Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1975 Daimler Sovereign 4. 2 Coupe
Estimate
£11, 000 - £13, 000
Registration No: LSD 335P
Chassis No: 2H. 1107BW
MOT: May 2025
1 of just 1, 677 examples manufactured
Extensively re-commissioned June 2023 with some £3, 500 worth of expenditure
Desirable home market example and early in the production run (number 107)
Pleasingly understood to boast the vast majority of its original Tan interior upholstery
The Daimler Sovereign was a name applied to a sequence of luxury cars built by Jaguar but carrying the Daimler badge between 1966 and 1983 and were based on contemporary Jaguar body shells, chassis and engines. The launch of the Jaguar XJ6 in 1968 and its Daimler sister in 1969 redefined expectations in the luxury car sector. The new model truly 'moved the goalposts', setting new standards in comfort, refinement and handling. A waiting list was quick to form and enthusiasm remained strong upon the introduction of the Series II cars in 1973. The standard or long wheelbase saloon models were joined later that year by a striking new variant; an elegant pillarless Coupé, all being built on the short-wheelbase chassis with a Black vinyl-covered roof and available with either the 4. 2 litre straight-six XK unit or the 5. 3 litre, V12. This handsome design retained the saloon's supple all-round independent coil and wishbone suspension, disc brakes and power steering. Performance was predictably strong with both variants reputedly able to exceed 120mph. Rarer than its Jaguar brother, just 1, 677 Daimler Sovereign 4. 2 Coupés are thought to have been produced by the time production ended in 1978 with 613 built in 1977 and only six in the final year.
Chassis number ‘2H. 1107BW’ was manufactured in 1975 and is a notable early example being number 107 off the production line and was supplied new to the United Kingdom being first registered on the 4th of December that year. A 4. 2-litre engine example with automatic transmission, the Daimler is still finished in its original colour scheme of Signal Red with Tan leather upholstery, with the interior upholstery pleasingly understood to be original and the paintwork having benefitted from a full repaint in 2015. Offered now having some 108, 000 miles recorded on the odometer, the vast majority of which were covered during the first thirty years of the Sovereign's life. Covering very minimal mileage from 2008 until last year when ‘LSD 335P’ was lavished with a mechanical recommissioning costing some £3, 500. During which, a new battery and alternator were fitted, the underside overhauled with many new parts, a renewed braking system, and attention to the twin fuel tanks, lines and filter.
Further enhanced this year, the Daimler has received a new coil and ignition leads, and a full service. Starting readily and both running and driving very well during our recent photography session, the Coupe has since been in regular use with the vendor and is due to be driven some 40 miles to the sale. Rated by the vendor as having ‘very good’ bodywork, paintwork, electrical equipment, and interior trim, the engine and gearbox are both rated as ‘excellent’. Offered with a history file including previous MOTs and invoices, a no advisory MOT certificate until May 2025, and a current V5C document. Only offered for sale now due to a change of circumstances, these Daimler Coupes are now scarce and this one benefits from receiving significant recent mechanical recommissioning.
