Daimler 2.5 V8

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Launched in 1962, the Daimler 2.5-Litre V8 was one of the finest cars of its era being a more refined and luxurious version of the highly rated Jaguar MkII.

The new V8 was priced between the Jaguar MkII 2.4 and 3.4-litre, suggesting that the Daimler brand was more upmarket than Jaguar, but deferring to the more sporting image of the bigger engined cars. Its crowning glory was the superb Ed Turner-designed all-alloy V8 that had made its debut in the Daimler Dart. This musical and muscular unit developed a silky smooth 140bhp and 155lb/ft of torque with a wonderfully free-revving nature which made the 2.4-litre XK engine seem coarse by comparison.

Mated to the Borg Warner Type 35 three-speed automatic transmission, it gave the V8 a top speed of 115mph with 0-60mph in 13.8 seconds. ‘The Daimler’s particular strength is therefore its sweet and near silent running at any engine speed’ said Autocar. It also had better handling than the MkII, the lightweight V8 giving more favourable weight distribution. It was quietly dropped from the Jaguar range in 1969 after some 17,600 examples had been sold, a real shame because it was a great car which was never properly replaced.

Supplied new by Woodheads Garage of Blackpool in March 1966, this lovely Opalescent Light Blue V8 has covered only 53,700 miles to date and comes with an extensive history file to warrant the mileage. This includes many old MOTs and tax discs back to the early 1980s plus the original service book which is stamped no fewer than 17 times up to 20,325 miles in 1973 with many invoices to show regular maintenance since.

The vendor acquired the car from Jaguar specialist Robert Hughes in May 2004 and has maintained it regardless of cost these last 11 years. Shortly after acquisition he had the car converted to power assisted rack-and-pinion steering at considerable expense, a big improvement on the somewhat heavy and woolly unassisted steering box fitted as standard. In 2005 (at 47,550 miles) the car was sent to W Pym & Son of Halesowen with a blank cheque and instructions to go through the car from stem-to-stern and fix any faults that were found.

Some £5,542 later and the car was deemed good to go, the list of improvements including: a full brake overhaul with many new pipes and hoses, reconditioned calipers and new rear brake discs and pads; new suspension bushes; new gearbox and propshaft mountings; overhauled carburettors; new fuel tank and fuel pump; four new tyres plus a host of other items. Since then the car has also had a new dynamo and a gearbox overhaul at Graham Whitehouse of Birmingham. Other upgrades include electronic ignition and a wonderfully wooffly stainless steel exhaust.

Said to drive beautifully with an MOT until 31st May 2016, it comes with the aforementioned history file plus the original Warranty Card from Woodheads Garage, the original owner’s handbook and maintenance chart. In lovely condition throughout and in perhaps the best colour scheme, this low mileage cracker looks excellent value at the sensible guide price suggested.