Royally decked out, this Pontiac Bonneville show car of 1963 was given a royal name: the Maharani.
The word maharani, we’re told, derives from the Sanskrit “mahā” and “rājñī” and means “great queen,” or more specifically in India, the wife of a maharaja. We don’t know if General Motors styling boss Bill Mitchell had a specific lady in mind when he approved this 1963 Pontiac dream car, but it was given the trimmings befitting of a royal personage.
Based on an early pilot-production Bonneville convertible, the Maharani was created for Pontiac displays on the North American auto show circuit, with special attention lavished on the interior. While the Bonneville bucket seats, console, and shifter for the Hydra-matic transmission were retained, the front and rear seat coverings were redone in three shades of leather, blue aqua, aqua metallic, and peacock, in a V-striped pattern with peacock-feather trim. The dash and interior door panels continued the theme, and deep shag carpeting in blue aqua replaced the production Bonneville’s nylon-pile material.
The exterior was refinished in a candy pearl blue aqua, definitely not a GM factory paint code. Meanwhile, the exposed brake drums of the Kelsey-Hayes 8-lug wheels (see our feature here) were painted a complementary blue to match. The Bonneville scripts inside and out were removed and replaced with badges that spelled out MAHARANI in block letters. A rigid fiberglass “parade boot,” as it was called, a familiar GM show car touch first seen (we think) on the 1953 Cadillac Eldorado, replaced the production vinyl convertible top boot.
Like many show cars from GM Styling in this period, the Maharani was closely based on a GM retail product, with modifications confined mainly to the paint, trim, and interior. The days of the all-out, scratch-built dream cars of the old GM Motorama had largely passed. The Maharani is shown below on its pedestal in Cobo Hall at the 1963 Detroit Auto Show with the doors open to show off its most compelling feature, the flamboyant peacock-trimmed interior. With its auto show assignments completed, the Maharani was reportedly scrapped in 1966.
Gorgeous car! This is the first time I’ve seen it. It is a shame it was scrapped. Thanks, Mac, for sharing it with us!
Interesting & fairly attractive. The front quarter trim is a bit heavy, & the painted 8 lug rims are the best feature.
First I have seen this too. Pontiac interiors were alwaysa cut above. This one is no different
Luxurious! But with a fixed seat back. I remember looking around a Buick dealership in the early 90’s and they had base level Centuries with fixed back front bench seats. I asked the salesman who the hell buys that and he replied, very old, cheap people. By this time reclining seat backs were standard on everything from a Yugo on up, so it was just a bit of GM caught in a weird time warp.
I doubt it was made for a specific Maharani given that it would be right-hand drive and by then automotive imports to India had been banned under the “License Raj” locking in the Hindustan Ambassador-Premier Padmini duopoly (1956 Morris Oxford and 1961 Fiat 1100) that would be it through the ’80s and wouldn’t disappear entirely for decades after.