Description

1952 Daimler DB18 Consort

Older restoration in super condition throughout; recently recommissioned following a period in storage

The Daimler DB18 was launched in 1939 with a new 2.5-litre 70bhp overhead-valve six-cylinder engine which went into numerous military vehicles during the war.

In 1948 the unit was put into the new Consort, a luxury saloon with acres of wood and leather. Transmission was by Daimler’s traditional pre-selector gearbox allied to a fluid flywheel which gave it a top speed of 80mph with a 0-60mph time of around 17 seconds. The standard saloon had coachwork by Mulliners of Birmingham but drophead bodies by Charlesworth, Abbott, Barker and Tickford were also available.

Upright, formal and stately as a galleon, you couldn’t fault the quality and the Consort proved popular with billionaire Indian maharajahs and South-East Asian Royalty too; even Winston Churchill had one. By the time production came to an end in 1953, around 4,250 had been sold.

First registered in Bournemouth in February 1952, this Consort had found its way to Ireland by the early 1990s where it was to remain until quite recently. An invoice shows that it was restored by Alderdice Classic Restorations of Co. Down in 1992, with new rear wings and sills, brake overhaul, new exhaust, new headlining, full service etc. at a cost of 5,800 Euros.

Old MOTs imply that it was then in regular use, covering around 5,000 miles (including service as a wedding car, judging by photos on file) before being put into storage in c.1996 where it was to remain for the next 25 years. In 2021 it was recommissioned by a company in Wexford at a cost of 5,600 Euros which included a new water pump; oils; filters; brake hoses; voltage regulator; electric fuel pump; battery; rebuilt wheel cylinders etc.

Returning to England earlier this year, the Consort now looks very smart indeed with just a few minor blemishes here and there, as shown in the pictures. Starting promptly and running sweetly as we have moved it around on site, it comes with an original owner’s handbook and a useful quantity of spares. On offer here at a modest guide price, this lovely old Daimler will turn heads wherever it goes.  

For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or email james.dennison@brightwells.com