A 1963 Daimler V8
August 17th, 2009 | by admin |
This is a 1963 Daimler 250 V8 Automatic, owned by a neighbour’s son. Due to him being in Australia for many years, the car, complete with an incredibly compact 2.5 litre V8 engine, was laid up completely untouched - for 25 long years (yes - an entire quarter century) in the one place, at the back of a darkened basement - from 1982 to 2007.
This collection of shots were taken the day before it was shifted, purchased by a new owner to be restored, and placed back onto the road.
While the car’s condition looked incredibly aged, I was just glad that it was parked in a dry lockup, rather than a boggy field. There are not many of these cars left, likely due to being driven incredibly hard when new, rust and being candidates (they were cheap in the 1970s) for the banger track! Appearances in TV shows like The Sweeney and The Professionals where they were often smashed up did not help much either!
Soundtrack used is Massive Attack - “Teardrop” (1998)
Duration : 0:2:55
[youtube kszOQSl_8wg]
24 Responses to “A 1963 Daimler V8”
By EccentricRichard on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
How does the …
How does the Daimler engine compare with the Rover 3528cc V8? My dad ran a P6 3500S as his daily for around ten years and loved it - it was pretty economical, too, returning 30mpg on a good motorway run.
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Ulead Video studio …
Ulead Video studio 10 (I think it might be version 12 now) - although since buying a laptop with Vista I now use Adobe Premiere Elements 4…
By neatoauctions on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Really good! Which …
Really good! Which software program did you employ to produce this?
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Thankyou!
Thankyou!
By artofwheels on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
mechanical …
mechanical masterpiece! 5 stars
By helmuthoorn on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Who will kiss this …
Who will kiss this sleeping beauty awake ?
By bigkitten on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
God!…my Dad had …
God!…my Dad had one of these in ‘72-’75, and I just used to go into it, turn on the ignition, and press the starter button, to hear that gorgeous Aluminium 2.5 litre engine revving! If you floored it for any time, I swear that you could see the fuel gauge dropping. It was a VERY heavy car!!
By souletacker on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
id love to have …
id love to have that car
By manxp23 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
wow, that looks so …
wow, that looks so good!
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Ah Ok, Come to …
Ah Ok, Come to think about it, your car would likely outrun and perhaps out-handle many of the boy racer cars - I recall one car magazine retrospectively referring to the Jaguar Mk2/Daimler V8 as the “BMW M5″ of its day…
By steffhasajag on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Got mine back on …
Got mine back on the road last year.All the boy racers think you are invisiable and pull out in front of you.They dont seem to appreciate the quality of these fantastic cars.On the other hand people stop you and try ad tell you its not a Jag its a Daimler!!! quite funny realy, concidering I brought it in 1988.
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Your car is EXACTLY …
Your car is EXACTLY what I hope this one turns out looking like after it gets restored!
By iolo911 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
look at mine on w w …
look at mine on w w w dot classic-cars-australia dot zoomshare dot com
By iolo911 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
great car
great car
By moyadapne on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Yep. I found mine …
Yep. I found mine under a tree in Teddington, just out of ChCh. The Daimlers appeared to have been better looked after than the ‘equivalent’ Jag, due to older owners buying, garaging, caring for, and keeping longer. Plus the average hard driver in the ’70’s wanted a manual, me included. Cheers. Paul.
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
With pleasure… …
With pleasure… With the car being garaged for 25 years, and with NZ not using salt in wintertime the car likely is relatively sound underneath… Yep, NZ is a good haven for old machinery - particularly as we keep vehicles on the road for longer than almost everyone else and there would be LOTs of undiscovered machinery still waiting on farms!
As for the camera - having good postproduction software makes all the difference!
By SmiertSpionem on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
A hidden treasure.
A hidden treasure.
By HarryOnara on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
sweet
sweet
By moyadapne on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Car looks in pretty …
Car looks in pretty good condition.Hope the u/neath is as good! Ain’t it amazing what resurfaces. NZ is a haven. Nice steady camera. Tripod? Thanks 4 the vid.
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Ah, another Joh!!! …
Ah, another Joh!!! v gd…
This Daimler (complete with a New Zealand issued 1963 registration) was actually stored in a basement in Timaru, New Zealand, until January 2007 (when this was shot) when it was bought for restoration - I don’t know where the car is now though…
By johnohanlon43 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Hi Joh,
where …
Hi Joh,
where exactly was the Daimler stored? In the U.K.?
John O’Hanlon (AKA JOH!!!)
By joh2 on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
I was just glad …
I was just glad that the car was in a well ventilated and secured garage for the 25 years, rather than out in a boggy field (where I am, that is where a lot of older cars have ended up).
I certainly do look forward to seeing this particular car again (perhaps in a few years) out on the road though.
By flyinfeet on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
Heartbreaking to …
Heartbreaking to see such a magnificent car in this condition. I hope the new owner will post a video of the restoration results.
By adammuscleuk on Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
vert tender very …
vert tender very very good. time passed. times change. 25 long years, still fresh to go.