With dusky twilight now extending into the evening, it was nice to see that several sporting and classic cars were given an outing this month with a run to our meeting and parked up outside the clubrooms. As we head into the warmer months and daylight-saving, it would be nice to see more members driving their special vehicles to our meetings and creating something of an impromptu display.
Inside the dining room this month we had Richard and Marja Morgan?s spectacular 1968 Daimler V8-250. The Daimler and its Jaguar Mk2 stablemate would have to amongst the world?s most beautiful sporting sedans. The classic lines are so obviously Jaguar, and when matched with a sumptuous leather and walnut interior, tasteful chrome trim and fittings, it?s no wonder these cars have become almost as revered as their iconic 2-seater sibling, the E-type.
Richard and Marja have only owned their Daimler for about 12 months, they?ve replaced a few rubbers and fitted electronic ignition, but they?ve certainly done their research and are well versed in the marque’s history. Instead of the more usual ?show and tell? presentation, Richard devised an entertaining, audio-visual, quiz type of presentation to tell us about their classic V8 Daimler.
The Daimler marque began in 1896 and after being linked to BSA and Lanchester, it was sold to Jaguar in 1960. The V8-250 became Daimler?s best-selling model and was produced for 7 years between 1962 and 1969. It differed from the Jaguar by utilizing a 2.5 litre V8 engine with hemispherical combustion chambers, designed by Ed Turner and first used in the Daimler SP250 sports car. The V8 was lighter and more compact than the Jaguar straight six, making the Daimler slightly more agile than its Jaguar stablemate. It had a top speed of 112mph and although the acceleration was not terribly quick it was fast enough and supremely comfortable. The Daimler came with four-wheel disc brakes, a heated rear window and reclining split bench seats. You had the choice of manual or automatic gearboxes; power steering and overdrive on the manual were optional extras.
This particular car is beautifully presented both the inside with its original red leather trim, and the cream exterior benefiting from the relatively low 70,000 miles shown on the large Smiths Instruments speedo. Richard would have preferred the manual, but this car has the 3-speed Borg-Warner auto option. Most of Its previous history is as yet unknown, but Richard is trying to trace its previous owners, the last 2 of whom lived in Victoria. ?The Club is grateful to Richard and Marja for bringing their car down from Mt Martha to place it on display at our meeting this month. It is truly a magnificent classic saloon.
no images were found