Billionaire Yohan Poonawalla Buys Queen Elizabeth’s Range Rover, Takes It For A Spin In London

The Poonawallas are known for their taste for cars. Yohan Poonawalla has now added a very special vehicle to his growing garage—the Range Rover Autobiography previously used by the British Queen Herself. From the garage of the Late Queen Elizabeth II, this historic set of wheels has finally reached the Indian businessman’s possession. He was recently spotted driving the car around in London’s Mayfair area.

The SUV still has the national flag along with a host of other extra fittings. These include extra grab bars, covert lighting, fixed steps and police emergency lights as well as other special orders from the Queen. The auctioneer said that when they got the vehicle procured, they found the additional grab handles- telltale elements of the Royal connection, inside the boot, and could be fitted back if needed.

Some sources report that Poonawalla prefers to keep the car with all the fittings that were used by the monarch. Not sure how he is going to get this accomplished. More interesting, however, is the fact that the Range Rover retains the same registration plate that it had when it was being used by Her Majesty.

This Loire Blue Range Rover Autobiography with Ivory upholstery has a huge wheelbase that suited Her Majesty’s comfort well and was even used to usher former US president Barack Obama and his wife on their state visit in 2016. Pictures and videos of the same garnered much attention. They showed Obama being the co-driver, while Michelle and the Queen herself were seated in the second row.

The SUV in question is a 2016 Range Rover SDV8 Autobiography LWB edition. As indicated by its name, it draws its juice from a 4.4 L V8 diesel engine that produces 335 bhp and 740 Nm and comes mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The Queen’s car had a lot of tweaks on the inside, and the cabin itself was extremely comfortable, in keeping with the Range Rover standards.

The vehicle was recently listed for auction at ‘Bramley Auctioneers’ citing a base quote of 224,850 pounds (almost 2 Crore Indian rupees). The ad said that it had an odometer reading of just 18,000 miles ( or 28,969 kilometres) and that the original number OU16 XVH would be included in the purchase. This isn’t something common. Usually, when a Royal vehicle is auctioned off, the Royal number is removed. Civilians do not often get access to these plates.

Poonawalla reportedly purchased the Royal SUV in February this year. Talking about its history, the car had been sold twice before the Indian businessman got to own it. Mr Morgan-Jones of Bramley Auctioneers confirm this, and says that the first time it was sold to an old client of the car dealer, and then to a chap who was fascinated by its Royal lineage. He further listed it for sale in January 2024. This makes Poonawalla the fourth owner of this Range Rover.

Yohan is known for his taste in cars, and his collection is growing as we speak. He is currently rising to global acceptance for the cars he own. This isn’t even the first Royal pedigree car that he owns. The man also has possession of a 1979 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Limousine which was previously used by the late Queen. Poonawalla seems to have a special affinity towards collecting vehicles that were once owned by Maharajas, Nawabs, Sheikhs, Presidents, and even the Pope

This intense passion for classics and collectable cars has earned him multiple recognitions- like the ‘Classic Car Ambassador of the Year Award 2023’ and ‘Collector Of The Year 2023’ at the Qatar Motor Show. He even ranks in the top 100 classic collectors of the world.