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Daimler Double Six

Daimler Double Six

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Daimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double Six
Daimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double Six
Daimler Double SixDaimler Double SixDaimler Double Six
Lot number 26
Hammer value £3,000
Description Daimler Double Six
Registration C22 TFH
Year 1985
Colour Metallic Blue
Engine size 5,343 cc
Chassis No. SADDDRLW3CC430524
Engine No. 7PO53456HB

Just eleven years after the launch of the E-type, Jaguar stunned the world with another machine capable of nearly 150mph, only this time the car was a four-door saloon! 

Launched in July 1972, the new XJ12 looked nearly identical to its six-cylinder sister car, the XJ6 (which must have surprised a few motorway drivers as it hurtled past), and was the only mass-produced 12-cylinder four-door car on the market. Heralded at launch as the ‘Best Car In The World’, its astonishing standards of ride and refinement humbled even Rolls-Royce and have not been significantly bettered to this day.

The XJ12 shared its magnificent engine with the new V12 E-Type and in early carburettor form developed some 260bhp, sufficient to whisk the car to 60mph in just 7.4 seconds on the way to an effortless 145mph with barely a ripple in a glass of champagne. In 1979 the car was subtly restyled by Pininfarina as the S3 which remained in production until 1983 although a top of the range Daimler version, the Double Six, was available until 1992. This had an even more luxurious Vanden Plas spec interior with separate rear seats and extra sound-proofing to waft its occupants along in near silence at three-figure speeds.

This particular Double Six was supplied new by Lex Mead of Cheltenham to its first accountant owner in August 1985 and has had just one other owner since. The vendor acquired it in 1996 when it had some 107,000 miles on the clock, a total which has now only risen to 116,500 miles as charted by many old MOTs in the history file.

Looking stunning in metallic mid-blue with a parchment hide interior, the car retains its original handbook and service book, the latter stamped no fewer than 16 times to date, the last less than 1,000 miles ago. Always kept garaged and used in fine weather only these last 18 years, the car presents very well and is said to drive as you would wish with 6 months’ tax and 12 months’ MOT. A new set of Pirelli tyres have recently been fitted all round.

Wickedly fast yet divinely hushed, this luxurious classic would make an ideal wedding car but would be even happier with four friends aboard speeding for the South of France.
 

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