Lot Ended
Description
Extremely rare two-door convertible; few owners, the current since
2017; recent sympathetic restoration and only 1,000 miles since
Now here’s
something you don’t see every day – a Daimler 2.5 V8 Two-Door Convertible!
Hardly surprising as it was never offered as an open car by the factory and it
is believed that only two such conversions have ever been made, this car plus
another one converted by Beacham which fetched over £74k when sold by Bonhams in
2017.
First registered in London in
June 1967, it is not known who did the conversion or when, but it was certainly
done many years ago, the vendor suspecting that it may have been done by
Tickford, coachbuilders who had a close relationship with Daimler, but there is
no proof of this. The job has been well executed, with extra strengthening to
the chassis clearly evident.
It has had four former
keepers, according to the V5C, our vendor acquiring the car in 2017 as a
renovation project from a gentleman in Sandhurst who had owned it since 2004. He
has since spent many thousands of pounds restoring the car, the process being
documented in a blog which you can view by copying and pasting this link into
your browser:
http://daimlerv8topless.blogspot.com/
The vendor
did some of the work himself, enlisting professional help as required, some of
which is documented in invoices on file. The bodywork was in pretty good shape
but needed work to the rear wheelarches which was carried out by Yattendon
Garage of Thatcham. Invoices show that Four Winds Garage of Oxon did much work
on the engine, gearbox, brakes and the wiring in 2018 which cost £3,228. They
also gave it a full respray in the same year which cost £3,600 – Jaguar Antigua
Blue over Daimler Old English White.
It was professionally
re-trimmed inside by Jim Hawkins, although there is no invoice for this. The
brightwork was rechromed by A Walkinshaw of Coventry (again no invoice). We
suspect that much other work has been done which is also not documented by
invoices.
The restoration was completed
in May 2019 when the car flew through its MOT with no advisories recorded. It
has covered just over 1,000 miles since, mainly going to local shows, as
illustrated in the blog. As you can see in the photos, it looks most attractive,
the only real blemish we noted being some slight microblistering to the paint on
the boot lid.
Starting promptly and running
well as we have moved it around on site, with good 40psi oil pressure, this
exceedingly rare and handsome Daimler will draw lots of attention wherever it
goes and is only reluctantly for sale due to the declining health of the
vendor.
For more information contact
James on 07970 309907 or email [email protected]