Lot Ended
Description
In the current ownership for over 40 years; sympathetically
restored over a 25-year period and lightly used since; driven 20 miles to the
sale; a super example of this rare and stately saloon
Launched in
1948, the Consort was a development of the pre-war DB18 and was a quality
four-door, six-light saloon with coachwork by Mulliners of Birmingham. It was
powered by Daimler’s uncannily smooth six-cylinder ohv 2,522cc engine,
originally developed for the firm’s Scout armoured reconnaissance car which
provided sterling service during WW2.
Allied to
Daimler’s equally refined fluid flywheel pre-selector gearbox, independent front
suspension, a worm-drive rear axle and beautifully light worm-and-roller
steering, the Consort provided the unmatched smoothness of take-off and
effortless forward progress that his Lordship would expect.
Upright, formal and stately as a galleon, it was quite sprightly for
all that (70bhp and 75mph) and you couldn’t fault the quality. Popular with
billionaire Indian maharajahs who bought over 100 of them, the DB18 also found
favour with South-East Asian Royalty too, even Winston Churchill had one. By the
time production came to an end in 1953, around 4,250 Consorts had been
sold.
First registered in Bristol in July 1951,
this Consort comes with a buff logbook detailing five owners up to 1982 at which
point it was acquired by the current owner who had discovered it languishing in
a garage in Herefordshire. Already the owner of a Daimler Conquest Century, he
set about a full restoration of the Consort which was to take 25 years to
complete, the whole process exhaustively documented in one of the largest
history files we have ever seen.
This includes
dozens, if not hundreds, of photographs, many invoices and four densely written
notebooks logging all the work carried out and any new parts fitted. There is
also a great deal of technical literature relating to the model and it will take
the next owner many happy hours to digest the file in its
entirety.
To cut a long story short, the whole
car was stripped to the bones and rebuilt from the ground up while preserving as
much originality as possible. This included repairs to the chassis,
extensive repairs to the wooden frame, new inner and outer sills and localised
repairs to the outer body panels. The interior had a new set of carpets and a
new cloth headlining, the woodowork and door cards were refurbished but the
seats were left original.
All
mechanical aspects were rebuilt as required – brakes; steering suspension etc.
The original engine turned out to be corroded inside and would not run properly
even after being rebuilt, so a good second-hand engine of the correct type was
sourced and fitted, the notes stating that this had only covered around 55,000
miles and was in good shape.
Finally
finished in April 2007, the Consort then flew through an MOT with no advisories
recorded and it has only covered around 1,000 miles since, the odometer
currently showing 58,917 miles. Barely used at all in the last few years, it has
always been kept in nice dry storage alongside various other classics also owned
by the vendor, being started and moved occasionally to keep everything free.
Driven some 20 miles to the sale, the vendor
reports that it lopes along happily at 50mph although he did note that it has
developed a slight misfire during its recent period of inactivity and was only
running on five cylinders. He states that it was running fine on all six
cylinders when laid-up and recommends that the new owner give the ignition
system a good check-over before any long journeys are undertaken.
Starting promptly and running well on five of
its six cylinders as we have moved it around on site with healthy 40psi oil
pressure, this stately old Consort drives very nicely although we did fluff a
gearchange in the video - the pre-selector gearbox works perfectly but it does
take a bit of getting used to so, with hindsight, we should have had a
practice run first!
It is a credit to its owner who has spent countless
hours and far more money than he would care to quantify in restoring
it back to roadworthy condition.
Many of these big Daimler
saloons fell into the wrong hands over the years and the attrition rate has been
high – in the 20 years we have been hosting these sales this is only the third
one we have ever offered and we could only find records of another dozen or so
sold at auction in the same time frame so it could be a long while
before you see another for sale.
Gamely on offer at no reserve,
OHT 544 is only reluctantly for sale due to the advancing years of its long-term
owner. He should be honoured for saving this fine motorcar for
the nation, so please do your bit and reward his 25 years
of industry with the generosity of your
bids.
Consigned by James
Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com