Most classic cars come with a unique history of memories and stories that date back decades and even multiple generations. A lot of the time though, these stories and these memories are very personal to the current and former owners of the vehicles.
However, from time to time, the story of certain classic cars extends beyond the owners and becomes a truly unique tale that can be understood and felt by many.
A Marriage Standing The Test Of Time
When married couple, Mr and Mrs Stannard from Lowestoft in Suffolk purchased a car together, they fell in love with their 1964 Daimler V8 250. After around a year of ownership, the couple decided that an additional car was needed so Mr Stannard set out to purchase another vehicle.
While he was on the look out for a new car, he found one that he really liked. It was another 1964 Daimler V8 250. After the sale was complete, he took the car home ready to meet its new garage-mate of the same age, make, and model.
It was only once he had driven the car home that Mrs Stannard noticed something extremely special about his purchase.
She saw that one Daimler V8 250 had the registration WVG 564 and, surprisingly, the other Daimler V8 250 had the registration WVG 565.
An Unlikely Story
It’s not every day that you see two classic Daimlers side by side. It’s even more rare to see two classic Daimlers side by side that are the same age and the same model with sequential number plates. What’s even rarer still is to see two Daimlers like this that belong to a husband and wife.
An accidental purchase of the second vehicle certainly adds another level of intrigue to this unlikely story. When Mr Stannard set out to purchase the second vehicle, had no idea that the car he ended up buying had an almost identical registration to the one he and his wife already owned.
2 1964 Daimler V8 250s – Kept In 2 Nearby Garages Waiting To Be Reunited
The couple would eventually park their two vehicles in the two separate garages. Despite being close by, the cars would be kept in their individual garages until the team here at Bridge Classic Cars unearthed them towards the end of 2022.
On a cold December morning, the team got on the road to meet the couple who had owned the cars for a large part of their lives.
It was obvious that these cars hadn’t been seen for a while as Mr Stannard bought a hammer with him just in case the garage door wouldn’t open with the key!
While the team were preparing the cars to be removed from their concrete shelters, the couple happily shared photographs and memories of times spent with the two vehicles. Young children were seen in some of the photos alongside one or both of the classic Daimlers. As it turned out, the young girl in one of the photos was the couple’s daughter who is now in her fifties and has been married for more than twenty years!
The Story Deepens
As the cars were being slowly and very carefully moved, one of the owners handed us a file full of even more history and details of their story so far.
Upon closer inspection, the name of one of the former owners stood out from the rest. Winston Churchill is listed as someone who has once owned one of these 1964 Daimler V8 250s. While it doesn’t appear to be THE Winston Churchill but, instead, a local Lowestoft resident with the same name, with the story that these two cars keep telling, perhaps it wouldn’t be too farfetched for this to be investigated even further.
The original service book and documentation were with the cars highlighting just how much this couple and their previous owners cared for them.
A Team Effort
Several members of the Bridge Classic Cars team were involved in the successful removal and loading of the two Daimlers.
It took a lot of time, care, and skill to move the two cars without any significant issues. Each one was slowly and carefully removed from its garage and loaded into our trailer ready to be driven for around an hour back to our storage facility at former air base, Bentwaters.
Both of these 1964 Daimler V8 250s now sit in a much larger garage than they have been used to for the past decade or two. They are surrounded by a wide range of other classic vehicles in various states of restoration in our secure storage building known as, The Hangar.
The Future is Unclear for Our 2 1964 Daimler V8 250s
There isn’t a set plan in place for the future of these two almost identical Daimlers. One thing we do know for certain though is that it seems right that they are kept together whatever the future may hold.
Both vehicles clearly need to undergo a full restoration. Extensive work is required on the interior and exterior, and it is clear that a lot of mechanical work will be a necessity too.
With no clear plan ahead of them, for now, our 1964 Daimler V8 250, registration WVG 564 and our 1964 Daimler V8 250, registration WVG 565 will stay safe and secure in The Hangar. With such an incredible story to already tell, there might still be a few more chapters left before the story completely comes to an end.
