2019-07-18 12:03:53 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 7/19
online.handh.co.uk/m/lot-details/index/catalog/117/lot/44901/%2Fm%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F117%2F

Auction description:
Lot 40 of 160: 1968 Daimler V8-250
Estimate: £18,000 - £22,000
Registration No:PDJ633F
Chassis No:P1K1440BW
MOT:April 2020

- Over 3000 hours of restoration work carried out
- Bare metal respray
- Original interior
- Only 2 former keepers
- Only 78000 recorded and credible miles
- Mot April 2020
- Described as excellent overall

We are indebted to the vendor for the following information:

Superb Bare Metal Restoration.
(Photo documented throughout)

Originality preserved.

All work has been done with no time limits so as to ensure all tasks have been completed properly (in excess of 3000 hours logged!)

V5 and MOT certificate present, we have owned since summer 2016, when we started the restoration, only 2 former keepers. First Owner 1968-1984, Second owner 1984-2016.

Since then it has undergone a complete bare metal restoration, retaining as much originality as realistic whilst ensuring all steel corrosion removed completely.

Engine strip down, 'de-coke' and rebuild.

Wood re-veneer refurbishment.

New carpet, tyres, radiator, filters + fluids plus many many other parts.

Items removed have been blasted, primed and painted.

Full Paint (from bare metal) retaining its original Daimler colour.

Lovely V8 2.5L engine, Automatic Transmission & Power Steering!

Although MOT exempt, near the end of the project it was taken for an MOT at an independent garage for 'buyer and seller piece of mind' on 23rd April 2019. It is tax exempt and currently on SORN"

2021-04-18 08:22:42 | pauls writes:

Car returns to auction 4/21

themarket.co.uk/listings/daimler/250-v8/5289d960-9bac-470e-b829-1749ae4e4a2c

Location: Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Odometer Reading: 70000

Chassis Number: P1K1440BW

Engine: 2500

Gearbox: AUTO

Colour: BLUE

Interior: BROWN

This splendid Daimler 250 V8 has been through a ground up, bare metal, nut and bolt restoration over the course of the last 5 years.

Which makes it fairly unusual, because much of the focus of restorers has been on its Jaguar MkII counterpart.

While MkII prices have sky-rocketed and even desperate old barn finds full of chickens and rust have become worth restoring, so Daimler 250 V8s have, to date, been largely overlooked by the legions of welders, grinders, blasters, skimmers, borers, saddlers, trimmers, painters, fettlers and tweakers looking for profitable ‘projects’.

The Daimlers have tended to carry on into old age unrestored, frequently in the gentle ownership of retired vicars who use them only for pottering hither and thither, probably somewhere in Wiltshire.

But with MkIIs now out of reach to all but the most capacious of trouser pockets, the Daimler is looking like a very attractive alternative.

And that’s the opportunity this vendor has appreciated and seized.

This car has been through two distinct phases of restoration. The first phase, carried out from 2016 to 2019 involved a ground-up, bare metal rebuild and respray, plus some attention to the mechanicals.

The second phase, carried out over the last two years under the vendor’s watch, and at his expense, consisted of the highest quality mechanical restoration, a full engine, brakes and suspension rebuild, and a thoroughly restored interior.

The second phase, in our opinion and that of the vendor, was superior in quality to the first phase.

In short, this is a very sensitively and skillfully restored car with the proviso that some of the first phase restoration work, while entirely well intentioned, was sometimes just a tad shy of the very highest echelons of the restorer’s craft.

The vendor has spent a great deal of time and money trying to get the whole vehicle up to the lofty standards of the second phase restoration and, we feel, he’s largely succeeded.

Highlights of the restoration work include:

* bare metal respray, re-chroming, new leather on front seats and door cards, recon rear seats, new headliner, new Moto-Lita steering wheel, re-veneered dash

* new carpets, recon engine (now unleaded), recon auto box, electric ignition, power steering, electric cooling fan upgrade

* new chrome wire wheels with Daimler nuts and spare in boot, upgraded Fosseway disc brakes all round, new tyres, relined petrol tank, new petrol pump, recon brake pedal assembly….and loads more.

It all adds up to a spend of over £40,000.

So, that’s £40k you won’t have to spend.

It looks fabulous, drives extremely well and starts and stops on the button. There are no troublesome rattles, clunks, whines or groans. Everything feels tight and well screwed together. The engine sounds throaty and purposeful and the acceleration is as good as it should be.

The steering is light and responsive and while it’s never going to handle like a Lotus Elan, it feels nimble, agile and lively.

The utterly bombproof V8 is as smooth and silky as a lightly oiled otter.

The bodywork, engine, drivetrain, brakes, suspension and all greasy bits have been replaced, rebuilt, refurbished or repaired according to need and in keeping with a desire to keep the car as authentic and original as possible.

The result, quite clearly (look at the restoration photographs) is a labour of love, and one that’s created a car that’s as good to drive as it is to look at or sit in.

We like it a lot.

On the Outside

It really is a very handsome car, there’s no mistaking that, and taken as a whole it looks very smart indeed.

The dark blue paintwork has plenty of shine and lustre to it and, aside from the odd nick here and there, is in fine fettle.

The panels are smooth and even. The doors close with a satisfyingly precise thunk.

Being pretty much brand new, the extensive chrome work is in top condition.

The new chrome wire wheels are immaculate and really lift the car’s appearance. The tyres are also new and show no signs of wear.

The lights, trim and badging are mostly in very good nick.

But it’s not perfect.

There are places where superficial rust is starting to show its face. The inside edges of the wheel arches, a couple of seams here and there, underneath the V8 badge on the boot, in the bottom front corner of both A pillars, under the rubber trim on the sills, under the spare wheel and beneath the carpets at the front.

But the key word, for now, is superficial.

There’s no galloping rot and there won’t be for some time – but there are one or two areas to keep an eye on, particularly where the rubber trim is getting a bit mangled around the sills.

On the Inside

The good news continues on the inside, which is a delightful symphony of beige leather, shiny chrome, rich wood veneers and vibrant blue carpets.

It really does look very good indeed – everything from the dashboard switches, so wonderfully evocative of their time, to the shiny V8 kick plates.

The new wood veneers look fabulous, as does the new Mota-Lita steering wheel. The centre console, dashboard and door cards are unmarked and in good order, save for some bagginess in the leather on the driver’s door card.

The headlining is new and looks it. The undersides of the sun visors, though, are a little spotty and marked, and would thank the next owner for being shown a chamois and some soapy water.

The front seats have been reupholstered and are a pleasure to look at and sit on. The leather at the rear of the front seats has yet to be finally trimmed and fitted at the bottom but we can’t imagine that this would be a Herculean task.

The rear seats have had the leather reconditioned. Yes, there are a few cracks here and there and the leather wears the patina of its age with pride.

But it is 53 years old.

When this car was brand new in 1968, Steve McQueen was tearing up the streets of San Francisco as Bullitt and Dustin Hoffman was beginning to suspect that Mrs. Robinson’s interest in him was far from innocent.

Some of the rubber seals, particularly around the doors, need re-seating or, where they’ve started to crack, replacing.

The trim on the inside of the C pillars is either unfinished or has come adrift. Either way, it’s on the (short) list of stuff to do.

As far as we can tell, the electrics are all present, correct and functional, with the exception of the interior fan switch, which has steadfastly refused to do anything useful for us.

The boot is cavernous and in good nick, with a spare wheel, spinner tool, mallet and jack under the floor. Lifting up the carpets here or elsewhere in the car reveals a superficial bloom of rust dust, but nothing to make a strong woman faint or a weak man’s chin wobble.

Underneath

The engine bay metalwork is really good all the way down. The engine looks freshly built. Which it is.

Overall, the undersides look in very fine condition. Most of what you’re looking at is either new, refurbished or repaired, so we think you can have confidence in its mechanical integrity.

History Highlights

There is no service book with the car, but it does have plenty of bills, invoices and old MoTs plus, of course, copious photographic and invoice evidence of the £40k+ that’s been lavished on this Daimler 250 V8 over the last few years.

The car doesn’t currently have an MoT (it’s exempt by virtue of its longevity), but its last MoT was passed, with no advisories, in April 2019, since when it has added fewer than 300 miles.

We’re happy to offer this vehicle for auction with an estimate in the range of £19,000 – £23,000.