1966 DAIMLER SUPER V8

The time has come, after 10 happy years, to sell our beloved ‘Gwen’, a 1966 Daimler 2½ litre V8 saloon. Built on 21st December 1965 and bought new as a company car on 7th January 1966 by a firm of opticians in Swansea, Hutchins Etchells Ltd. The colour is Golden Sand, as confirmed by the Heritage Certificate. She is showing just under 60200 miles on the odometer. My dad is the 10th owner.

I bought the car for my father in April 2016 as a retirement present, and we have shared the pleasure of ‘Gwen’s’ company since then (she’s registered in my father’s name, but lives in my garage). She came to us from a chap in Plymouth who and had her stored for some time, and without really any history to speak of, and so we embarked on a programme of inspection and improvement. That started with the fitting of some new Michelin XAS tyres which are still excellent.

In the history since we have owned her, you will see a bill for over £2000 from NBA Sportscars in Dunsfold, over £1700 with Jaguar specialists Winspeed in Guildford and – the biggie, and what makes ‘Gwen’ so desirable - an £8000 bill from the most knowledgeable man on earth when it comes to the Daimler engine, Russ Carpenter, for a complete engine-out overhaul of the engine. Russ did so much to the engine, it’s probably easier to read the invoice yourself but it effectively means the engine is as good as new. As a consequence, she runs as sweet as a nut. Reliable, powerful (easily has the 140bhp she came new with, a possibly a bit more. She certainly keeps up with modern traffic with ease) and sounds awesome (see, and hear, the videos!). I genuinely think she could used as a daily, if you didn’t mind the fuel cost (if you have to ask what the MPG is, then this probably isn’t the car for you! But, if you really want to know, I reckon high-teens to low twenties..).

So, mechanically, she is amongst the best – no doubt.

She’s a non-PAS car, which means she is heavy at parking speeds, but once above walking pace the steering lightens up and is really feelsome – much better than a PAS car. To be honest, if we were keeping it, we would install electric PAS from the guys at Easysteer in Chorley, Lancs. They do a variable speed system which gives assistance at low speed, but reduces that assistance as speed climbs. We were quoted a fitted price of £1500 for that.

Alongside the mechanics, the body and chassis have had attention as well.. £6000-worth! This included repairs to some floor sections, jacking points, chassis members, wings, sills and front cross member. The underside was wax-oiled at the same time. So, under the skin there shouldn’t really be any horror stories, although I can see some rust bubbles on the bottom of a few of the doors..

Sadly, the skin itself (the paint..) does need some love. Realistically, she needs a respray and the chrome-work renewing. As it is, she is a 6-10 yard car but far from a horror show in terms of bodywork. We chose to invest in the mechanics first, with an intention to sort the body out in due course, but plans have changed. As it is, I would argue that you’ve got an eminently usable classic that you don’t have to worry too much about parking in a public car park for fear of it being damaged!

A few other things to note:

• There is an intermittent problem with, I think, the inhibitor switch that prevents the car starting in anything other than ‘park’. Occasionally, even in park, she won’t start on the button. However, she does always start on the solenoid under the bonnet.

• When cold, and when pulling up to a stop, the gearbox occasionally slips out of gear and seems to be neutral. Keeping the gearbox fluid topped up reduces the frequency of this, but, worst case, this could mean the bands need adjusting. A bit of power with your left foot on the brake, and she will ‘clunk’ back into gear and you can pull away and, once warm, that doesn’t happen, and the shifts are smooth and effective (kickdown works fine too). Reverse always seems to ‘clunk’ a bit when being engaged whether the ‘box is warm or bit, but it functions just fine.

• We had recent problem with running lumpy when warm, and occasionally conking out, but I’ve changed the coil and – so far – that problem has gone. It was definitely electrical related.

• The interior electrics need some attention – there are no interior or dash lights. All the gauges work just fine.

• The heater will need a refurb (pretty common to seize up on these cars)

• Speedo cable needs adjusting as the needle does swing around quite a bit

• The interior and seats are pretty good overall, but the door cards could do with repair/renewal.

So, there you have ‘Gwen’. She has lived in a garage all her time with us, but she is no garage queen. She is used very frequently (including over winter when there’s no salt on the road). You will find shinier examples, for sure, but looking shiny whilst broken down at the side of the road because the engine has given up won’t do you much good. And, to be fair, despite some of the bodywork issues, she brushed up well for use as my daughter’s “prom car” last summer!

She’s only being sold as, at 84, my dad has decided to give up driving completely and she won’t get used as regularly by just me (and I’m lucky enough to have access to a TR6 as well!). She will be missed, though.

I’ve thought long and hard about a price, as I obviously cannot ignore that fact that she needs a bit of work and a respray, however she is definitely not a basket case. The Hagerty Valuation Tool has a 1966 car in “Fair” (condition 4) condition at £6200 and “Good” (condition 3) at £11700 (the same guide has condition 2, “excellent” cars at £17700 and condition 1, “concours”, at £27000). Based on the Russ Carpenter engine alone, I would put our car somewhere between “fair” and “good”, so I’ll list her at £9k and would consider offers over £8.5k. Please don’t suck your teeth and make comment on that price unless you’ve seen (and ideally driven!) her, or had someone knowledgeable do so on your behalf. I have loads of photos and videos that I can WhatsApp to you, and viewings/inspections are very welcome. I’m in Farnham, Surrey.