• Make: Daimler
• Model: 57hp
• Year: 1923
• Price: £205,000

1923 Daimler 57hp 9.4 Litre Hooper Limousine

Chassis number 19119
Body Number 6152
Registration number BF5906

An extraordinary car restored to concours condition at a cost of over $450,000.

In 1923 King George V ordered 4 new Daimlers for Royal service. He specified use of the 9.4 litre sleeve valve engine. An additional three cars were also built aside from the royal four, of which this is the only known running survivor. The only other is in the Royal Collection in the Royal Mews at Sandringham.

The car has had a recent nut & bolt restoration to the
highest standards at a cost of over $450,000. The engine has been completely rebuilt, as have gear box, back axle, brakes & all the other various ancillary items. The car was completely repainted in the Royal Claret Livery.

A correct interior was sourced based upon the original & painstakingly fitted to the original spec. Black leather & carpet to the front "working quarters." Beige cord cloth & West of England cloth to the rear & occasional seats/headlining.

Coachwork is by royal coach builder Hooper, renowned for holding the royal warrant & manufacturing bodies of impeccable quality. The car is simply massive with huge presence on the road. It dwarfs comparable Silver Ghosts etc. A leather covered luggage trunk is mounted to the rear. Barker Patent dipping headlights are fitted to the front with a lever to activate them in the cab.

The engine is a paragon of smoothness, belying its size, as when running it is barely audible. Being a sleeve valve it lacks the mechanical clatter of its poppet valve based siblings. It is quite possibly the most torque laden engine I have ever experienced. The car pulls in top gear from walking speed without so much as a tremor. The 'box is a four speed unit, a little heavy at first but becoming easy to use as soon as its oil comes up to temperature. It is a two stage clutch. For up changes one depresses the pedal only half way. For down changes one pushes the pedal all the way down which brakes the fly wheel. Brakes are reasonably effective given the size & weight of the car. The steering very light & precise considering the size of the car.

The usual blue smoke at start up, inherent to the sleeve valve design quickly dissipates as the engine warms. Once hot, the engine starts easily off the residual compression by putting the ignition back on & retarding the ignition lever on the steering boss without recourse to the starter motor. Retarding the ignition turns the distributor, creating a spark & igniting an unburnt charge on the firing stroke.

Ignition is on the magneto for one set of plugs & on the coil for the second set. Likewise the car has two separate starter motors allowing for redundancy in the event of one or other failing to function.

To sum up; This is a massive imposing car with royal pedigree & of an excellence one simply does not find elsewhere. It is of museum quality & would make a wonderful centre piece to any collection.