Description
I have owned this charming car for the past 9 years, the previous owner owned it from 1995, the previous owner to him being the chauffeur of the original lady owner in 1951.
I knew the owner for several years before the question of him selling it came up and I was pleased to become its new custodian.
The condition overall is very very good and while there are small areas that could be slightly improved, I believe it would be hard to find one that is better for the money. Some spares are with the car, including a cylinder head, valves and valve springs, a new head gasket for this model, a distributor, new brake linings for the front and rear, a starter solenoid plus the correct felt oil filters.
This car is from close to the end of LD10 production. The independent front suspension makes a big difference over the pre war beam axles and it is of a compact size that means it is easily garaged plus nothing is particularly heavy to work on. The preselector box works well.
The door shutting on this car is superb, by the way. Included is the correct jack, wheelbrace and starting handle as well as the correct parts book and a number of handbooks including a near "as new" copy of the correct one for the car plus the original ( very small!!) sales leaflet for the Barker model.
The previous owner to me had been bought the car by his family as a retirement present because they had known of it for many years and , with a long term background in quality woodwork, he set about taking the whole car to bits, saving and repairing everything that was worth saving and expertly restoring anything required.
As an example of his dedication to the task, a failing on these cars is the dashboard which delaminates over time. This has been replaced by a completely new dashboard made out of a single piece of iroko and is a perfect replica of the original, except it is completely sound.
A new headlining and new carpets were fitted but the leather seats and door cards are all original. There is a box full of details and receipts for copious expenditure from specialists and sheafs from the DLOC when they ran a spares service. The car is on 5 good Avon tyres, the original number is non transferable and the car is fitted with quality "Ace" plates rather than the pressed type. The paintwork has lasted extremely well with only some small areas at the edges showing that it wasn't painted 5 years ago.
These cars are very compact so if you have a small garage they can be ideal if you want a better quality car than the usual mass produced offerings at this horsepower.
Length 13' 2 1/ 2", Width 4' 11", Height 5' 2".
Throughout the car there is much evidence of the care taken with this restoration. A new cotton covered wiring loom was fitted and I have fitted a new regulator. The original design exhaust is still on the car. There can be a small blow from the silencer joint at the front pipe but I have given it a touch with the MIG every few years as it seemed a shame to spoil the originality. The only item not fitted is the petrol reserve tap although the knob for it is still on the dashboard and the clock is working !
In due course, although the chrome has all been rechromed, the hub caps could do with rechroming again. However, the previous owner had not done this because he was told that doing so would probably make the original "Lanchester" markings on them nearly disappear and so I have had two new hub caps on one side and the best of the originals on the other side, but it's all right, I have the other two originals as well. The bumpers have some pimples on them but nothing serious.
I fitted a new head gasket about six years ago and have another new one as a spare. Some of the original type of toolkit items are with the car including the correct wheelbrace, starting handle and some of the small tools.
In August 2015 the car won "Best in class" at the Biggar Show. (I'm just back from this year's event and have won Best in Class for post vintage pre war cars, so it maybe will give an idea of the standards I aim for).
Since then, it has been kept ready for the road but has gone few miles with me, as part of my Lanchester and Daimler collection but I am having to reduce this somewhat due to the passing of years and running out of space, energy and time . The photos were all taken recently.
You will see a picture of the car on the LD10 website, (a great resource for owners,) at the Dumfries annual town celebrations a few years ago. With decent interior room and performance, it's a type of car that looks more appealing by the day with easy parking and sensible fuel consumption.
Just outside Dumfries, 40 minutes from Carlisle. Thank you.
