Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars
They said it themselves; Vintage Car Collector with their ever growing inventory impresses everyone from professional and serious car collectors to beginners. Their digital presence attracts car enthusiasts and professionals alike every day.
And that is true of our journey with them so far. A few months back a good friend of Bridge Classic Cars was drawn to a beautiful 1986 Daimler DS420 on offer over in California.
We hastily reached out to the guys and girls at Vintage Car Collector and no sooner had we done that were we informed that the car had left the US and was making it’s way over to us here in sunny Suffolk.
Description from Vintage Car Collector: “The Daimler DS420, also known as the Daimler Limousine, is a limousine made by The Daimler Company Limited between 1968 and 1992. The car was designed for official use and it was popular with chauffeur services, hoteliers and undertakers. It was used as an official state car in many countries. No other limousine model has been delivered to more reigning monarchs than the DS420, and the car is still used by the royal houses of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg.
Originally, the cars were built at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury Lane, London, from body shells made by Park Sheet Metal Company, assembling panels supplied by Motor Panels of Coventry, and by Pressed Steel Fisher. Early limousines bore the “Daimler Vanden Plas” designation on tread plates and workshop manuals. The Kingsbury plant was closed in 1979 and production moved to Jaguar in Coventry, where it continued until 1992. The move to Coventry also brought the second and most extensive face lift in the car’s life, when larger bumpers and a revised rear number-plate frame were fitted.
The DS420 had a fascia very similar to contemporary Mark X and 420G Jaguars retaining the old-fashioned steering column and pencil-thin steering wheel. Two cars were built in landaulette bodywork by the factory. Apparently neither have survived
• CLEAN TITLE
• ODOMETER SHOWS 58,261 MILES
• 6 CYL. ENGINE
• AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
• 90% TIRE TREAD
• NICE CHROME AND INTERIOR
• MAINLY USED FOR WEEKEND DRIVES
• WELL MAINTAINED, GARAGE KEPT
• RUNS AND DRIVES
On Tuesday 17th May we received the exciting call from Schumacher Cargo Logistics to confirm the safe arrival of our Daimler to Felixstowe.
Gordon, John and Dave set off to Felixstowe with a handful of tools, jump leads and fuel but unfortunately a big fuel leak hindered their plans for a successful drive down the A14.
Not to worry, the car is now back in our workshops ready to start it’s exciting new adventure here in the UK. Welcome home!!
