Seventies waftamatic: 1973 Daimler Sovereign Series One 4.2
Discussion
This car was sold by Charles Follett Limited in Mayfair in May 1973, to a Mr R Woodley who lived in Rutland Gardens, South Kensington. A couple of years later it went to a Mr Powell Smith in Leicester, and from there to a Mrs Kibling in Fife. By the end of the 80s it had done about 39,000 miles. It may then have been in storage for a while, had a partial restoration in the early noughties, and was owned by a Jaguar and Daimler enthusiast in Bristol for a while. He sold the car to me this week, and it's now back in London, stored pending some further work on bodywork and other things. The car has now done about 49,000 miles (mileage backed up by history file).
Good things: XK40 DOHC straight six engine with twin SU HS8 carbs, MoT until August, new ish stainless steel exhausts, OK tyres, new full length Webasto, massive history file, low miles, drives reeet tidy like (really quite fast). The horrid AED (autochoke, dreadful device) has been disabled. Electronic ignition but in other ways mucho originalo - no door or wing mirrors, 8 Track stereo (working), windy up windows. I drove along the M4 listening to news from my homeland on RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) on Long Wave, and very jolly it was too.
Bad things: No manual chokes fitted as yet. Cold starting needs a chum on hand to spray carby cleaner into the air intake. The rev counter is not connected, only one of the twin tanks is working (spare in boot, plus many other spares) and the fuel gauge is not working. The heater seems not to be working. There is mucho bleb around the bottom bits of the body, but nothing that appears beyond fixing.
The interior is in fair nick - black levva and carpets. The dash veneer has gone a bit near the speedo. Trim nay bad. The lights and electrics all work. I like it!
Good things: XK40 DOHC straight six engine with twin SU HS8 carbs, MoT until August, new ish stainless steel exhausts, OK tyres, new full length Webasto, massive history file, low miles, drives reeet tidy like (really quite fast). The horrid AED (autochoke, dreadful device) has been disabled. Electronic ignition but in other ways mucho originalo - no door or wing mirrors, 8 Track stereo (working), windy up windows. I drove along the M4 listening to news from my homeland on RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) on Long Wave, and very jolly it was too.
Bad things: No manual chokes fitted as yet. Cold starting needs a chum on hand to spray carby cleaner into the air intake. The rev counter is not connected, only one of the twin tanks is working (spare in boot, plus many other spares) and the fuel gauge is not working. The heater seems not to be working. There is mucho bleb around the bottom bits of the body, but nothing that appears beyond fixing.
The interior is in fair nick - black levva and carpets. The dash veneer has gone a bit near the speedo. Trim nay bad. The lights and electrics all work. I like it!
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 12th February 23:47
Lovely wafting. My grandpa had one of these in the 70's. I always remember holidays at their place in Cornwall and as a special treat a trip out in his Daimler. Summer days, hot leather on the backs of your legs and the heater on full as it overheated in summer traffic jams. Aaah, those were the days.
Not a Jag, but a Daimler. It always seemed to be extra special because of that.
Not a Jag, but a Daimler. It always seemed to be extra special because of that.
Breadvan72 said:
The full roster of regret is now as follows -
1973 Daimler Sovereign Series One 4.2
1975 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
1976 Land Rover Series 3 88
1977 Yamaha FS 1e
1983 Rover 2600 SE
1984 Lotus Excel
1990 BMW 525i SE (for sale)
1992 Jaguar XJS 4.0
2002 BMW 530i SE
You're nuts, aren't you? 1973 Daimler Sovereign Series One 4.2
1975 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
1976 Land Rover Series 3 88
1977 Yamaha FS 1e
1983 Rover 2600 SE
1984 Lotus Excel
1990 BMW 525i SE (for sale)
1992 Jaguar XJS 4.0
2002 BMW 530i SE
I feel much, much better about having three cars when I read that list!
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