Yohan Poonawalla's 17EX Rolls-Royce Phantom, One Of A Kind And Going Places

Yohan Poonawalla owns the 1928 Rolls-Royce 17EX, won global concours awards, and restored the priceless Maharaja-era car to Indian ownership in 2024.

01 May 2026, 15:04 · www.ndtv.com

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The 1928 Rolls Royce 17EX was custom made for the Maharaja of Kashmir as a racing car
Owned by Yohan Poonawalla, the 17EX recently won best of show at Japan's Concorso d'Elegance
The car inspired Rolls Royce's Project Nightingale, an all-electric coach build collection

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In the world of luxury, classic vintage cars, it is considered priceless, equivalent to top selling art works like a Da Vinci painting or a work by Picasso. The 17EX , a 1928 Rolls Royce Sports Phantom, was once owned by the Maharaja of Kashmir and now occupies pride of place in Pune-based industrialist Mr Yohan Poonawalla's collection of vintage cars, and its going places.

It recently won the best of show award in the Concorso d'Elegance held in Japan in the world heritage site of the Yakushiji Temple in the ancient city of Nara, and its also the inspiration for one of Rolls Royce's most eclectic projects called Project Nightingale.

Project Nightingale will deliver in 2028 electric cars, modelled on classics like the 17EX, and these cars have already been sold out. Project Nightingale is an exclusive all-electric coach build collection from Rolls-Royce, but interestingly, its inspiration is the 17EX and other streamline moderne design movement cars of the 1920s and 1930s.

The DNA for the project's design is historical innovation, and the legendary 17EX now owned by Mr Poonawalla is definitely a primary inspiration.

So What Is So Special About The 17EX?

It was custom made in 1928 for the Maharaja Of Kashmir as a racing car. It was personally conceived, developed, and test-driven by Sir Henry Royce himself to break the 100 miles per hour barrier and was delivered brand new to the Maharaja of Kashmir, who used it to race in the valley after Dusshera celebration.The 17EX is one of a kind, which translates into the only model like this made in the world.

The 17EX has a sporty aerodynamic body using techniques from the aircraft industry to give it weight reduction and make it ideal for racing. The 17EX is cloaked in a lightweight aluminium body. It has a striking, narrow, torpedo-shaped body that almost looks like a boat and reduces air resistance. The rear has a boat tail design again made for speed, and automobile historians say the car has seen many races up and down hill in the Kashmir Valley. Its Saxe Blue colour is also considered unique, and it was built by the famous coachbuilder Jarvis of Wimbledon.

Yohan Poonawalla With His 1928 Rolls-Royce 17EX

It also had a long trajectory of ownership; the car changed hands many times, making its way from the kingdom of Kashmir to the UK. Mr Poonawalla bought the car in 2024 , proudly bringing back to Indian ownership a car that is considered priceless in the world of antique luxury cars.

"Every car enthusiast has heard about the 17EX," said Mr Poonawalla in an exclusive interview with NDTV. " I had heard about it, saw pictures, and fell in love with it. I first saw it in the Geneva Motor Show in Qatar, the owner was there, and it took a few months of conversation in 2023 before I finally closed it in 2024."

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Since then, Mr Poonawalla's 17 EX has won titles and prizes in the world of Concours d'Elegance. It won the best of show in The Valletta Concours, held in Valletta, Malta, in 2024, and in Mallorca, Spain, in 2024, and the icing on the cake was the prestigious win in April this year in Japan, and clearly the proportions of the 17 EX have endured even to this day. That's why modern-day electric cars being designed by Rolls under Project Nightingale use the 17 EX for inspiration, and that's why Mr Poonawalla says his car is beyond price tags.

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On valuing it in the international market, the owner says "It's virtually priceless and one of a kind , and its design and proportions have endured to this day; to own it is to own a piece of history."

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