1948 Daimler Coachbuilt Tourer British Royal Family

 
This vehicle was originally ordered as a Palace vehicle during the reign of King George VI. At that stage it was painted grey and had grey hood material. It was retained by the Daimler company and used by King George VI up until his death on 6 Feb 1952.

The vehicle was then returned to Hoopers coachbuilders to be repainted with the present Royal Claret and black and was fitted with a claret coloured hood material. (Hooper were the body builder of the car when new.)

It was used in the 1953 Queen Elizabeth II coronation proceedings. It remained with Hoopers as a 'Royal Stock' vehicle until the Australian Government purchased it in October 1957. The car was used in Australia by Queen Elizabeth II and Her Majesty The Queen Mother during their visits (see picture below).

Various Royal and Vice Royal engagements were graced by its presence until it was privately purchased by my father in 1969. We lent it back to the Australian Government for use by Prince Charles during his 1974 visit to Australia (Brisbane).

The early history is probably best described in Brian Smith's book 'ROYAL DAIMLERS' on pages 342-344, 371, 372 and 378. If you do not have access to this book I can photocopy and fax pages over, but the photos won't come out too well.

On page 372 is pictured the car with a perspex transparent canopy. We do not have that and I do not believe it came out to Australia with it.

On page 379 is pictured the car with a special windscreen for the passengers in the rear seat. We do have that and it is stored in its own special holding position in the boot.

There is also shown a power window division behind the front seat. The car has this feature and it still functions correctly by buttons from either side at the rear or by the driver in the front.

There are two fold away seats situated just behind the front seat. When folded away there is a large flat region for leg room for the rear passengers.

The vehicle is unrestored and is in quite good original condition. The only problems with it are carpet deterioation due to moths, deterioation of the rubber covered wiring, dulling/cracking of the paintwork and some small tears in the hood material. The wiring is the main problem as for fear of a potential fire due to shorted wires we haven't run the car on the road for some years now. The wiring loom would have to be completely replaced with
modern materials.

The engine is a 5.5 liter straight 8, the gearbox a preselect type (forerunner to the automatic) and has been driven only 28,810 miles since new. It only had around 13,000 miles on it when we purchased it in 1969.

There are a large number of brand new (still in grease paper) original spare parts which were supplied with the car when it first came to Australia. Weight of the car is just over 3 tons (not tonnes). The body is of aluminium and wood construction with steel mudguards.

The felt lined tool kit is a slide out drawer under the drivers side of the front seat and the felt lined on board set of spares is a slide out drawer under the other side of the front seat. These are both complete and original.

Seats and door trims are light blue Connoly Hide. The dashboard and tops of door trims are solid polished wood - not veneer.

When any of the 4 doors is opened it reveals a hidden running board. On each vertical section between the running board and the floor is a plate inscribed :

HOOPER & Co LONDON
Coachbuilders to His Majesty the King
Her Majesty Queen Mary
and The Princess Royal.

This is an absolutely magnificent vehicle to see and sit in - let alone drive.

It is stored in Brisbane, Queensland Australia and an inspection can be made following proof of credentials.

Asking price - $500,000 US

In the first instance, please contact Dan Mooney at Classic Jaguar for further details and an introduction to the seller.