasal, who visited the country many times to track down long lost luxury cars once owned by India's many royals.
Shortly after the car was returned to Europe, it was sold to well known German collector Wolfgang Gawor. While the Farman was complete, it was in a dire condition, so Gawor commissioned a ground-up restoration. With little to no spare parts available, the restoration took many, many years and was eventually completed in the late 1990s. In 2000 it was featured in the French Automobile Classiques magazine. Upon Gawor's death, his collection was auctioned during a Pebble Beach auction and the Farman sold for $473,000 despite a pre-auction estimate of $600,000 - $800,000. Needless to say it hard to put a value on a car that is so very rare and has not been offered in a public sale for several decades.
The proud new owner showed the Farman at the Meadow Brook and Amelia Concours d'Elegance, but not at Pebble Beach. In 2008 he offered the car during Bonhams Retromobile auction. It was estimated to sell for EUR500,000 and EUR600,000, which proved too steep for the interested parties. Again it proved hard to value the car and / or to convince bidders to commit this much money. On the other hand this Farman A6 B Super Sport Torpedo is the only Farman in private hands and represents a unique opportunity to buy one of the finest French cars of the 1920s. It certainly is a worthy addition to any collection.
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A6 B Super Sport Torpedo
